Range:
The species is holarctic, which means it can be found
in the northern temperate
regions of the entire Northern Hemisphere. In North America, it ranges from
Alaska and northern Canada south to the Canadian border and into the northern
sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. There are also isolated populations
in the Rockies, in central Colorado and in northeastern Wyoming. In Idaho,
it has currently been documented only in Fremont County.
Habitat:
This is a species of bogs and arctic tundra.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of willows (Salix spp.), birch (Betula
spp.), cranberry (Vaccinium spp.), and bog rosemary (Rosmarinus
spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies are known to visit flowers of Labrador tea (Ledum glandulasum),
but only rarely.
Ecology:
There is one generation of caterpillars each summer. These
caterpillars overwinter in a physiological state called diapause and then pupate in the spring. Adults generally
fly from June to mid-July.
Reproduction:
Males patrol
the low portions of willow bogs for receptive females. Females lay their eggs
on willows and are partly dependent on old beaver dams for the abundance of
healthy willows at such sites.
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.