American Snout - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

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No other butterfly has a “snout” like this one. The adaptive purpose of its remarkable elongated snout (palps) has long been questioned. Perhaps it simply enables the butterfly to impersonate a dry leaf, complete with upturned stem or petiole. The effect is enhanced by the forward placement of the antennae. Snouts are so cryptically colored and shaped that they may be missed by butterfly enthusiasts.

In addition to camouflage, snouts use startle tactics to aid in defense against vertebrate predators. Perched snouts may resemble dried leaves but by quickly raising their forewings, the butterflies flash attackers with a startling flash of orange.

Like their adult counterparts, caterpillars also rely on cryptic coloration and camouflage to avoid predators. Mimicry is another weapon in their arsenal. Two small black spots on the thorax enable them to resemble small snakes. They heighten the effect by arching their bodies and tucking their heads when alarmed. Chrysalides are typically formed on living hackberry leaves where their green base color and yellow venation make them almost invisible.

Snouts are often seen flying around hackberry trees, their host plant. They are occasionally encountered nectaring from flowers, and males avidly seek salts and minerals by puddling on damp earth. (They also often seek these substances on perspiring skin!) Late fall adults enter diapause during winter months and resume activity the following spring--as early as mid-February in some parts of Alabama.

Except for the northwest corner, American Snouts range throughout the continental United States. Large emigrations sometimes occur in the Southwest. In Alabama, they probably occur in every county.

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, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Coosa, Covington, Dale, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, 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):

100 - Baldwin - 5/8/2016
65 - Baldwin - 8/13/2019
42 - Perry - 9/7/2009

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
		4	9	20	28	23	85	116	66	69	98	25	52	75	175	100	209	73	98	115	69	100	94	106	50	75	115	28	102	37	37	74	28	33	13	16	11	6	12	13	8	7	3	14			2

Habitat

Deciduous woodlands and woodland edges, costal scrub, bottomlands, parks, urban and suburban landscapes.

Host and Nectar Plants

Various hackberries (Celtis spp.) are used throughout the range.

The following has been documented in Alabama:

Hackberry spp. (Celtis spp.) - Host Plant

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

Landscaping Ideas

Include hackberry trees in the landscape to provide caterpillar food for at least six butterfly species, including American Snout. According to author and entomologist Doug Tallamy, the genus supports as many as 43 species of lepidopteran caterpillars. Fruit-eating birds devour the berries, while insect-eaters find plenty of small bugs on the leaves. It is considered one of the best food and shelter trees for wildlife.

Hackberries are used as shade trees and grow well in urban landscapes. One established, they are extremely drought tolerant and adapt to a wide range of soil conditions, including alkalinity. A mature hackberry's warty bark provides winter interest. If your landscape has no room for a canopy tree, cut your hackberry back when it gets too tall. Several butterfly species (including American Snouts) will make use of the fresh foliage that sprouts from the trunk.