Range:
This species ranges from southern British Columbia and Alberta south to southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. In Idaho, it occurs throughout most of the state.
Habitat:
It utilizes a variety of habitats, such as tundra, grasslands, open woodlands, sagebrush steppe, and chaparral along the coast.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves and flowers of a number of plant species,
including Indian paintbrush (Castilleja spp.), lousewort (Pedicularis
spp.), and plantain (Plantago spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies feed on flower nectar.
Ecology:
Young caterpillars live in webs made of loose silk. There is one new generation
of caterpillars each summer. Older caterpillars overwinter, often under rocks,
in a physiological state called diapause. They may switch the host plants
they feed on after they emerge in spring. Adults generally fly from March through late August.
Reproduction:
Males perch and actively
patrol
in search of receptive females. Females lay eggs in groups on the underside
of leaves or on flowers of host plants.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: |
G5; most populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. Certain subspecies in California, however, are listed as T1, which means each is critically imperiled because of extreme rarity and is imminently vulnerable to extinction. |
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.