Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Butterfly: Wingspan: 1¼ - 2 inches (3.5 - 5 cm). Upperside is brown; forewing has orange at base and inner margin, and white spots on outer half. Underside of hindwing is mottled or smooth violet-gray.  The palps that form the snout are long and extended forward. The forewing tip is squared off. This is the overwintering stage.

ID Tip: Look for elongated ”snout” or palps and squared forewing tips.

Egg: Tiny, white, and round.  Laid singly on host, often on new leaf tips.

Caterpillar: Light green "worm" with numerous small yellow dots and a yellow lateral stripe.  Two small black dots located below the head look like eyes, enabling this caterpillar to mimic a small snake. It heightens the effect by arching its body and tucking its head when alarmed.

Chrysalis: Green. Often suspended from the underside of a hackberry leaf where it is highly camouflaged due to coloration and pattern.

No other butterfly has a “snout” like this one.  The adaptive purpose of its remarkable elongated snout (or “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.

Late fall adults enter diapause during winter months and resume activity the following spring--as early as mid-February in some parts of Alabama.  American Snouts are expected to occur in every county in our state.

Snouts are often seen flying around hackberry trees, their host plant. They are occasionally encountered nectaring from flowers, and they avidly seek salts and minerals by puddling.  They also often seek these substances on perspiring skin!

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, 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

  • Map Symbol for Recent Sightings Sightings in the past 5 years
  • Map Symbol for Semi-Recent Sightings Sightings in the past 5 - 10 years
  • Map Symbol for Old Sightings Sightings more than 10 years ago

High count(s):

  • 100 - Baldwin - 5/8/2016
  • 65 - Baldwin - 8/13/2019
  • 42 - Perry - 9/7/2009
County Distribution Map

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 9 10 22 20 70 109 66 67 77 22 50 75 175 100 204 70 98 115 68 97 90 104 49 69 109 27 97 33 31 72 16 31 12 11 9 5 12 13 8 7 3 14 2

Habitat

Deciduous woodlands and woodland edges.

American Snout
American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
County
© Sara Bright
Sugarberry/Southern Hackberry

Host and Nectar Plants

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

 

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

American Snout
American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
Jefferson County
© Sara Bright
Sugarberry/Southern Hackberry Bark
American Snout
American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
County
© Sara Bright
Sugarberry/Southern Hackberry
American Snout
American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
County
© Sara Bright
Sugarberry/Southern Hackberry berries

Landscaping Ideas

Including hackberry trees in the landscape provides caterpillar food for at least 6 butterfly species, including American Snout.