The coral hairstreak has a wingspan of 1-1.5 inches (2.5-3.8 cm) and no tail. The male’s wings are more pointed than the female’s wings.
It is dark brown on its upperside. The underside of its wings is light brown with a row of coral-red spots at the edges and a row of black spots ringed in white in the middle of the wings.
The coral hairstreak is found in shrubby areas, openings in woodlands, old pastures and fields, roadsides, streamsides, and brushy clearings.
The coral hairstreak caterpillar eats a variety of plants in the Rosaceae (rose family) including wild cherry, wild plum, and chokecherry. The adult feeds on the nectar of butterfly weed, dogbane, and sulphur flower.
The male coral hairstreak perches on a bush and waits for a female. The female lays one egg at a time on the twigs or in the leaf litter at the base of a host plant. The caterpillar stays in the leaf litter during the day and feeds at night.
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The coral hairstreak is found throughout New Hampshire in fields, on roadsides, and near places with lots of bushes, usually near water sources like streams and lakes.
The coral hairstreak is found throughout the northern 2/3 of the United States and in parts of Canada.
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