The common name is a misnomer insofar as there is no purple anywhere on this very showy, tropical-looking animal. The Great Purple Hairstreak occurs from sea level to about 5000' wherever its host plants, broadleaf mistletoes, occur. It is commonest in Valley and foothill riparian forest and in older urban neighborhoods with a well-developed canopy, and in foothill woodland. In recent years this species, which had turned up as a presumed stray in autumn on Rabbitbrush, became established as a breeding resident at Sierra Valley.