Euphydryas gillettii

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Euphydryas gillettii
Euphydryas gillettii, female

Euphydryas gillettii , female

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Noble butterfly (Nymphalidae)
Subfamily : Common Butterfly (Melitaeinae)
Genre : Euphydryas
Type : Euphydryas gillettii
Scientific name
Euphydryas gillettii
( Barnes , 1897)
Wing underside of a female

Euphydryas gillettii is a butterfly (day butterfly ) from the noble butterfly family(Nymphalidae).

features

butterfly

The wingspan of the moth is 38 to 48 millimeters. The front and rear wings show similar drawing elements on the upper side. The basic color is black to black-brown. In the submarginal region , a broad band formed from red-orange to yellow-orange spots can be seen. In the middle of the wing there are whitish zones that are slightly more pronounced in the males than in the females. A large and a small orange spot stand out below the front edge . The wing undersides show a similar pattern as the upper sides, but have no black colored areas.

Egg, caterpillar, pupa

The egg is yellow-green at first and later takes on a reddish color.

Adult caterpillars have a black base color, from which a yellow back line and white side stripes stand out. They are equipped with strongly branched thorns along the entire length of the body. These are yellow on the back and black on the sides.

The doll is whitish and has many small black spots and a few orange bumps.

Distribution and occurrence

The range of the species extends over the southwest of the Canadian province Alberta and the US states Idaho , Montana and Wyoming . It occurs in particular in Yellowstone National Park , which is why the species is also known as Yellowstone Checkerspot in English usage in addition to Gillette's Checkerspot . Euphydryas gillettii prefers to colonize moist meadows, moist coniferous forests and river banks.

Way of life

The moths fly in one generation from June to August. They like to suckle on flowers or damp spots on the ground. The eggs are laid on the underside of leaves that face the sun. Young caterpillars live gregariously in nests spun from silk threads. In the lowlands the caterpillars overwinter individually in the fourth instar, in higher altitudes there are two overwintering periods. They feed on a variety of plants, such as figwort family (Scrophulariaceae) and honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae). These include Castilleja miniata , Castilleja linariifolia , Lonicera involucrate , Symphoricarpus albus and Veronica wormskjoldii . Plantain plants (Plantaginaceae) are also accepted for breeding . According to MD Bowers and EH Williams, the caterpillars store the toxins contained in the leaves of the food plants , making them inedible for predators.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Butterflies and Moths of North America
  2. ↑ a b c d e James A. Scott: The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-8047-2013-4 , p. 297
  3. ↑ M. Deane Bowers, Ernest H. Williams: Variable chemical defense in the checkerspot butterfly Euphydryas gillettii (Lepidoptera: NymphaIidae) , Ecological Entomology, Volume 20, Issue 3, pages 208-212, August 1995

literature

  • James A. Scott (1986). The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2013-4 , p. 297

Web links

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