This is our most common brown hairstreak in the west, and a regular visitor to flowers. Since they perch with wings closed, you may only glimpse their bright orange upper side in flight. Females lay their eggs on Ceanothus species in the buckthorn family. The eggs will overwinter and hatch next spring. They range throughout the Rocky Mountain States to the west coast. Here in Montana, they can be found mainly in July and August.
Size: 25 – 32mm
Photo by: Glenn Marangelo on 8/17/22 near Victor, MT