Range:
This is a species of the west coast, ranging from central British Columbia south
to southern California, and east as far as western Montana, Idaho, and northern
Nevada. In Idaho it ranges throughout
the north and center, and in patches of the southwestern corner of the state.
Habitat:
It can be found in a variety of habitats, including forest
edges, poplar groves, orchards, river bottoms, and canyons.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of willows (Salix spp.), cottonwoods
and poplars (Populus spp.), and some fruit trees (Prunus spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies have a diversified diet, including dung, bird droppings, and
flower nectar from species such as the California buckeye (Aesculus californica),
yerba santa (Eriodictyon spp.), and privet (Ligustrum spp.).
Ecology:
Young caterpillars overwinter in a physiological state called diapause, immerging
in the spring to feed, molt,
and eventually pupate.
A "sleeping bag", called a hibernaculum, is constructed for
overwintering from a leaf rolled with silk. In the northern parts of the range
there is typically one generation each year. There may be several in California,
in which case only the caterpillars of the last generation overwinter. Adults
generally fly from March to Novemeber.
They may hybridize
with another Limenitis species, Limenitis
weidemeyerii, where the ranges of the two species overlap. The
butterflies can be aggressive, pursuing anything passing by where they have
perched. The name of the species is in honor of Pierre Lorquin, a French butterfly
collector from the mid-1800s.
Reproduction:
Males perch to
wait for receptive females to fly by, and may occasionally actively patrol
for them. Females lay eggs on the topside of the tips of leaves of host plants
.
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.