King's Hairstreak (Satyrium kingi)

King's Hairstreak is rare and local in North Carolina. Though it has been recorded in a few locations in the Mountains and Piedmont, it is most common, but still very local, in the Sandhills, where it flies in June and July. The caterpillar host plant is Sweetleaf (Symplocos tinctoria).

Weymouth Woods, Moore Co., NC 6/6/2003.

All photographs and text ©2013 by Will Cook unless otherwise noted.