Windwolf
Crex Meadows Butterflies... Henry's Elfin
Henry's Elfin
Callophrys henrici
Henry's Elfins are an early butterfly on Crex Meadows. Usually seen during the month of may, an early warm spring can bring them out in late April.
In Wisconsin, the Henry's elfin is listed as a Special Concern butterfly, with a high potential for ex-patration from the state. Its status is somewhere between Critical and Imperialed.
This status makes it important to protect the population that exists on Crex Meadows until further information on its prevalence is gathered.
Picture taken April 20, 2010.
In 2009, I participated in a Crex Meadows program near the end of May, a Butterfly trek lead by Dean Hanson out of the university of MN.
The butterfly trek's focus was the rarer butterflies of the bogs and barrens and how to find them.
The trek took us from Crex to Danbury to the far northeastern corner of Burnett county to find as many species of May butterflies as possible with their varied habitats.
What I learned during this trek improved my ability to find butterflies on Crex Meadows.
Caterpillar host plants across the Henry's elfin habitat vary widely with Diverse plants texana) in Texas; dahoon (Ilex cassine), American holly (I. opaca), and yaupon (I. vomitoria) in Florida and North Carolina. Redbud (Ceris canadensis), huckleberries and blueberries (Vaccinium species), Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa), and Viburnum species are selected in other locations as a general outline of the variety. In wisconsin, it is believed the Henry's eflin feeds on Lupine as one of its potential host plants.
Wing span: 1 - 1 1/4 inches (2.5 - 3.2 cm).
One brood per year (univoltine).
Habitat: Often found at woodland edges or in clearings in woods.
Henry's elfins tend to perch around eye level. When multiple elfins are in a spot, there is a lot of chasing going on but one of the elfins tended to return to the perch within a minute or so.
During the chases, the Henry's elfins would circle tightly, often rising to about 25 feet off the ground, then break off in separate directions.
Pictures all taken May 20, 2010 in various locations on Crex Meadows
| Kingdom | Animalia | (Animals) |
| Phylum | Arthropoda | (Arthropods) |
| Superclass | Hexapoda | (Hexapods) |
| Class | Insecta | (Insects) |
| Subclass | Pterygota | (Winged Insects) |
| Order | Lepidoptera | (Butterflies and Moths) |
| Superfamily | Papilionoidea | (Butterflies) |
| Family | Lycaenidae | (Blues, Coppers, Hairstreaks, Harvesters) |
| Subfamily | Theclinae | (Hairstreak) |
| Genus | Callophrys | |
| Species | henrici | (Henry's Elfin) |