Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site
Monitoring butterfly populations across Central California for more than 35 years… Mitoura spinetorum
Common Name: Thicket Hairstreak
The steel-blue color on the upper surface is unique in our fauna. This handsome species is generally rare, occurring at our sites as singletons visiting mud puddles, or on Rabbitbrush in autumn. It can be locally common on serpentine, where Gray Pine (Pinus sabiniana) tends to be heavily infested with the butterfly's host, Pine Mistletoe (Arceuthobium). It appears to have 2 or 3 broods per year, but records on our transect are so spotty that the seasonal pattern is less than obvious. Males are territorial perchers high in trees.
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