Eastern Tailed-Blue - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

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Throughout most of the state, Eastern Tailed-Blues are familiar sights in fields, pastures, roadsides, and other open, sunny areas. They are the most encountered Blue in Alabama, and the only one with tails. Several generations occur, and populations build as the summer progresses. ETB flight is weak and fluttery, and these tiny butterflies generally stay close to the ground. They often bask with wings partially open, allowing good looks at dorsal surfaces. Males sometimes congregate in large groups to seek nutrients from damp soil. Both sexes are attracted to small, low-growing flowers.

Like other blues, Eastern Tailed-Blue caterpillars are primarily flower and bud eaters. They are often colored like the flowers they ingest. Ants are often in attendance because the caterpillars secrete a sugary substance from a special abdominal organ. To safeguard this treat, ants provide some protection from predators.

Two tailed-blue species (genus Cupido) occur in the continental United States. Eastern and Western Tailed-Blues are comprised of several subspecies. Our familiar "tailed-blue" flies throughout much of the East with the exclusion of peninsular Florida. In Alabama, they are extremely common in central and north Alabama, but populations decline in southern counties.

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: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, Wilcox, Winston

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

High count(s):

115 - Madison - 6/16/2017
92 - Cleburne - 4/20/2014
74 - Jefferson - 10/4/2012

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	2	11	80	376	397	198	338	188	154	140	170	340	190	232	366	135	139	132	171	193	118	136	125	149	304	286	166	303	253	84	29	15	5	3	1

Habitat

A wide variety of open, disturbed sites including roadsides, pastures, and even yards.

Eastern Tailed-Blue (*Cupido comyntas*)

County

© Sara Bright

Wet meadow

Host Plants

Members of the Pea family (Fabaceae), especially clovers (Trifolium spp.) and vetches (Vicia spp.) are reported in throughout the range.

The following have been documented in Alabama, but additional pea family members are probably used as well.

For more information about these plants, please visit the Alabama Plant Atlas using the links above.

Landscaping Ideas

Many people provide Eastern Tailed-Blues with habitat without ever realizing it. Less-than-manicured garden edges, alleyways, and natural lawns are often abundant with the small pea-family plants that provide their tiny caterpillars with food. If you have a lawn in your landscape, consider letting it be natural. These areas often contain small flowering plants like clover, frogfruit, and violets that provide nectar sources for many small butterflies, including Eastern Tailed-Blues.