Bug FAQMarsyas Hairstreak
Pseudolycaena marsyas · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Lycaenidae
Also called: Giant Hairstreak, Cambridge Blue
The Marsyas hairstreak is a large hairstreak butterfly with a wingspan of about 40 to 50 mm. Its upper wings shine metallic blue, while the undersides are pale blue-grey with black spots.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The upper side of the wings is metallic blue, ranging from cobalt to turquoise. The wing tips are black and slightly falcate in males, and both sexes have small black spots and tails on the hindwings. The underside is pale blue-grey with several black spots and thin markings.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan measures roughly 40 to 50 mm (1.6 to 2.0 in).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in many habitats, especially semi-open forests at elevations from sea level to about 1,000 m.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range spans South America down to Argentina. It is also recorded occasionally on the wet Atlantic coast of Central America.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Same family (Lycaenidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudolycaena_marsyas
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.