Species Atlides halesus - Great Purple Hairstreak

Classification · Other Common Names · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

Great Purple Hairstreak - Atlides halesus - female

Great Purple Hairstreak - Atlides halesus - male

Great Blue Hairstreak - Atlides halesus - male

Great Purple Hairstreak - Atlides halesus

Janus Butterfly? (Janus was the two faced god who looked both ways) - Atlides halesus

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Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies (excluding skippers))

Family Lycaenidae (Blues, Coppers, Hairstreaks, Harvesters)

Subfamily Theclinae (Hairstreaks)

Genus Atlides

Species halesus (Great Purple Hairstreak)

Other Common Names

Great Blue Hairstreak

Size

37-50 mm Wingspan(1)

Identification

Iridescent bluish green to purple on the thorax and basal half of the wings. Ventrally all of the wings have a crimson spot near the base; ventral forewing otherwise plain brown (female) or brown with patch of blue (male); ventral hind wing with three rows of greenish spots near the apex. Males have a large scent patch on the upper side of the front wing.(1)

Range

Apparently breeds only in southern United States but strays as far north as New York, Lllinois, and Oregon.(1)

Food

Larvae feed on mistletoe, live oak, western sycamore, and desert ironwood.(1)

Remarks

These butterflies can be visually sexed by the underside of the forewing: males (left) have an iridescent blue patch, which females lack (right)

Print References

Arnett & Jacques (1)

Works Cited

1.	Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects By Dr. Ross H. Arnett, Dr. Richard L. Jacques

Contributed by Randy Emmitt on 20 March, 2004 - 9:31pm
Additional contributions by Matthew Roth, Nick Block, Harsi S. Parker, Abigail Parker
Last updated 5 October, 2009 - 12:22pm

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