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Callippe Fritillary - Argynnis callippe
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S5
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
External Links
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981, Scott 1986, Glassberg 2001, Guppy and Sphepard 2001, Pyle 2002] Forewing 2.3-3.4 cm. Wings relatively short and triangular. Characterized everywhere by pale ventral hindwing marginal spots triangular and capped with thin triangle of green or brown. Ventral hindwing disk variable amounts of green to bright green, pale spots silvered, the median and submarginal spots show through the wings especially on females. Dorsal wing surfaces more yellowish-brown than bright orange, dark marking relatively evenly spaces giving a checkered appearance.
Phenology
One flight. Mostly mid-June to mid-August, June to July in California (Scott 1986). In Washington and Oregon, early May to early September with peak in June and July (Pyle 2002); mid-May to late August in British Columbia (Guppy and Shepard 2001). Appears in early June in Colorado (Ferris and Brown 1981).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Characterized everywhere by pale ventral hindwing marginal spots triangular (not oval or flattened) and capped with thin triangle of green or brown, the ventral hindwing disk with variable amounts of green to bright green.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
From southern British Columbia east to southern Manitoba, south to southern California, central Nevada and Utah, southern Colorado, northern Baja Mexico; to at least 2956 m elevation (Scott 1986, Glassberg 2001, James and Nunnallee 2011); statewide in Montana (Kohler 1980, Stanford and Opler 1993). Common to abundant (Glassberg 2001).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 20
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Migration
Non-migratory.
Habitat
Habitats vary by subspecies, but include prairie grasslands, sagebrush-steppe, chaparral, pine woodlands, montane canyons (Ferris and Brown 1981, Scott 1986, Pyle 2002, James and Nunnallee 2011).
Food Habits
Larval food plants include several species of Viola. Adults feed on flower nectar, including Sorbus, Gaillardia, Hieracium, and Spraguea, and at mud puddles (Scott 1986, Pyle 2002, James and Nunnallee 2011).
Reproductive Characteristics
Females lay eggs in August, producing 100-150 eggs laid singly often in litter at base of sagebrush (Artemisia) or near larval foodplant. Eggs hatch in about 11 days, overwinter as L1 instar larvae for at least 100 days. After leaving hibernation on the onset of feeding, L2 instar reached in 7 days, L2 to pupation in 47 days, adults emerge from pupae in about 13-35 days, all depending on temperature. Larval feeding mostly nocturnal, pupate near the ground under lightly-silked leaf tents (Guppy and Shepard 2001, James and Nunnallee 2011). Males patrol and perch on hilltops until midday, then patrol near the ground over hillsides or flatter areas in search of females (Scott 1986).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown (eds). 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountains. Univ. of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 442 pp.- Glassberg, J. 2001. Butterflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America. Oxford University Press.
- Guppy, C.S. and J.H. Shepard. 2001. Butterflies of British Columbia: including western Alberta, southern Yukon, the Alaska Panhandle, Washington, northern Oregon, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana. UBC Press (Vancouver, BC) and Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria, BC). 414 pp.
- James, D.G. and D. Nunnallee. 2011. Life histories of Cascadia butterflies. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press. 447 p.
- Kohler, S. 1980. Checklist of Montana Butterflies (Rhopalocera). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1): 1-19.
- Pyle, R.M. 2002. The butterflies of Cascadia: a field guide to all the species of Washington, Oregon, and surrounding territories. Seattle Audubon Society, Seattle, Washington. 420 pp.
- Scott, J.A. 1986. The butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
- Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western USA butterflies: including adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Unpubl. Report. Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado 275 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Allen, T.J., J.P. Brock, and J. Glassberg. 2005. Caterpillars in the field and garden: a field guide to the butterfly caterpillars of North America. Oxford University Press.
- Brock, J.P. and K. Kaufman. 2003. Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY 284 pp.
- Caruthers, J.C., and D. Debinski. 2006. Montane meadow butterfly species distributions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. University of Wyoming National Park Service Research Center Annual Report, 2006. Vol. 30, Art. 14. 85-96.
- Forister, M.L., C.A. Halsch, C.C. Nice, J.A. Fordyce, T.E. Dilts, J.C. Oliver, K.L. Prudic, A.M. Shapiro, J.K. Wilson, J. Glassberg. 2021. Fewer butterflies seen by community scientists across the warming and drying landscapes of the American West. Science 371:1042-1045.
- Forister, M.L., E.M. Grames, C.A. Halsch, K.J. Burls, C.F. Carroll, K.L. Bell, J.P. Jahner, et al. 2023. Assessing risk for butterflies in the context of climate change, demographic uncertainty, and heterogeneous data sources. Ecological Monographs 93(3):e1584. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1584
- Fultz, J.E. 2005. Effects of shelterwood management on flower-visiting insects and their floral resources. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 163 p.
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
- Maxell, B.A. 2016. Northern Goshawk surveys on the Beartooth, Ashland, and Sioux Districts of the Custer-Gallatin National Forest: 2012-2014. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Helena, MT. 114pp.
- Opler, P.A., K. Lotts, and T. Naberhaus, coordinators. 2010. Butterflies and moths of North America. Big Sky Institute, Bozeman, MT. Available at: www.butterfliesandmoths.org (Accessed 15 June 2015).
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