Satyrium semiluna, known generally as the sagebrush sooty hairstreak or half-moon hairstreak, is a species of hairstreak in the butterfly family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America.[1][2][3][4] The MONA or Hodges number for Satyrium semiluna is 4277.1.[5]
Formerly included in Satyrium fuliginosa, it is similar to the Icaricia icarioides female. The latter species has range, flight-times and host plant overlaps. Unlike the Icaricia icarioides female, Satyrium semiluna lacks blue scales above, white fringe on the wings, and dark cell-end bar on the forward wing. Not present are the one to three basal black dots on the ventral hind wing that the Icaricia icarioides female usually has.[4]
^ abcPyle, Robert Michael; LaBar, Caitlin C. (2018). Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 197. ISBN978-1604696936. See [Satyrium fuliginosa], in which this one was formerly included ... its habitat, host plant lupines, and flight period largely overlap with those of the Boisduval's Blue, so its likeness to that butterfly is all the more striking. Even still, the butterfly does have its own look. Perch awhile by a patch of woolly sunflowers with both species nectaring, and you will soon detect the distinctive traits of each. The Halfmoon can look much like a female Boisduval's Blue that has been rubbed below, and they both frequent lupines, but practice will give you the eye for it. Less ubiquitous than that blue and not often as numerous, the subtly lovely Halfmooon Hairstreak is always a special find.
