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This small, tailless Elfin is orange-brown above and silver-grey to dark brown below. It is best recognized by the band of frosted-grey colour on the underside of both wings along the margin. Its wingspan is 1.9-2.5 cm.
In the Algonquin Highlands, you have to look for these harbingers of Spring in March through to April or May, flitting low in open, scrub areas, dry woods edges, and adjacent to bogs.
Males perch on plants in sunny glades and low spots to look for females. Eggs are laid singly on leaf buds of Bearberry or Trailing Arbutus. The immature caterpillar is rosy to yellow in colour, turning green when older. Young caterpillars are well camouflaged on flowers of Bearberry. The sparsely hairy brown chrysalis overwinters.
Adult feed on the nectar from flowers, including Wild Strawberry, and Willow, or sip moisture from wet spots on the ground.
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HOARY ELFIN
Incisalia polios
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