The first time I saw New Mexico’s state butterfly, the Sandia hairstreak, was in June of 2005. I had only just recently seen a photo of one and had read that they were uncommon, so even though it looked like the butterfly in the photo I’d seen, it didn’t seem likely that I would’ve randomly stumbled upon one.
Steve Cary, who used to work for the State Parks, did a presentation about New Mexican butterflies not too long after that.1 At the end of his talk, I went up and told him I thought maybe I had a photo of a Sandia hairstreak but wasn’t sure.2 He gave me his card and encouraged me to email him one of my photos.3 I did so and learned from him that it was indeed a Sandia hairstreak.4 I’ve been chasing them ever since.
I’ve watched them for so long that I now realize June was very late in the year to have seen one. And, rather than characterizing them as uncommon, I’d now say their populations are extremely localized. If you happen to visit one of their neighborhoods during the month of March, you’re likely to see any number of them.
The Sandia hairstreak above was browsing on the first flowers I’ve seen in the Sandia foothills this year, those of a three-leaf sumac bush. Sandia hairstreaks are very small, about the size of your thumbnail when they’re folded up. The sumac flowers are much smaller, maybe 2-3 millimeters in diameter at the most.
The second Sandia hairstreak is sitting on a blade of beargrass, its host plant.5 If you look closely at the photos above, you’ll notice the two butterflies actually have different coloring — the second has much more blue in it than the first. It took years for me to learn that their color differences were real, not simply artifacts of my often exuberant photo-editing process.
Sandia hairstreaks need only the tiniest surfaces to cling to, and routinely defy gravity. They seem so comfortable upside down that I often wonder if perhaps it’s only my own perspective that’s skewed. As far as I can tell, they think they’re upright all the time.
I have never once seen a Sandia hairstreak sit with its wings open. Their overwings, which are visible only when they’re flying, have always appeared to be a darkish brown. However, this photo shows that they’re actually nearly the same orange-brown color as the top portion of their underwings. They often rub their wings up and down against each other, which is what this one was doing when I got the shot.
I personally think of Steve Cary as Mr. Butterfly New Mexico. You can take a look at his blog here. I am beyond envious of all the desert orangetip photos in his most recent post. (Note: His blog was available all day but is down right now. I encourage you to try the link later if you encounter an error message.)
There’s another hairstreak that looks somewhat similar to the Sandia hairstreak, the juniper hairstreak. The two species look dramatically different to me now, but back then, I really couldn’t tell them apart.
One of the many blessings of living in a scarcely populated, out-of-the way state is that most experts are accessible to the general public.
Its Latin name is Callophrys mcfarlandi; it’s one of the few Latin species names I know by heart. It was discovered in the spring of 1958, less than 10 miles from my house, by Noel McFarland.
Nolina texana, another species name I’ve memorized.
A perfect post. I particularly liked you pointing out the varying colors on the Sandia hairstreaks that you photographed - I might not have noticed that if you hadn't brought it to my attention.
Thanks Lisa! A highlight of the day is receiving an Everyday Magic in my inbox. jma
This was a wonderful post thank you! I love Steve Cary work. Butterfly flying is amazing. Wonderfully clunky and inefficient. It's a wonder humans don't envy that kind of flying like they do birds and planes. When butterflies fly the they go up to like 4,000 ft cruise over to the places they like across the planet drop down and complete their life cycle. They are wonderful Earth adventures much like you enjoying all the flowers along the way. I appreciate the color of variation and the exuberant photo editing! I think it's cool that C.mcfarlander I was found 10 miles from your home, kind of perfect story