Diet

• Caterpillars feed on plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae).

• Adults take nectar from small-flowered trees, composites, and Croton.

Range

• Strymon istapa has a very broad distribution extending from the southern United States through Mexico and Central America, across parts of the Caribbean, and southward into South America as far as Brazil and Paraguay.

• It occurs throughout much of Mexico, including the Pacific lowlands.

• Guerrero is within its range, and it occurs in the Zihua area where suitable open, dry habitat is present.

Habitat

• Found primarily in open, warm habitats including dry scrub, thorn scrub, old fields, weedy areas, roadsides, pastures, and disturbed second growth.

• It often occurs where mallow-family host plants are abundant.

• The species is well adapted to human-disturbed habitats and can occur in rural and suburban areas.

Description

• A small hairstreak with a wingspan of approximately 22–32 mm.

• The upper surface is dark grey. Females may have a bluish-grey area on the lower portion of the hindwing.

• The underside is grey, with a row of small black postmedian spots and a conspicuous black spot near the base of the hindwing costa.

• Each hindwing has a single short tail.