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Sandia hairstreak
The Sandia hairstreak (Callophrys mcfarlandi) is a species of butterfly native to North America.[2][3] A relatively rare butterfly with a limited range,[4] it was discovered in La Cueva Canyon, Albuquerque, in spring of 1958, by Noel McFarland, then a student at the University of Kansas,[5][6] and described the following year.[7][8][9] The Sandia hairstreak was made one of the state insects of New Mexico in a 2002 bill approved the following year.[4][7][10] DescriptionC. mcfarlandi is a relatively small butterfly with tailless wings that span 2.9–3.2 cm (11⁄8 to 11⁄4 inches). The wings of females are generally reddish-brown on the dorsal side with a narrow border of black around the edge. Males are typically brown. The underside of the wings of both sexes is usually greenish-yellow on the undersides with a postmedian line bordered with black near the base.[2][3] This species exhibits a certain amount of polymorphism, making the phenotype of some individuals significantly different from that described here[11] but according to one simple description "it is small and gold and green in color and it lives in and among beargrass plants, where its pink, lavender and white caterpillars eat beargrass flowers, making the butterfly and its caterpillar easy to identify."[7] A butterfly hunter writing for Orion magazine describes:
Life cycleIn March, the female lays its eggs on the stalks of Texas sacahuista (Nolina texana).[2][3] Its caterpillars are naturally monophagous (feeding only) on this plant and eat both its flowers and its fruit during April.[2][3][9] In May, the caterpillars crawl into the leaf litter under the plant and form a chrysalis. The adult butterfly emerges the following spring. Adults feed on the nectar of the same host plants used by their larvae.[2][3] and look for a mate. An entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, discovered they could be raised in the laboratory on Lotus scoparius with little or no retardation in development (whereas a few other picky lycaenids did not fare as well) suggesting that its ancestral range was once much larger.[9] Distribution and habitatThe Sandia hairstreak has a range limited to yucca-agave desert in the Southwestern United States (specifically southeast Colorado south through New Mexico and western Texas) and northeast Mexico.[2][3] State butterflyThe Sandia hairstreak was made the official state butterfly of New Mexico by the New Mexico Legislature in 2004.[4][7] In their declaration they opined that this species (despite its range beyond the state) was "thought of as uniquely New Mexican".[7] Among the many other reasons they cited for naming the Sandia hairstreak as an official symbol include:
The legislative session also commended a group of dancers that had performed an original dance presentation entitled "The New Mexico Gossamer Wing" for their benefit.[7] References
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