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Gray Hairstreak


Gray Hairstreak
Photo Information
Copyright: Luis Leal (Luis52) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1110 W: 5 N: 3457] (12761)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-07-19
Categories: Insects
Camera: Nikon D700, 55mm Micro Nikkor f2.8
Exposure: f/8, 1/500 seconds
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-07-21 9:38
Viewed: 520
Points: 64
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Thanks To Mr. Ivan for the ID.
Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus

(Lycaenidae)
Subfamily: Hairstreaks (Theclinae)

Identification: One tail on hindwing. Upperside blue-gray with large red spot near tail. Underside of spring/fall form is dark gray, summer form is paler gray. Relatively straight postmedian line is white, bordered with orange on the inside edge.

Life history: Males perch all afternoon on small trees and shrubs to seek receptive females. Eggs are laid singly on flowers of host plant. Young caterpillars feed on flowers and fruits; older ones may eat leaves. Chrysalids hibernate.

Flight: Two flights from May-September in the north, three-four flights from February-November in the south.

Wing span: 7/8 - 1 3/8 inches (2.2 - 3.5 cm).

Caterpillar hosts: Flowers and fruits from an almost endless variety of plants; most often from pea (Fabaceae) and mallow (Malvaceae) families including beans (Phaseolus), clovers (Trifolium), cotton (Gossypium), and mallow (Malva).

Adult food: Nectar from many flower species including dogbane, milkweed, mint, winter cress, goldenrod, tick trefoil, and white sweet clover.

Habitat: Open, nonforested sites; common in disturbed, weedy areas.

Range: Throughout continental United States from southern Canada south to Mexico; southward to Venezuela. Comments: The most widespread hairstreak in North America.

Saludos
Luis52

MMM, goldyrs, KOMSIS, CeltickRanger, cirano, flashpoint, nglen, goatman04, Juyona, uleko, parasbhalla, nasokoun, jaycee, Noisette, degani, haraprasan, nagraj, Christopher_PL, anel has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To parasbhalla: Hola Paras.Luis52 1 07-21 13:35
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • MMM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 921 W: 0 N: 1985] (8905)
  • [2009-07-21 9:49]

Hi Luis
Beautiful closed up.Excellent POV for that razor sharp image.Outstanding colors and very nice OOF BG.
TFS Michel

What an amazing shot, Luis!
Simply superb!
i love the blurred BG which brings out the delicate colours of the butterfly!
Goldy

Hola Luis,
Very good macro ...
Superb focus and excellent sharpness an perfect details.
Best wishes,
Seyfi

  • Great 
  • zetu Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 645 W: 15 N: 1577] (6149)
  • [2009-07-21 10:02]

Hello Luis
Wonderful capture taken with great details and perfect focus
Regards
Razvan

hello Luis

beautiful photography of this butterfly, with fine POV and framing,
fine focus on it with excellent sharpness and details,
and i love to see details of the blurred background, TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • cirano Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 651 W: 0 N: 228] (4878)
  • [2009-07-21 10:09]

Slav Lûîs,
Great capture with excellent sharpness and background.Thanks for sharing.
Dûrzan

Hello Luis,

Nice snap with fantastic colours. Just love the colours and composition, perfect!

Cheers,
Prasad

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2907 W: 34 N: 8619] (32124)
  • [2009-07-21 10:40]

Hi Luis. This is a beauty which you have taken with fine detail and sharp focusing. The Eastern Tailed -Blue. is a butterfly i have not seen before so thanks for posting . . You use of the light has given such natural colours. wel ldone TFS.
Nick..

Hello Luis,

A nice close-up shot with beautiful colors & details. TFS.

Regards

Umar

  • Great 
  • Alutka Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 132 W: 42 N: 371] (1580)
  • [2009-07-21 10:55]

Witaj Luis.
Splendid shot!
Colours, details, DOF and POV - excellent,
one should butterfly to my favourite family Lycaenidae, but it does not live in Poland.
Thanks for sharing this beauty.
Regards
Alina

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2261 W: 10 N: 2629] (15559)
  • [2009-07-21 11:16]

Que bonita mariposita Luis,
finos detalles nitidez y estupendo encuadre.
buena captura amigo,
saludos

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2989 W: 162 N: 941] (2769)
  • [2009-07-21 11:24]

Hello Luis,
What a gorgeous butterfly, I love its markings, colours and the little tails. Beautiful stripy antenna and legs too!! A great capture, very sharp and well composed!
Many thanks and best wishes, Ulla

  • Great 
  • thor68 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 792 W: 138 N: 1312] (5642)
  • [2009-07-21 11:35]

what a beautiful butterfly! :-) excellent close-up with wonderful colors and marvellous details,
love the silver "furry" wings and the small "tails". great ob & best wishes, thor.

  • Great 
  • joska Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 404 W: 0 N: 1002] (5396)
  • [2009-07-21 11:43]

Very nice macro!

Hi Luis,

Another wonderful shot of a white beauty...Wow!!

Great sharpness, nice POV, attractive textures on the butterfly's wings with good details of antennae and eyes. Very well centered green-colored plant with red beans kind of fruit? Do you know what kind of plant is it? Overall, a great work!

Thanks for sharing.

regards,
Paras Bhalla

Hello Luis,
This is a very beautiful capture, with fine details and colours. The composition is also very good, with leaves and the red fruit. A beautiful species too! TFS,
Catherine

  • Great 
  • rdfoto Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 372 W: 0 N: 719] (3295)
  • [2009-07-21 13:32]

Bonjour Luis
Magnifique ! superbes couleurs, netteté et cadrage
Amicalement Robi

hello Luis
amazing scene and capture
TFS
Nasos

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2493 W: 11 N: 6885] (21912)
  • [2009-07-21 16:29]

Hola Primo,

I don't recall ever seeing this beauty before. A superb close-up with razorsharp details and textures. The colors and patterns are beautiful. A lovely pose and another perfect shot.

Jane

Hello Luis
superb shot of this very beautiful butterfly, he has so lovely colors and the details are crisp clear sharp, great composition and BG
pose and POV are excellent
Have a good night

amazingly sharp capture, TFS Ori

  • Great 
  • degani Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 220 W: 0 N: 317] (2481)
  • [2009-07-21 22:02]

hi Luis,
very nice image with a beautiful butterfly in great sharpness, a great composition of nature caolours, bravo
kind regards
franco

Hi Luis,
A nice capture of this beautiful Eastern Tailed-blue. Very good sharp details and a lovely composition. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Hi,
What a beautiful butterfly, fine colors and design. Very soft lighting has brought out good texture too. tfs.
nagraj.v

Ciao Luis, lovely little butterfly with fine details, splendid colors and excellent sharpness, very well done, ciao Silvio

Hello Luis,
Although I'm no expert in American butterflies I've to say that the picture is perfect in every detail ;-)
Keep going on ;-D

Chris

  • Great 
  • tcr Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 76 W: 0 N: 224] (866)
  • [2009-07-22 14:23]

Olá Luis.
Excelente foto dessa bonita borboleta.
Nitidez, cores, enquadramento e perspectiva no ponto.
Belo trabalho.
TFS.

  • Great 
  • anel Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1722 W: 0 N: 3901] (15676)
  • [2009-07-23 4:07]

Hello Luis,
A very fine and beautiful picture of this cute Lycaenidae. This one is especially pretty! Excellent sharpness all over the butterfly allows us to see every single small detail.
Thanks a lot for your note too concerning a species we don't know well in Europe.
Kind regards
Anne

Hi Luis

Stunning macro, superb.
Excellent sharpness and details
Great composition and DOF

Chris

Hi Luis,
A good shot of this attractive butterfly.
The composition here works wekk with the only nit being that pesky branch in the background.
Nice work.
Cheers
Steve

Luis, this is an excellent shot. Nice work. Thanks for commenting on my pelican. Have a great day, Bill

Check out my website:
Bill Houghton Photography

hello Luis
he is SO Beautiful
great compo and good sharpness
great shot
greeting lou

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3808 W: 190 N: 11328] (34927)
  • [2009-07-25 10:28]

Hola Luis,
No se porque jo no la he visto antes pero esta toma es fantástica!
Una perfecta muestra de Strymon melinus, 'Gray Hairstreak', no Cupido comyntas tomada con sensacional nitidez y colores contra un muy buen fondo.
Me gusta mucho amigo!
Tienes que un buen fin de semana,
Un abrazo,
Ivan

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