Callophrys hesseli

Callophrys hesseli, or Hessel's hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It ranges from southern Maine south along the Atlantic coastal plain to northern Florida on the Gulf Coast. The species was first described (as Mitoura hesseli) by George W. Rawson and J. Benjamin Ziegler in 1950, in honor of the lepidopterist Sidney Adolphus Hessel. It is listed as endangered in Connecticut by state authorities.

The caterpillars feed on Atlantic white-cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) and adults consume nectar from flowers including swamp milkweed, shadbush, sand myrtle, sweet pepperbush, highbush blueberry, buttonbush, and dogbane.

Subspecies

 * Callophrys hesseli hesseli
 * Callophrys hesseli angulata (Gatrelle, 2001) (South Carolina)