Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Note: Some authors refer to this species as Callophrys augustus.
Range:
This is the most common species of Elfin. It ranges from central Alaska across
most of south central and eastern Canada; from Minnesota east to the Atlantic
coast, extending south to northern Georgia; in the Pacific Northwest south through
California; and in patches of the Rocky Mountain states and the southwest. In
Idaho, it occurs through much of the state.
Habitat:
It occurs in an array of habitats, including forests, bogs,
chaparral, and deserts.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars eat flowers, fruits, and occasionally leaves from a variety
of plants, such as blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), bearberry (Arctostaphylos
spp.), buck brush (Ceanothus spp.), and madrone (Arbutus spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar, often from plants of the heath family (Ericaceae).
Ecology:
There is only one generation of caterpillars each summer. Each caterpillar
experiences four stages of growth, called instars. The caterpillar is equipped with
a honey gland, also known as a dorsal nectary organ, which
emits a sugary solution agreeable to ants. The ants feed on the solution and
in turn protect the caterpillar from predators. Pupae overwinter in a physiological state called
diapause; chrysalises are often
in the leaf litter at the base of host plants.
Adults generally fly from April through
July in the northern part of its range, and from mid-March to early June in
the southern part of its range. This is the most common elfin species in North
America.
Reproduction:
Males perch to
wait for receptive females. Females lay green eggs singly on the flowers and
flower buds of host plants.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5
populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. |
Ferris, C. D. and F. M. Brown. (eds.) 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 442 pp.
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.