Callophrys spinetorum

Thicket hairstreak
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Callophrys
Species:	C. spinetorum
Binomial name
Callophrys spinetorum (Hewitson, 1867)
Synonyms
Thecla spinetorum Hewitson, 1867 Mitoura spinetorum Cisincisalia spinetorum Loranthomitoura spinetorum Thecla ninus Edwards, 1871 Miltoura spinetorum cuyamaca Wright, 1922 Callophrys (Mitoura) millerorum Clench, 1981

Callophrys spinetorum, the thicket hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It was described by William Chapman Hewitson in 1867. It is found in North America from British Columbia through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and Mexico and through California to Baja California.^[1] The habitat consists of pinyon-juniper forests, mixed woodlands, and coniferous forests.^[2]

The wingspan is 25–32 mm. Adults are on wing from May to August in one generation per year. They feed on flower nectar.

a C. spinetorum larva feeding on Arceuthobium americanum in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon

The larvae are specialists, feeding on the shoots, flowers, and fruit of dwarf mistletoes in the genus Arceuthobium.^[3][4] In particular, larvae have been documented feeding on A. campylopodum, A. occidentale, A. abietinum, A. blumeri, A. cyanocarpum, A. laricis, A. vaginatum subsp. cryptopodum, A. divaricatum, and A. globosum.^[4] The larvae resemble their host plants, both because of their segmented bodies and because they take on the color of their food, an example of mimicry.^[4]

Subspecies

• Callophrys spinetorum spinetorum (California, Colorado)

• 

  an illustration from Hewitson's formal description of C. spinetorum

  Callophrys spinetorum millerorum Clench, 1981 (New Mexico)

References

1. Callophrys spinetorum, at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
3. "Thicket Hairstreak Callophrys spinetorum (Hewitson, 1867) | Butterflies and Moths of North America". www.butterfliesandmoths.org.
4. Stevens, Robert; Hawksworth, Frank (September 1970). "Insects and Mites Associated with Dwarf Mistletoes". USDA Forest Service Research Paper. RM–59.