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Project Noah Nature School
Atlides halesus
This is probably the easiest of the hairstreaks to identify. The body is black with white spots except for the abdomen which is blue on top and orange underneath. Like most hairstreaks, the wings are together only showing the underside which is a dark grey with a blue streak on the forewing and iridescent spots and tails on the hind wings which create a false head to fool predators. The wingspread is 1.25 to 1.5 inches.
Spotted on wildflowers in a powerline right of way (see pic 4). Mixed forest nearby.
Spotted on Sep 18, 2022
Submitted on Sep 20, 2022
2 Comments
Thank you Leuba. I've been to this spot 4 days in a row to look for insects but the heat and humidity have been extraordinarily high so I could only stay for a few hours at a time.
That's an attractive hairstreak. Lovely forest too.