Frosted elfin butterflies haven’t been seen in Georgia since 1967. That lack of documented sightings led in 2018 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service categorizing Callophrys irus as extirpated in the state.
Yet DNR and others haven’t given up hope for these small, dull-colored butterflies. The agency’s Wildlife Conservation Section is in the first year of working with four other Southeastern states, conservation organizations and the public to search for frosted elfins.
Frosted elfin: easy-to-miss butterfly by day, glowing caterpillar by night (Michael Newton/ http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/357641885; Charlotte Brennan/ http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/297819704)
The presence of frosted elfin is connected to the availability of host plants, those species required for reproduction and larval development. In Georgia, the lone known host is sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis), which grows in the Coastal Plain. But in more northern counties, frosted elfin caterpillars are also suspected of feeding on yellow wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria).
Both species are commonly found in regularly disturbed areas, such as along railroads and roadsides, in airport approach zones, and under power lines. Open pine forests that are regularly burned may also support the plants.
With guidance from land managers, biologists and others, plus observations posted on iNaturalist, the Wildlife Conservation’s terrestrial invertebrate team has found promising sites that could host frosted elfin in Georgia. Ongoing projects to plant sundial lupine also could provide habitat, including for reintroducing the butterflies on protected lands.
The hunt for frosted elfin focuses on daytime surveys of sites where host plants are found. But night surveys are also planned because the larva actually glows under UV light! In other states, finding the butterflies has proven significantly easier when looking at night with UV flashlights.
Frosted elfin is in decline and will be considered for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act next year. Ongoing surveys for populations will be important for that decision.
WANT TO HELP?
If you know of any large patches of host plants – sundial lupine or yellow wild indigo – please email details and photos to gabiodata@dnr.ga.gov.
PARTNER POWER
The multistate search for frosted elfin and its host plants includes Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina and Virginia. DNR is also working with the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in Gainesville, Fla.; Tall Timbers in Tallahassee, Fla.; and The Jones Center at Ichauway in southwest Georgia.
Josie Elliott and Andrew Carroll are wildlife technicians with the DNR Wildlife Conservation Section’s terrestrial invertebrate team.