Back to Butterfly Index Gray hairstreak Strymon melinus Wing span: 7/8 to 1 3/8 inches inches Caterpillar hosts plants: flowers and fruits of many plants including bean, Phaseolus; clover, Trifolium; hibiscus, Hibiscus; mallow, Malva; strawberry, Fragaria; vetch, Vicia Adult food: nectar of dogbane, Apocynum; milkweed, Asclepias; mint, Mentha; wintercress, Barbarea; goldenrod, Solidago; tick trefoil, Desmodium; white sweetclover, Melilotus Habitat: open nonforested sites, common in disturbed weedy areas Notes: males perch on small trees and shrubs to locate females, females lay eggs on host flowers, hibernates as chrysalis. Back to Butterfly Index