"Plain brown above, the female more tawny than the dark brown male, the eastern pine elfin is strikingly banded and barred with rich brown and black beneath ... No other small hairstreak found in our region is so boldly marked ... The wing margins are checkered black and white, giving them a scalloped appearance ... Pine elfins are rarely seen except when nectaring or sipping from mud puddles and moist sand. Startled, they fly high into the treetops, where males perch in wait for females."

This is BugGuide's Eastern Pine Elfin

Photograph made with Nikon D80, using a Nikon 300mm, f/2.8 lens.

March 17, 2007.