Sandia Hairstreak

C. mcfarlandi is a relatively small butterfly with tailless wings that span 2.9–3.2 cm (11⁄8 to 11⁄4 inches). The wings of females are generally reddish-brown on the dorsal side with a narrow border of black around the edge. Males are typically brown. The underside of the wings of both sexes is usually greenish-yellow on the undersides with a postmedian line bordered with black near the base. This species exhibits a certain amount of polymorphism, making the phenotype of some individuals significantly different from that described here but according to one simple description "it is small and gold and green in color and it lives in and among beargrass plants, where its pink, lavender and white caterpillars eat beargrass flowers, making the butterfly and its caterpillar easy to identify." A butterfly hunter writing for Orion magazine describes:

... hairstreaks – "hair" for the tiny tails many kinds trail from their hindwings, "streak" for their stripes, or perhaps derived from their zippy flight. Many hairstreaks make their appearance early, then are seen no more ... Goldy-green with a white stripe below, it blends perfectly with its larval host ... I found the plant, and the butterfly, in its type locality (= place of original collection and description) – the Sandia Mountains, outside Albuquerque. …

The Sandia hairstreak has a range limited to yucca-agave desert in the Southwestern United States (specifically southeast Colorado south through New Mexico and western Texas) and northeast Mexico.