Anthocharis midea annickae (Falcate Orangetip)

Interesting Facts

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Widespread and locally common in North Carolina, this species generally has only one brood and can be found flying in March and April. Males have orange tips to the forewings but females lack orange (usually).

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Falcate Orangetip

Description

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Family Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, this family has approximately 4,700 species that are unevenly distributed. Coppers are especially dominant in north temperate regions , blues are richest in the Old World tropics and north temperate zones, and hairstreaks are particularly abundant in New World tropics. The adults are typically small to tiny and often brilliantly colored--iridescent blues, bright reds, and oranges. Adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs , though most males have fused segments in their front legs. Most adults visit flowers for nectar, but some harvesters feed on wooly aphid honeydew and some hairstreaks feed on aphid honeydew or bird droppings. Females lay single, sea urchin shaped eggs on host leaves or flower buds; the resulting caterpillars are typically slug-shaped. In many species, caterpillars depend on ants for protection, so caterpillars produce sugary secretions that are collected by the ants. Most species overwinter in either the egg or pupal stage.

Biology

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Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- Kingdom: Animalia () - Linnaeus, 1758 - Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
  - Subkingdom: Bilateria () - (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
    - Branch: Protostomia () - Grobben, 1908
      - Infrakingdom: Ecdysozoa () - Aguinaldo et al., 1997 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
        Superphylum: Panarthropoda () - Cuvier
        Phylum: Arthropoda () - Latreille, 1829 - Latreille, 1829 - arthropods
        Subphylum: mandibulata () - snodgrass, 1938
        Infraphylum: Atelocerata () - Heymons, 1901
        Superclass: Panhexapoda ()
        Epiclass: Hexapoda ()
        Class: Insecta () - c. linnaeus, 1758 - Insects
        Subclass: Dicondylia ()
        Infraclass: Pterygota ()
        Cohort: myoglossata ()
        Superorder: Amphiesmenoptera ()
        Order: Lepidoptera () - Linnaeus, 1758 - Butterflies, Moths
        Infraorder: heteroneura ()
        Family: Lycaenidae () - Gossamer-wing Butterflies
        Genus: Anthocharis ()
        Specific name: midea - (Hubner, 1809)
        Subspecies: annickae
        Scientific name: - Anthocharis midea annickae

Similar Species

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According to Ron Gatrelle, A. midea annickae, in which the orange tip does not reach the black spot on the forewing as shown here, is the subspecies found throughout NC except for the lower coastal regions where A. m. midea is found. Also note that A. midea annickae does not show yellow orange scales at the outer margin of the upperside hindwings as is found in A. m. midea.

Members of the genus Anthocharis

There are approximately 194 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

A. acolymus · A. ajana · A. alaskensis · A. alberti · A. alexandra · A. alpium · A. amplia · A. andalusica · A. androgyne · A. andromorpha · A. angelina · A. annickae · A. antiquincunx · A. apicalis-obtusa · A. apicalis-splendida · A. apicalis-suffusa · A. armeniaca · A. atavista · A. aureoflavescens · A. australis · A. bambusarum · A. belia · A. belia belia · A. bieti · A. bilineata · A. bimaculata · A. britannica · A. broweri · A. browningi · A. buschmanni · A. caliente · A. calleuphenia · A. cardamines · A. cardamines britannica · A. cardamines cardamines · A. cardaminoides · A. catalonica · A. caulotosticta · A. cethura (Desert Orangetip) · A. cethura catalina (Catalina Orange Tip) · A. cethura cethura (Felder's Orange Tip) · A. cinerea · A. citrona · A. commaculata · A. cooperi · A. corcorani · A. costaenigrata · A. crassipuncta · A. crocea · A. dammersi · A. damolasthenia · A. damone · A. deaurata · A. decolor · A. decolorata · A. decorata · A. deserti · A. detersa · A. diluta · A. discocellularis · A. dispila · A. divisa · A. douei · A. duncani · A. edwardsii · A. ellena · A. eros · A. eunomia · A. eupheno · A. euphenoides · A. extensa · A. femininus · A. flava · A. flavescens · A. flavicoloris · A. flavido-virescens · A. flavoapicata · A. flavoradiata · A. flavosignata · A. flora · A. gigantea · A. graeca · A. gruneri · A. gruneri gruneri · A. gunderi · A. gynomorphica · A. hayashii · A. hellas · A. hesperidis · A. hibernica · A. homogena · A. houzeaui · A. hyalina · A. hybridophana · A. immaculata · A. impunctata · A. inghami · A. isshikii · A. italorum · A. julia (Southern Rocky Mountain Orangetip)

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Pippen, Jeffrey S. Jeff's Nature Page. Accessed December 3, 2007.

Identifiers

Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 2777429