Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Name: Stonecrop
Elfin.
Range:
This species occurs in patches of British Columbia south to southern California
and Arizona, and east through the Intermountain West. In Idaho, it has been documented to occur in patches of the
western third of the state.
Habitat:
It occurs in canyons, rocky slopes, and sagebrush steppe.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars eat the leaves, flowers, and fruits of members of the stonecrop
family (Crassulaceae), including various species of Sedum,
Dudleya, and Parvisedum.
Adult:
Butterflies presumably drink flower nectar, but the adult food has not been
reported in the literature.
Ecology:
Young caterpillars feed preferentially on leaves while older caterpillars
feed on flowers and fruits. There is one generation of caterpillars each summer.
Each undergoes four stages of growth, called instars. The caterpillar is equipped with
a honey gland, also known as a dorsal nectary organ, which
emits a sugary solution agreeable to ants. The ants feed on the solution and
in turn protect the caterpillar from predators. Pupae overwinter in a physiological state called
diapause. Adults
generally fly from
the end of February through May.
Reproduction:
Males perch to
wait for receptive females. Females lay pale bluish green eggs on the underside
of the leaves of host plants.
The eggs turn white before hatching.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5; most populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. One subspecies in California, C. mossii bayensis, is listed as T1, which means it is critically imperiled because of extreme rarity and is imminently vulnerable to extinction. |
Ferris, C. D. and F. M. Brown. (eds.) 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 442 pp.
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.