Cotton Square Borer- Gray hairstreak: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life Cycle

Latin Name: Strymon Melinus

Appearances: The grey hairstreak is a tiny butterfly, reaching between 2.2 and 3.5 cm in length. The undersides of the grey hairstreak’s wings are ash-gray in hue and have a white line running around the margins. A line of black markings and another line of orange and white spots also line the wings. There are additional orange spots on the ends of their rear wings, as well as one on the top of their head, in-between their eyes. With the exception of the lines of black dots and orange and white spots, the upper half of the butterfly’s wings has a grayish-indigo color with comparable patterning to the underside.

Host Plants: Mallows and legumes are the most common host plants for them. Rabbit-foot clover, white clover, bush clover, white sweet-clover, and Malva neglecta are all typical clover food plants. Young caterpillars prefer to consume the flowers and fruiting bodies of their host plant, but older caterpillars prefer to eat the leaves.

Territory: The grey hairstreak butterfly is widespread in the Americas, with populations in a variety of habitats. They can be found practically anywhere between the west and east coastlines, from Southern Canada to Central America and Northwestern South America. They may also live at a variety of elevations, reaching as high as 2745 meters.

Damage Caused: Caterpillars have chewing mouth parts that feed on the flowers, immature fruits, seeds, and buds of 46 genera and 21 plant families that include apple, blackberry, corn, cotton, lantana, legumes, and strawberry. Caterpillars carve out squares in cotton, leaving round entrance and exit holes and tunnels devoid of the excrement (frass) associated with other cotton boll feeders like bollworms and tobacco budworms. Caterpillars can harm cotton squares and hibiscus buds, but they are uncommon.

Life Cycle and Habits: The chrysalis is where you spend the winter (pupal stage). Cotton square bors lay solitary flattened eggs as adults. Early in the spring, eggs are laid on cotton. In around 6 days, the eggs will hatch. Before developing a chrysalis, caterpillars go through various stages (instars) and feed for roughly 20 days. Adults emerge after around ten days. Every year, there are three or more generations.

The chrysalis is where you spend the winter (pupal stage). Cotton square bors lay single, flattened eggs when they are adults. Before developing a chrysalis, caterpillars go through various stages (instars) and feed for roughly 20 days. Adults emerge after around ten days.