White M Hairstreak (Butterflies and Skippers of GSMNP)

White M Hairstreak

Parrhasius m-album

Description ⁴

Tailed. Upper side iridescent blue with black borders. Underside grayish brown; white postmedian line edged with black and forming a white M (or W) near tail; white spot near base of costa.
Wing Span: 1 1/4 - 1 5/8 inches (3.2 -4.1 cm).

Distribution ⁵

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Iowa and Massachusetts south to Texas and Florida. Also extends south to South America. Commonest in Deep South and in Appalachian Mountains.

Habitat ⁶

Comments: Breeding habitats are forests, woodlands or occasionally scrub with a substantial oak component including swamps if there are oaks. Adults can be observed in the oak canopy in spring before leaves expand and probably spend much time there in summer also. Adults wander widely and can turn up on flowers almost anywhere. Source: literature and observations by D. Schweitzer in New Jersey and elsewhere.

North american ecology (us and canada) ⁷

Parrhasius m-album is resident to the southeastern United States, migratory north to the Great Lakes (Scott 1986). Habitats are woods, generally near oak. Host plants are trees restricted f=to the family Fagaceae (especially Quercus virginiana and Q. marilandica). There are multiple flights each year with numbers depending on latitude, in the north there are three flights, in May, July, Sept; in the southern part of the range there are many flights Mar1-Dec31 (Scott 1986).

Sources and Credits

(c) Sean McCann, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/25449831@N00/116978257
(c) Jim P. Brock, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://butterfliesofamerica.com/images/Theclinae/eumaeini/Parrhasius_m-album/Parrhasius_m-album_M_USA_TEXAS_Fayette_Co._Ledbetter_10-V-1973_Brock_2.jpg
(c) Mary Keim, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/38514062@N03/10010422386/
(c) GTMResearchReserve, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/358984
(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28777212
(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28777217
(c) Leslie Ries, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/19606734

More Info

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