Little Glassywing - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Butterfly: Wingspan: 1 - 1½ inches (2.6 - 3.9 cm) UPPER SURFACE (dorsal) Very dark brown. Several glassy (hyaline) spots on forewing: one is rectangular on male; squared on female. Male has dark stigma. Wing fringe buffy. UNDER SURFACE (ventral) Dark brown. Forewing has spot band near tip and several glassy (hyaline) spots. Hindwing has faint row of spots. Head may have golden wash. White patch below antennal clubs.

ID Tip: Look for white patch just below the antennal club.

Egg: A partial sphere. Whitish.

Caterpillar: Green. Speckled with numerous tiny brown tubercles, each with a short light-colored hair. Faint dark lines along sides and back. Head very dark brown; in later instars, two dark red false eyespots near base. Collar with black and white rings. First pair of legs (thoracic) darker than next two. Partially grown caterpillars overwinter.

Chrysalis: Straw-colored with dark dots. Blackish on front and rear. Wing veins dark, highly contrasting with light background color.

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Little Glassywings are most often encountered while nectaring. Favorite sources include the summer blossoms of buttonbush and Mountain Mint, but many other flowers are also used. Little Glassywings are usually found in damp areas, often near a woodland edge. However, they will fly some distance to visit prime nectar sites. Males perch on low, sunlit vegetation in open areas where they wait for females to pass by, at which time they dart out and try to entice them to mate. Males may also be seen sipping moisture and nutrients from patches of bare, damp soil.

Purple Top may be the sole host plant, and like Little Glassywings, it is widespread throughout the state. Eggs are laid singly on the host blade. When caterpillars hatch, they cut small sections of the leaf so that the edges curl together. The caterpillars stitch these edges together and live within the tiny rolls. As they grow, blades are cut and rolled to form larger shelters. Late instars move toward the base of the grass and tie several blades together to form tubes. They eat the upper part of the blades until only a short tube remains. The chrysalis is formed within a grass tube.

Little Glassywings range across the eastern United States. They probably occur in most, if not all, counties in Alabama.

A dot on the county map indicates that there is at least one documented record of the species within that county. In some cases, a species may be common throughout the county, in others it may be found in only a specific habitat. The High Count information shows the highest numbers recorded for this species as well as when and where they occurred.

The sightings bar graphs depict the timing of flight(s) within each of three geographic regions. Place your cursor on a bar within the graph to see the number of individuals recorded during that period.

The abundance calendar displays the total number of individuals recorded within each week of the month. Both the graphs and the calendar are on based data collection that began in 2000.

The records analyzed here are only a beginning. As more data is collected, these maps and graphs will paint a more accurate picture of distribution and abundance in Alabama. Submit your sightings to albutterflyatlas@gmail.com.

Sightings in the following counties: Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Coosa, Cullman, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington

Sightings in the past 5 years
Sightings in the past 5 - 10 years
Sightings more than 10 years ago

High count(s):

29 - Hale - 7/30/2023
25 - Sumter - 9/4/2023
20 - Sumter - 9/14/2022

View county names by moving the mouse over a county or view a map with county names

Jan				Feb				Mar				Apr				May				Jun				Jul				Aug				Sep				Oct				Nov				Dec
1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
													1	1	19	39	71	34	22	7	12	1	2	6	20	49	202	129	58	28	39	53	29	18	11	8	6	2		1

Moist areas near shaded woodlands, forest edges, clearings near streams, bogs, and marshes. Wet meadows, fields, and pastures.

Little Glassywing (*Vernia verna*)

County

© Sara Bright

Sunny field with nectar sources

Reports from nearby states list Purple Top (Tridens flavus). Opinons vary as to whether it is the sole host.

In Alabama, host plants have not yet been documented. Purple Top is suspected, but other grasses may also be used.

Provide a variety of garden worthy, nectar-rich flowers to attract butterflies like the Little Glasswing. These include Butterfly Milkweed and other milkweeds; Purple Coneflower and other coneflowers; black eyed susans; phloxes; mountain mints; Common Buttonbush; Joe Pye weeds; gayfeathers/blazing stars; Mistflower; ironweeds; asters; and goldenrods.

If you have a lawn in your landscape, consider letting it be natural. The diverse assemblage of native and nonnative flowering plants and grasses typically found in naturalized lawns provides nectar and host sources for many small butterflies including Little Glassywings.

Little Glassywing (Vernia verna) Photos

Click on individual photos to view a larger version that includes photo credits, county, and date.
Photos with comments are indicated by a small, tan dot on the bottom right.