Range:
This species occurs in southern Alaska, throughout the southern half of Canada
and northern half of the U.S, and south to the Mexican border in the western
third of the U.S. It occurs widely throughout Idaho.
Habitat:
These butterflies can be found in any environment but tend
to be where it is cool, such as in woodlands or at higher elevations.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of nettle (Urtica spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies use flower nectar and occasionally sap for food.
Ecology:
Young caterpillars live together in web nests at the tops of nettle plants. Later
they may live and feed independently in leaves wrapped up with silk. There can be one to three generations
each summer, depending on the climate. Adults overwinter, often several together
in a group, in a physiological state called diapause. When multiple generations
occur during a given summer, only the adults of the last generation overwinter.
Adults generally fly
from June until winter and emerge in spring to fly again until June.
Reproduction:
Males perch
to wait for receptive females, typically from noon to early evening. Females
lay hundreds of pale green eggs in groups on the undersides of nettle leaves.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5; populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. |
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.