About Mitoura hesseli Rawson & Ziegler, 1950
Adult Hessel's hairstreaks (Mitoura hesseli) have rusty brown base wing color, covered in numerous olive green dots, with white bands near the wing tips. Their wingspan measures approximately 1 inch. Caterpillars of this species are fluorescent green, with thick white dashes running down their sides. This butterfly occupies terrestrial wetland habitats, including bogs, riparian areas, swamps, and forested wetlands. These habitats contain the Atlantic white-cedar tree, which is the species' preferred host plant. Hessel's hairstreak is restricted to the east coast of the United States, ranging from southern Maine to Florida. Many small patches of apparently suitable habitat within this range cannot support populations, for reasons that remain unknown. The highest population density of the species occurs in the New Jersey area. In total, an estimated 21 to 300 populations exist, and only 13 to 125 of these populations have strong stability.
