Callophrys henrici

Last updated

Henry's elfin
Henry's Elfin, Megan McCarty100.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Callophrys
Species:
C. henrici
Binomial name
Callophrys henrici
(Grote & Robinson, 1819)
Callophrys henrici range map.PNG
Synonyms
  • Incisclia henrici
  • Deciduphagus henrici

Callophrys henrici, the Henry's elfin or woodland elfin, [2] is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. In Canada it is found from southern Manitoba to southern Nova Scotia. [3] It has two main groups of populations in the United States; the first is found along the Atlantic Coast and uses various hollies ( Ilex ) as host plants; and the second is found mainly in the north and the Appalachians where they use redbud ( Cercis canadensis ) as a host plant. Henry's elfin is increasing in New England because of an introduced buckthorn ( Rhamnus cathartica ) it now uses as a host plant. [4] It is listed as a species of special concern in the US state of Connecticut. [5]

Contents

Description

Henry's Elfin, Megan McCarty98.jpg

The upperside of the wings is a dark brown color. The underside of the wings is strongly two toned with the basal area being dark brown black. [4] The hindwing postmedian line has white at both ends. [6] The outer edge of the hindwing is frosted and the outer edge of the forewing is sometimes green toned. The hindwing has tails that are short and stubby. In the southeast, these tails are longer. The male lacks a stigma. [4] [6] Henry's elfin's wingspan measures 20 to 25 mm (0.79 to 0.98 in) [3] [7]

Similar species

Similar species in the Henry's elfin's range include the frosted elfin ( Callophrys irus ), the brown elfin ( Callophrys augustinus ), and the hoary elfin ( Callophrys polios ).

The frosted elfin is slightly larger, males have a stigma, the underside of the hindwing has more frosting, and there is usually a dark spot near the hindwing outer margin. [4]

The brown elfin is more reddish brown, males have a stigma, it lacks hindwing tails, and the underside of the hindwing has no frosting. [4]

The hoary elfin is smaller, males have a stigma, it lacks hindwing tails, the underside of the hindwing outer margin is completely frosted, and the forewing outer margin is also frosted. [4]

Habitat

Henry's elfin can be found in a wide range of habitats such as barrens, coastal holly forests, open woodlands, mesquite woodlands, etc. [2] [4]

Flight

This butterfly may be encountered from early May to early June in the north [3] and March to April in the south. [4]

Life cycle

Males perch at about human eye level to await females. [4] (Males will sometimes perch high in tree tops or will perch very low to the ground.) Females lay their eggs singly on the host plant flower buds or on host plant leaves near the buds. The eggs are pale green but turn a whitish color before hatching. [2] The larva is quite variable. It varies from greenish yellow to red brown to maroon. [8] It has subdorsal spots that may be white, yellow, green, or red green and has a lateral stripe which may be yellow or a reddish color. [8] [9] Some individuals have a faint yellow or reddish middorsal stripe. [8] The pupa is orange brown and is mottled with a dark brown-black color. [2] The pupa hibernates in leaf litter. [4] Henry's elfin has one brood per year. [6]

Host plants

Host plants used by Henry's elfin:

Related Research Articles

<i>Cercis canadensis</i> Species of tree

Cercis canadensis, the eastern redbud, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico, west to New Mexico. Species thrive as far west as California and as far north as southern Ontario. It is the state tree of Oklahoma. The prevalence of the so-called "Columbus strain" has seen the residents of Columbus, Wisconsin embrace the plant into their city's identity. Known as the "Redbud City," the town hosts "Redbud Day" annually the Saturday before Mother's Day, organizing a variety of themed events to recognize the tree.

<i>Ilex opaca</i> Species of holly

Ilex opaca, the American holly, is a species of holly, native to the eastern and south-central United States, from coastal Massachusetts south to central Florida, and west to southeastern Missouri and eastern Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great purple hairstreak</span> Species of butterfly

The great purple hairstreak, also called the great blue hairstreak, is a common gossamer-winged butterfly species in parts of the United States. It is actually a Neotropical species; its North American range only includes the warm-temperate and subtropical parts of that continent, and it ranges southwards almost to the Isthmus of Panama. The type specimen, however, was shipped to Europe from the Colony of Virginia, probably around the time of the United States Declaration of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green hairstreak</span> Species of butterfly

The green hairstreak is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly blue</span> Species of butterfly

The holly blue is a butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family and is native to the Palearctic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zabulon skipper</span> Species of butterfly

The Zabulon skipper is a North American butterfly first described by the French naturalists Jean Baptiste Boisduval and John Eatton Le Conte from the state of Georgia, United States.

<i>Callophrys</i> Butterfly genus in family Lycaenidae

The genus Callophrys consists of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It is apparently not monophyletic, but which of the taxa currently considered junior synonyms of Callophrys are valid genera remains to be determined.

<i>Callophrys gryneus</i> Species of butterfly

Callophrys gryneus, the juniper hairstreak or olive hairstreak, is a butterfly native to North America. It belongs in the family Lycaenidae.

<i>Polites themistocles</i> Species of butterfly

Polites themistocles, the tawny-edged skipper, is a North American butterfly in the family Hesperiidae.

<i>Callophrys irus</i> Species of butterfly

Callophrys irus, the frosted elfin, is a species of Lycaenidae that is native to North America.

<i>Chlorostrymon simaethis</i> Species of butterfly

Chlorostrymon simaethis, the silver-banded hairstreak, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is also known as St. Christopher's hairstreak and the Key lime hairstreak.

<i>Callophrys augustinus</i> Species of butterfly

Callophrys augustinus, the brown elfin, is butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Newfoundland north and west through the northern United States and the prairie provinces to Alaska. To the south it ranges in Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and northern Alabama, further south through the western mountains to northern Baja California in Mexico. Subspecies iroides is known as the western elfin.

<i>Callophrys polios</i> Species of butterfly

Callophrys polios, the hoary elfin, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It has a very local distribution in the United States from Maine south to New Jersey and in the Appalachian Mountains to Virginia, west across the Great Lakes states and the southern prairie provinces and north to Alaska. Along the Pacific Coast it is found to northern California and in the Rocky Mountains south to northern New Mexico. It is listed as a species of special concern and believed extirpated in the US state of Connecticut.

<i>Callophrys mossii</i> Species of butterfly

Callophrys mossii, commonly known as Moss's elfin, stonecrop elfin or Schryver's elfin, is a species of butterfly native to North America in the family Lycaenidae. It is found from British Columbia south to southern California and east to Wyoming and Colorado in isolated populations. The habitat consists of rocky outcrops, woody canyons and cliffs.

Callophrys fotis is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, the gossamer-winged butterflies. It is known by several common names, including early elfin, desert elfin, Fotis hairstreak, Strecker's elfin, and Arizona gray elfin. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it occurs in southeastern California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, northern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico.

<i>Satyrium liparops</i> Species of butterfly

Satyrium liparops, the striped hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae described by John Eatton Le Conte in 1833. It is found in North America, from the Rocky Mountains south from southern Canada to Colorado, east to Maine and south to Florida.

<i>Callophrys xami</i> Species of butterfly

Callophrys xami, commonly referred to as the xami hairstreak or green hairstreak, is a butterfly included in the subgenus Xamia and the genus Callophrys in the family Lycaenidae. It was described by Tryon Reakirt in 1867. Other common names for this species, depending on the region, include green hairstreak and elfin. C. xami is considered to be a very rare species of butterfly, and its typical range is in southern Arizona and Texas including down south to Guatemala. The juniper hairstreak and the silver-banded hairstreak butterflies are similar species, but both differ significantly from C. xami in regards to the postmedian white line running across the butterfly wings.

References

  1. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Callophrys henrici Henry's Elfin". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 James A. Scott (1986). The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. ISBN   0-8047-2013-4
  3. 1 2 3 4 Henry's Elfin, Butterflies of Canada
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rick Cech and Guy Tudor (2005). Butterflies of the East Coast. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. ISBN   0-691-09055-6
  5. ↑ "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003). Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin, New York, NY. ISBN   0-618-15312-8
  7. ↑ Ernest M. Shull (1987). The Butterflies of Indiana. Indiana Academy of Science. ISBN   0-253-31292-2
  8. 1 2 3 David L. Wagner (2005). Caterpillars of Eastern North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. ISBN   0-691-12144-3
  9. ↑ Thomas J. Allen, Jim P. Brock and Jeffrey Glassberg (2005). Caterpillars in the Field and Garden. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. ISBN   978-0-19-514987-6
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Henry's Elfin Callophrys henrici (Grote & Robinson, 1867) | Butterflies and Moths of North America".
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