Lacey's Scrub Hairstreak

Strymon alea is a resident of North America only at the very southern tip of Texas, and is migratory in the northern part of its range; it ranges to southern Mexico (Scott 1986). Habitats are subtropical thorn forests along creeks. Host plants are the shrub Bernardia myricaefolia (Euphorbiaceae). Larvae eat blossums and buds. There are multiple flights year-round in s. Texas (Scott 1986).

Strymon alea, the Alea hairstreak or Lacey's scrub-hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It was described by Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin in 1887. It is found from north-western Costa Rica through Mexico to central and southern Texas. The habitat consists of subtropical thorn scrub.

The wingspan is 19–29 mm. Adults feed on flower nectar.

The larvae feed on the buds and flowers and Bernardia myricaefolia.