Melitaea phaeton

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

Interesting Facts

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]

Taxonomy

Similar Species

Members of the genus Melitaea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 14 species and subspecies in this genus:

M. asteria (Little Fritillary) · M. athalia (Heath Fritillary) · M. cinxia (Glanville Fritillary) · M. cinxia cinxia (Glanville Fritillary) · M. diamina (False Heath Fritillary) · M. diamina diamina (False Heath Fritillary) · M. didyma (Red-Banded Fritillary) · M. didyma didyma (Red-Banded Fritillary) · M. parthenoides (Meadow Fritillary) · M. phoebe (Knapweed Fritillary) · M. phoebe phoebe (Knapweed Fritillary) · M. trivia (Lesser Spotted Fritillary) · M. trivia trivia (Lesser Spotted Fritillary) · M. varia (Grisons Fritillary)

More Info

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Further Reading

• ... Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North America. Part I--Diurnal and crepuscular Lepidoptera. Comp. for the Smithsonian institution, by John G. Morris Washington, Smithsonian institution, 1862 url p. 50.
• ...Butterflies worth knowing, by Clarence M. Weed... illustrated by forty-eight plates, thirty-two in color. 1917 Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page & company[c1917] url p. 149.
• A manual of North American butterflies / by Charles J. Maynard. Illustrated with ten hand-colored plates, and many wood-cuts. 1891 Boston: De Wolfe, Fiske & Co., 1891. url fig. 26, p. 68.
• Agriculture of New York: comprising an account of the classification, composition and distribution of the soils and rocks. .. together with a condensed view of the climate and the agricultural productions of the state. Albany, C. Van Benthuysen, 1846-54. url p. 269.
• Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. New York, New York Academy of Sciences. url p. 201.
• Annotated checklist of the butterflies of Illinois [by] Roderick R. Irwin [and] John C. Downey. Urbana, Illinois Natural History Survey, 1973. url p. 28.
• Annual report / Entomological Society of Ontario. Toronto, The Society. url p. 15, p. 152.
• Annual report / New York State Museum. Albany, N.Y.: University of the State of New York, c1904-1920. url p. 416.
• Bibliographical catalogue of the described tranformations of North American Lepidoptera by Henry Edwards. Washington: G.P.O., 1889. url .
• Bibliography (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) / Charles A. Bridges. Urbana, Ill.: C.A. Bridges, c1993. url p. 127, p. 150, p. 293, p. 33.
• 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. url p. 66.
• Bulletin - New York State Museum. Albany: New York State Education Dept. url p. 416, p. 416.
• Bulletin - State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut. [Hartford]State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, 1904- url p. 787.
• Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. New YorkAmerican Museum of Natural History1881- url p. 258, p. 472.
• Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society. Brooklyn, N.Y.: The Society, url .
• Butterflies worth knowing / by Clarence M. Weed; illustrated by forty-eight plates, thirty-two in color. [Garden City, N.Y.]Pub. by Doubleday, Page & Company for Nelson Doubleday, 1923 [c1917] url p. 149, p. 285.
• Catalogue of scientific papers (1800-1900) Comp. by the Royal society of London. Cambridge, C. J. Clay and sons, 1867-1902; url p. 786.
• Catalogue of the described Lepidoptera of North America. Prepared for the Smithsonian Institution / By John G. Morris. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1860. url p. 50.
• 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] url p. 128, p. 128, p. 156, p. 156, p. 175, p. 204, p. 204, p. 267, p. 312, p. 312, p. 330, p. 330, p. 336, p. 369, p. 422, p. 95, p. 95.
• Entomological news. [Philadelphia]American Entomological Society, 1925- url p. 38.
• Entomology for beginners; for the use of young folks, fruitgrowers, farmers, and gardeners; by A. S. Packard. New York, H. Holt and company, 1888. url p. 362.
• Guide to the insects of Connecticut. Hartford: Geological and Natural History Survey, 1911- url p. 787.
• Illustrations of diurnal Lepidoptera, with descriptions, by Andrew Gray Weeks, jr. Boston, Printed by the University Press, Cambridge, 1905-1911. url , , .
• Index to publications of the New York State Natural History Survey and New York State Museum, 1837-1902; also including other New York publications on related subjects. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1903. url p. 416.
• Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. Chapel Hill, N.C. [etc.]Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society [etc.] url p. 77, p. 77.
• Natural history. New York: American Museum of Natural History. url p. 15.
• Nature's garden: an aid to knowledge of our wild flowers and their insect visitors / text by Neltje Blanchan; with colored plates and many other illustratins potographed directly form nature by Henry Troth and A. R. Dugmore. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1900. url p. 146.
• Nature's garden; an aid to knowledge of our wild flowers and their insect visitors. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1920. url .
• Proceedings - Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. Staten Island, N.Y., Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. url p. 210, p. 3.
• Psyche. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge Entomological Club url , , p. 173, p. 247, p. 255, p. 261, p. 49, p. 54, p. 78.
• Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. 4 1862 Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. url p. 50.
• The Canadian entomologist. Ottawa [etc.]Entomological Society of Canada [etc.] url p. 139, p. 139, p. 160, p. 160, p. 169, p. 169, p. 196, p. 23, p. 23, p. 259, p. 259, p. 263, p. 267, p. 267, p. 40, p. 40.
• The butterflies of Maine. .. / C. H. Fernald. Augusta [Me.]: Sprague & Son, 1884. url p. 45.
• The butterflies of the eastern United States and Canada: with special reference to New England / By Samuel Hubbard Scudder. Cambridge: The author, 1889. url p. 1953, p. 690.
• The butterfly book: a popular guide to a knowledge of the butterflies of North America / by W.J. Holland. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1910. url p. 142.
• The butterfly book; a popular guide to a knowledge of the butterflies of North America. With 48 plates in color-photography, reproductions of butterflies in the author's collection, and many text illustrations presenting 1922 Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page, 1922 [c1898] url p. 138, p. 142, fig. 91, list of illustrations in text, page xiii.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2974926
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4061667

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]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.