Guide Now Available to Vineyard Elfins

I've assembled a simple identification guide for the four elfin species that occur on Martha's Vineyard. It can be viewed here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/guides/13462

or accessed through the Guides menu, in the dropdown under "More" on the bar at the top of your iNaturalist screen.

Technically hairstreaks, elfins are small, brownish butterflies generally active early in the season. The first ones may emerge as early as the first week of April, so the time for looking for them is upon us! Their habitat and larval host plants give our elfins a strong affinity for barrens habitat: lean, sandy soils with a mix of oak, pitch pine, bluestem grasses, and blueberry. The edges of the fire lanes in Correllus State Forest are the best place to search for elfins on Martha's Vineyard, but they also occur on bare hilltops and in expanses of open habitat such as are found at Wasque and Long Point. Elfins are generally found basking on the ground, usually near their larval host plant, and while they're capable of rapid flight, they tend to circle back to land at their original perch when they are flushed. Their small size and dark color makes them hard to spot, though this gets easier with practice. Elfins look superficially alike but are easy to identify if you know what to look for. I hope this guide is helpful, and please be sure to post to iNaturalist any elfins you're lucky enough to find.
--Matt Pelikan

Publicado el marzo 24, 2021 04:18 TARDE por mpelikan