Elfins belong to the subfamily of butterflies called hairstreaks, which are placed in the worldwide family Lycaenidae which also includes blues, coppers and metalmarks. Many of the hairstreaks bear hairlike extensions at the rear of their hindwings, however the elfins have no such tails, in- stead bearing a “tornus”. This is a small rounded extension to the wing, projecting down perpendicular to the tails of other hairstreaks. Elfins are small, unobtrusive butterflies, colored in camouflaged browns and grays. All four of our elfins fly early in the spring, the Brown Elfin appearing as early as mid-March but with records through July at higher elevations.

Callophrys augustinus occurs throughout most of Canada, a bit of Alaska, and extending down both coasts of the US, to northernmost Mexico in the far West and to Georgia in the far East. While absent from most of the American Midwest and from the Gulf Coast states this is America’s most widespread Elfin. Widespread

in Washington, but absent from the Columbia Basin and generally from the higher west slopes of the Cascades, also absent from the NW part of the Olympic Peninsula.

In the spring adults lay their eggs on flower buds of the host plants; single eggs were observed being oviposited on salal at the base of the least developed bud at the tip of a flower cluster. On hatching the larvae feed first on the buds, then on flowers and

finally on young fruits in succession as the host plant develops. The caterpillar is small, slug-like in appearance, attractively bright green with a yellow-green dorsal stripe and oblique lateral stripes and dashes. Brown Elfin larvae feed by extending their long necks down into a bud or fruit and then hollowing it out; an early instar may move its entire body into such a feeding hole. A number of food plants are eaten including Salal, huckleberry, Bearberry (Kinnikinnick), Ceanothus, Azalea, Arbutus and Labrador Tea. Pupation occurs in leaf litter near the base of the host plant and the pupa overwinters, ready to emerge early in the spring.

On eclosing in the spring Brown Elfins fly low and close to their host plants, in forest openings, power line rights-of-way, Christmas tree plantations and along forest road- sides. The males perch in conspicuous places and fly out to challenge any passing butterfly. Females are much less conspicuous, flying quietly from flower to flower to nec- tar, or carefully inspecting buds or new blossoms before depositing a single egg, then moving on to another plant. Females will not oviposit if there is already an egg on the plant. Eggs can be found by watching the female’s habits, then by checking nearby host plants with careful attention to the favored oviposition sites. All elfins perch with their wings together over their back, so dorsal wing surfaces can be observed only in the hand or in flight. A lepidopterist sampling the species early in the flight period is likely to find only males, and gravid females may not be present until up to two weeks later.

The Brown Elfin is marked with plain, 2-tone brown or reddish-brown colors, and fresh individuals often have a pleasant purplish cast. Callophrys augustinus can be differentiated from our other three species of elfins by its two-tone brown ventral hindwing; our other three species all have whitish or hoary markings to varying degrees, or strong zigzag lines in one species.

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