Range:
This species ranges from eastern Washington to eastern North Dakota, and south
through eastern California over to northern New Mexico. In Idaho, it has been documented primarily in the southwest
and eastern portions of the state.
Habitat:
It is found in dry habitats including sagebrush steppe and pinyon-juniper
woodlands.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars eat the leaves and flowers of rabbit brush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus)
and other members of the sunflower family (Asteraceae).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
The caterpillars feed in groups. There may be one to three
generations of caterpillars each summer, the last of which overwinters under
rocks in a physiological state called diapause.
Some caterpillars may remain in diapause for multiple seasons or years before
emerging to continue feeding and to pupate.
Adults generally fly
from February through November.
Reproduction:
Males perch to
wait for receptive females, or they may actively patrol
in search of them. Females lay groups of eggs on the bottomsides of leaves of
host plants
,
and occasionally on flower buds.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G4; population levels are secure, but may be of concern in the future. |
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.