Hickory Hairstreak
Satyrium caryaevorus

Hickory Hairstreak is rare and local in the Mountains. It was first reported in 1959 by Gordon Small in Union County (Butterflies of Georgia, Harris 1972). Hickory Hairstreak is very difficult to separate from Banded Hairstreak (S.c. falacer) to say the least. Jeffrey Glassberg has written that” the genitalia of these two species are abundantly distinct,” but for separating them in the field, Glassberg also wrote “that if one see a hairstreak with the cell-end bars aligned with the bars above it is very likely to be a Hickory Hairstreak. But hairstreaks without this alignment could be anything.” (American Butterflies, Volume 24, No.1, Spring 2016). One of the Hickory Hairstreaks analyzed in the Glassberg article was collected in Rabun County. The hostplants are various hickory species (Carya) of which six occur in the Mountains. There is one brood from mid-June to mid-July. Early Date: June 19 (Union); Late Date: 15 July (Rabun County). Conservation Status: Secure.