Henry's Elfin - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

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Spring is the season for Henry’s Elfins, and the woods are their habitat. Sometimes known as “Woodland Elfin,” these butterflies inhabit a variety of wooded habitats, and their host plants vary accordingly. Those in the Coastal Plain are typically holly-eaters. In north Alabama, these elfins have been observed using Eastern Redbud. At Oak Mountain State Park, Carolina Buckthorn was finally discovered to be their host. Wherever they live, Henry’s Elfins spend most of their time in trees--perching, ovipositing, and nectaring. Often encountered along woodland paths, males aggressively defend small territories and swirling dogfights with other elfins or an occasional skipper may last for several minutes.

Henry's Elfins range throughout much of the eastern United States. In Alabama, they are widespread and are probably more common than current records indicate.

Distribution and Abundance

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, Choctaw, Colbert, DeKalb, Escambia, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Marshall, Monroe, Perry, Pickens, Shelby, Tuscaloosa, Walker

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

High count(s):

12 - Shelby - 3/6/2023
11 - Shelby - 3/28/2024
10 - Monroe - 3/3/2011

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
							3	31	30	51	92	36	20	3	5	7

Habitat

A variety of habitats including deciduous woodlands, forest edges, coastal forests; bottomlands and swamps, shrubby areas, old fields, pocosins, and roadsides.