Callophrys niphon

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Eastern pine elfin
Eastern Pine Elfin - Callophrys niphon, Meadowood Farm SRMA, Mason Neck, Virginia - 25812522423.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification
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C. niphon
Binomial name
Callophrys niphon
(Hübner, 1823)
Synonyms
  • Licus niphonHübner, 1823
  • Incisalia niphon
  • Callophrys niphon clarkiFreeman, 1938

Callophrys niphon, the eastern pine elfin, is a species of Lycaenidae that is native to North America.

Contents

Description

It is similar to the western pine elfin but has two dark bars instead of one in the forewing underside cell with strong patterning on the underside. The wingspan ranges from 22–27 mm (0.87–1.06 in). [2]

Life history

There is one flight from March to April in the south, while it occurs between mid-May and early June in the north. [2] Females will lay eggs singly on flower buds. The caterpillars eat both the flower and the developing seedpods. Chrysalids hibernate in loosely formed cocoons beneath litter below the plant. Larval foods include jack pine ( Pinus banksiana ) and white pine ( Pinus strobus ). [2]

Range

They range across most of the eastern United States and the southern parts of the provinces of Canada. [2] Within this range they tend to sandy areas with pine trees. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pinus strobus</i> Species of conifer in the pine family Pinaceae

Pinus strobus, commonly denominated the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, United States, and south along the Appalachian Mountains and upper Piedmont to northernmost Georgia and perhaps very rarely in some of the higher elevations in northeastern Alabama. It is considered rare in Indiana.

Western pine elfin Species of butterfly

The western pine elfin is a North American butterfly that ranges from British Columbia east to Maine and south to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Males are brown and females are orange-brown, with both having bold patterned hind wings. The top of the wings have dark bars with a lighter chevron shaped margin. The body is 19–32 mm in length and has no tail.

<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.

The genus Incisalia, described by Samuel Hubbard Scudder in 1872, consists of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae found in North America. They are commonly called elfins.

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

Callophrys henrici, the Henry's elfin or woodland elfin, is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. In Canada it is found from southern Manitoba to southern Nova Scotia. 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 as a host plant. Henry's elfin is increasing in New England because of an introduced buckthorn it now uses as a host plant. It is listed as a species of special concern in the US state of Connecticut.

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

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

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

Callophrys sheridanii, the Sheridan's hairstreak and Sheridan's green hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America along the south coast of British Columbia and parts of Nevada, Arizona, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, and New Mexico. In 2009, this species was adopted as the U.S. state butterfly for Wyoming.

Callophrys lanoraieensis, the bog elfin, is a species of Lycaenidae that is native to North America.

<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.

Callophrys mossii, the Moss's elfin, stonecrop elfin and Schryver's elfin), is a butterfly native to North America that belongs 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.

Callophrys johnsoni, the Johnson's hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from British Columbia south to central California. The habitat consists of coniferous forests.

Callophrys hesseli, or Hessel's hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It ranges from southern Maine south along the Atlantic coastal plain to northern Florida on the Gulf Coast. The species was first described by George W. Rawson and J. Benjamin Ziegler in 1950. It is listed as endangered in Connecticut by state authorities.

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Callophrys niphon Eastern Pine Elfin". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 EasternPine Elfin, Butterflies of Canada