American Snout Butterfly
Facts about the American snout butterfly. Habitat: A variety of woodlands, usually along streams and lower slopes. Largely confined to the limestone bedrock regions of Ohio, as that is where its host plants are most frequent. Host Plants: Hackberry and possibly dwarf hackberry. When you can see them around: June to October.
Points of interest: The American snout is the only butterfly species originally described from Ohio. The early cleveland naturalist,Jared P.Kirtland, descibed it in 1852 from a Mahoning county collection. Some authorities believe that the Americans snout migrates to Ohio each summer and is not a breeding resident. The fact that it is absent from Ohio in some years and at low population numbers in other years would seem to support this theory. However, it most likely does reproduce at least locally in the state, but only survives mild winters. One of the largest concentrations of snouts that’s ever recorded in Ohio was on Kelly’s island during the summer of 1999 where several hundred were observed, the American Snouts are aptle named their long palpi (snout) is distinctive and makes confusion what other species unlikely. Source Ohio DNR Wildlife Guide