Western pine elfin
Callophrys eryphon
The western pine elfin is a small butterfly that lives in pine forests. Males are brown and females are orange-brown, and both have bold patterns on their back wings. Unlike many of its cousins, it has no tail on its wings.
Lives in
North America, from British Columbia to Maine and south to California, Arizona and New Mexico
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The butterflies drink nectar from flowers like wild blueberry, milkweed and clover. The caterpillars eat young pine needles.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Western pine elfin about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The mother lays her eggs at the base of fresh new pine needles.
2
Its caterpillar is velvety green with cream to yellow stripes and grows to about 1.5 centimetres.
3
It flies only once a year, in spring from March to June.
4
It has few enemies and is not in danger.
you asked
Most asked questions about Western pine elfin
?What does the western pine elfin eat?
The butterflies drink flower nectar, and the caterpillars eat young pine needles.
?Where does the western pine elfin live?
In pine and evergreen forests across much of North America.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Callophrys eryphon
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Western pine elfin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Cody Hough. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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