Euphydryas phaeton

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Nymphalidae

'The Nymphalidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Distributed worldwide, butterflies of this family are especially rich in the tropics. They are highly variable, and there are more species in this family than in any other. Adults vary in size from small to large, and their front legs are reduced, unable to be used for walking. Wing shape is also highly variable: some species have irregular margins (anglewings and commas), and others have long taillike projections (daggerwings). Browns, oranges, yellows, and blacks are frequent colors, while iridescent colors such as purples and blues are rare. Adults of some groups are the longest-lived butterflies, surviving 6-11 months. Adult feeding behavior depends on the species, where some groups primarily seek flower nectar while others only feed on sap flows , rotting fruit, dung, or animal carcasses. Males exhibit perching and patrolling behaviors when seeking mates. Egg-laying varies widely, as some species lay eggs in clustsers, others in columns, and others singly. Caterpillar appearance and behavior vary widely. Brushfoots overwinter as larvae or adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Nymphalinae

Brushfoots are the most prevalent members of the Family Nymphalinae. Distributed worldwide, this is a diverse group that contains several tribes , each with somewhat different structural and biological features. Adults of North American species are predominantly orange, brown, and black. Wing shape and mating systems are variable. Most checkerspots and crescentspots patrol for mates, while the remainder of groups exhibit either perching or perching and patrolling . Migration varies widely; some strong migrants are found in the lady butterflies, tortoiseshells, and anglewings, while other species are local in occurrence. Most species limit their host plants to a few species, but the Painted Lady has one of the widest host palettes of all butterflies. Eggs are laid singly or clustered in groups, and caterpillars be found feeding alone or communally. Brushfoots overwinter as young caterpillars or hibernating adults.[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Wet meadows, bogs , and marshes in the northeast part of the range ; dry open or wooded hillsides in the southwest.

In the southern Appalachians, the species inhabits two very different habitats . From NC northward, it typically occurs in bogs and wet meadows where considerable turtleheads (Chelone) are present. However, in GA it has been reported only in upland forests , presumably near false-foxgloves (Aureolaria). It has been recorded from all three mountain counties in SC, where bogs are very rare, and I suspect they might have been from upland places. Most NC records come from bogs/wet meadows, at least in the northern mountains. However, I saw one in a clearcut on a ridge in June 1994, and in a high elevation meadow in July 1995. (ref. 104673)

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,594 meters (0 to 8,510 feet).[3]

Biology

Diet

Caterpillar hosts: Plants where eggs are laid and that caterpillars eat before hibernating are turtlehead (Chelone glabra), hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus), English plantain (Plantago lanceolata), and false foxglove (Aureolaria). After overwintering, caterpillars may continue to use these plants, but may also wander and feed on unrelated plants including arrowwood (Viburnum recognitum), common lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), and white ash (Fraxinus americana). Adult food: Nectar from flowers of milkweed, viburnum, and wild rose.

The primary foodplants in NC are turtleheads (Chelone), of which there are four species. Three are restricted to bogs , wet meadows, etc. , but Chelone lyonii is also found in seeps and other damp spots on forested slopes . False-foxgloves (Aureolaria) are usually found on dry to mesic wooded areas and are suspected foodplants in GA and in the Ozarks. Interestingly, the weedy plantains (Plantago spp. ) are foodplants in some northern states. The population near Roan Mountain in Avery County might be using this genus, as butterfliers cannot locate any species of turtleheads or false-foxgloves (whereas plantains are probably present, but easily overlooked along roadsides). Nectar plants are varied, and the adults also feed at carrion , mud , and other places. (ref. 104673)

Reproduction

Males perch near the ground to find females. Eggs are laid in groups of 100-700 under host plant leaves. Newly-hatched caterpillars move to the tip of the plant and feed together in a web which is enlarged downward as the caterpillars consume more of the plant. These caterpillars suffer high mortality from falling off the plant and from parasitism by wasps. Fourth-stage caterpillars hibernate in rolled leaves on the ground.

Behavior

Flight: One brood; from May-June in the south, June-August in the north.

Flight period: A single brood. At lower elevations (at least in the southern counties) the flight begins around mid-May, but in the higher elevations the flight doesn't begin until late June. The flight lasts about a month at any place, with the high elevation sites finishing around mid- to late July. (ref. 104673)

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Euphydryas

There are approximately 81 species in this genus:

E. alexandrina · E. anicia (Anicia Checkerspot) · E. anicia capella · E. anicia carmentis · E. anicia eurytion · E. anicia helvia · E. anicia hermosa · E. anicia wheeleri · E. aurinia (Marsh Fritillary) · E. aurinia aurinia · E. borealis · E. chalcedona (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona anicia (Variable Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona bakeri (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona chalcedona · E. chalcedona chuskae (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona cloudcrofti (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona colon (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona corralensis (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona dwinellei · E. chalcedona kingstonensis (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona macyi (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona magdalena (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona morandi (Morand's Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona olancha · E. chalcedona paradoxa (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona perdiccas (Island Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona quino · E. chalcedona sierra · E. chalcedona chalcedona (Variable Checkerspot) · E. chalcedona trinitina (Chalcedon Checkerspot) · E. colon (Colon Checkerspot) · E. cynthia · E. cynthia cynthia · E. debilis · E. desfontainii · E. editha (Edith's Checkerspot) · E. editha alebarki (Alebark's Checkerspot) · E. editha angusta · E. editha augusta (Augusta Checkerspot) · E. editha aurilacus · E. editha baroni (Baron's Checkerspot) · E. editha bayensis (Bay Checkerspot Butterfly) · E. editha beani · E. editha bingi (Edith's Checkerspot) · E. editha colonia · E. editha editha · E. editha edithana · E. editha ehrlichi (Edith's Checkerspot) · E. editha gunnisonensis · E. editha hutchinsi · E. editha insularis (Island Checkerspot) · E. editha karinae (Edith's Checkerspot) · E. editha koreti (Koret's Checkerspot) · E. editha lawrencei · E. editha lehmani (Lehman Caves Checkerspot) · E. editha monoensis (Mono Lake Checkerspot) · E. editha nubigena · E. editha quino (Quino Checkerspot; Wright's Checkerspot) · E. editha remingtoni · E. editha rubicunda · E. editha tahoensis (Edith's Checkerspot) · E. editha taylori (Taylor's Checkerspot) · E. editha wrighti · E. gillettii (Gillette's Checkerspot) · E. glaciegenita · E. iduna · E. intermedia · E. intermedia wolfensbergeri · E. magnifica · E. maturna · E. ozarkae · E. phaetana · E. phaethusa · E. phaeton (Baltimore Checkerspot) · E. phaetontea · E. phaeton ozarkae (Baltimore Checkerspot) · E. phaeton phaeton (Baltimore Checkerspot) · E. schausi · E. streckeri · E. superba

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A manual for the study of insects, by John Henry Comstock and Anna Botsford Comstock Ithaca, N.Y., Comstock Publishing Company, 1916 [c1895] ENG url p. 686.
• A manual for the study of insects. Rev. ed. By John Henry Comstock, and Anna Botsford Comstock, and Glenn W. Herrick. Ithaca, N. Y., Comstock Pub. Co., 1930. ENG url p. 269.
• American insects, by Vernon L. Kellogg with many original illustrations by Mary Wellman. New York, H. Holt and Company, 1905. ENG url p. 456, p. 456, p. 657, p. 677.
• An introduction to entomology, by John Henry Comstock. Ithaca, New York, The Comstock publishing co., inc., 1933. ENG url p. 1022, p. 752.
• An introduction to entomology. Ithaca, N.Y., Comstock, 1949. ENG url p. 1041, p. 752.
• Annals of the Carnegie Museum. [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901- ENG url p. 31, p. 519.
• Annals of the Entomological Society of America. [College Park, Md., etc.]: Entomological Society of America. ENG url p. 106, p. 328.
• Biological survey of the Mount Desert Region, conducted by William Procter... From the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Mount Desert Island, Maine. Philadelphia, The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1927-1946. ENG url p. 219.
• Brief guide to the commoner butterflies of the northern United States and Canada; being an introduction to a knowledge of their life-histories, by Samuel Hubbard Scudder. New York, H. Holt and Company, 1893. ENG url p. 66, p. 68.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 100, p. 103, p. 12, p. 153, p. 16, p. 18, p. 23, p. 238, p. 253, p. 26, p. 268, p. 30, p. 334, p. 335, p. 6, p. 61, p. 7, p. 72.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) ENG url p. 173.
• Butterflies and Moths of North America.
• Butterflies worth knowing, by Clarence M. Weed... illustrated by forty-eight plates, thirty-two in color. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page and company[c1917] ENG url p. 135, p. 149, p. 284.
• Catalog of hymenoptera in America north of Mexico / prepared cooperatively by specialists on the various groups of Hymenoptera under the direction of Karl V. Krombein [et al.]. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979- ENG url p. 246, p. 680.
• Entomological news, and proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia[Entomological Rooms of the Academy of Natural Sciences] ENG url p. 349, p. 366.
• Entomological news. [Philadelphia]American Entomological Society, 1925- ENG url p. 146, p. 162, p. 172, p. 241, p. 287, p. 294, p. 297, p. 37.
• Entomology, with special reference to its biological and economic aspects. Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1913. ENG url p. 303.
• Frail children of the air; excursions into the world of butterflies, by Samuel Hubbard Scudder. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1897. ENG url p. 278.
• Hymenoptera of America north of Mexico: synoptic catalog, second supplement / prepared by the staff and collaborators of the Hymenoptera Unit, Insect Identification and Parasite Introduction Research Branch, Entomology Research Division, Agricultural Res Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1967. ENG url p. 164.
• Illinois biological monographs. Urbana, Univ. of Illinois Press. ENG url p. 136.
• Journal of the New York Entomological Society. Lawrence, Kan.: Allen Press [etc.] ENG url p. 229, p. 246, p. 254, p. 5.
• Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Washington [etc., Washington Academy of Sciences] ENG url p. 404.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 1, p. 16, p. 3, p. 363, p. 662, p. 7.
• Report of the State Entomologist on injurious and other insects of the state of New York. Albany: Weed, Parsons and Co.; University of the State of New York, 1882- ENG url p. 557, p. 576.
• The Canadian entomologist. Ottawa [etc.]Entomological Society of Canada [etc.] ENG url p. 104.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. ENG url p. 313.
• The butterflies of the eastern United States and Canada: with special reference to New England / By Samuel Hubbard Scudder. Cambridge: The author, 1889. ENG url p. 1352, p. 1398, p. 1417, p. 1871, p. 1872, p. 1953, p. 5, p. 6, p. 681, p. 690, p. 691, p. 693, p. 695, p. 7, p. 984, p. 985.
• The classification of lepidopterous larvae, with ten plates, by Stanley Black Fracker. [Urbana, University of Illinois, c1915] ENG url p. 136.
• The day butterflies and duskflyers of New England, how to find and know them. By Edward Knobel. Boston, B. Whidden, 1895. ENG url p. 19.
• The transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis. St. Louis: The Academy, 1860-1958. ENG url p. 242.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby FA, Roskov YR, Orrell TM, Nicolson D, Paglinawan LE, Bailly N, Kirk PM, Bourgoin T, van Hertum J, eds (2008). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Taxonomic Classification. CD-ROM; Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 31, 2006.
• Butterflies of North Carolina
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 26, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
• LepIndex: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index
• Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Mountain Prairie Information Node. March 26, 2007.
• Opler, Paul A., Kelly Lotts, and Thomas Naberhaus, coordinators. 2009. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Big Sky Institute. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/ (Version of April 17, 2009).
• Pippen, Jeffrey S. Jeff's Nature Page. Accessed December 3, 2007.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 26, 2008:

• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Alan Wormington Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Atlantic Forestry Centre Insect Reference Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Canadian National Collection (CNC) of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Lepidopterists Society Season Summaries 1973-1997
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Lyman Entomological Museum
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: McMaster University Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: New Brunswick Museum Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, Halifax, NS, Canada
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Ross A. Layberry Observations
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal British Columbia Museum Entomology Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal Ontario Museum: Entomology
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal Saskatchewan Museum Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: University of Guelph, Department of Environmental Biology
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: University of New Brunswick Collection
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: University of Western Ontario Collection
• Illinois Natural History Survey

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2603011
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Lep-154794.0
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14255504
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: IILEPK4060
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 172134

Footnotes

1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=18&sci=Nymphalidae&com=Brush-footed Butterflies [back]
2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Editha&search=Search [back]
3. Mean = 180.780 meters (593.110 feet), Standard Deviation = 177.570 based on 260 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2009 the BayScience Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.