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Photo#98508
Henry's Elfin - Callophrys henrici

Henry's Elfin - Callophrys henrici
Williamson County, Texas, USA
March 16, 2007
I had photographed a Henry's Elfin the day before, laying eggs on a redbud. (We have quite a few Henry's Elfin images in the Guide, so I didn't enter mine.) When I first saw this Elfin on juniper, next to a redbud tree where there were several more undeniable Henry's Elfins, I thought at first it was a Henry's. But it was lighter, grayer, with less contrast between darker and lighter areas, and no white "dashes" on the hindwing. Nor did it have the truncated "tail" that had been on the Henry's. When I looked in Glassberg, I found that only Henry's Elfin is supposed to be here in central Texas. Yet, of all the butterflies I looked at, in books and in the Guide...this one looks like a Brown to me. Help!

Moved
Moved from Butterflies.

Henry's
That is the other subspecies from west Texas of Henry's.

See the second shot here on the Henry's page:
http://www.hr-rna.com/RNA/Main%20pages/Hairstreak%20frame%20page.htm

Glassberg does not show that subspecies in the picture in his western guide, he shows the eastern dominant species. There may be other species hidden in this complex. That forewing line is much too straight for Brown Elfin.

 
Thank you!
I had the feeling I was making a mistake, but did not see the Henry's picture you referenced until you pointed it out.

So...we have both kinds of Henry's here, it seems. Because the one I had photographed the day before was a classic, straight-out-of-books Henry's.

Thanks for keeping me from adding something to the "place list" that wasn't there.

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