Not sure how we happened to spot this little gem in the glare of the late-morning sunshine. It’s a Red-banded Hairstreak perched at the end of an Eastern Red Cedar branch. The blossoms and seeds surrounding it are suspended in some minute cobwebs that snagged them as they sailed downward from nearby trees. These southeastern butterflies are regular spring and summer wanderers north of the Mason-Dixon line. The gusty southwest winds earlier this week were apparently sufficient to help transport this particular one to the Conewago Creek (east) valley of Lancaster County. The Red-banded Hairstreak is a member of the “groundstreak” group, its larvae feeding on decaying dead leaves.
