Gray hairstreak

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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. 
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