Gray Hairstreak (Male)
http://socalbutterflies.com/lycaenidae_html/gray_hairstreak.htm
Strymon melinus (Male)
I'm going to post several photos of this butterfly because initially iNaturalist suggests it could be a gray hairstreak or several other hairstreaks, however I could not find any that match some of the details of this butterfly. Here is what I see and will try to show with additional photos.
1) Has an orange stack of hair on its head
2) The abdomen is orange and the thorax is blue
3)The forewing has an orange border when when wings are folded
4) The legs seems to be stripe at the top, but solid dark orange or brown beginning at the first joint
5) The color of the hind wings are brown with very subtle darker brown bands near white fringed wings, and brown & white dashes with some orange spotting interspersed.
6) There are two orange dots that can seen on hind wing with a black dot near edge.

The gray hairstreak is one of the most common hairstreaks in North America, ranging over nearly the entire continent. It occurs also throughout Central America and in northern South America.
comments (4)
One question, when you say iNaturalist ID-ed it, do you mean their visual recognition software, or actual iNaturalist members? Posted 4 years ago