View in other NatureServe Network Field Guides
NatureServe
Montana
Utah
Wyoming
Idaho
Wisconsin
British Columbia
South Carolina
Yukon
California
New York
Lorquin's Admiral - Limenitis lorquini
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S5
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
External Links
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001; Pyle 2002] Forewing 2.7-3.6 cm. Upperside black, with white median bands on both wings, forewing with linear orange-brown patch at tip that runs along margin of apex, forewing cell with white spot. Underside a complex pattern of alternating reddish-brown bands and blue-gray bands on either side of white bands, with expanded rusty wing tips.
Phenology
One flight in the north: June to mid-August; several flights in California: April to October (Scott 1986). Where single-brooded, June to August; where double-brooded, April to September (Glassberg 2001). Mid-February to early October in Oregon and Washington (Pyle 2002); early May to early October in Oregon and Washington, where double-brooded (James and Nunnallee 2011); mid-May to early August in British Columbia, where double-brooded (Guppy and Shepard 2001).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Best determined by the upperside black, with white median bands on both wings, forewing with linear orange-brown patch at tip that runs along margin of apex.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
British Columbia south to southern California and Baja California, and east to Idaho and western Montana. In Montana, reported from all counties in the montane western quarter of the state, primarily west of the Continental Divide (Kohler 1980; Stanford and Opler 1993). Common to abundant (Glassberg 2001).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 176
(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
Forest edges, mountain canyons, orchards, urban parks, gardens, riparian areas, deciduous woodlands (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Guppy and Shepard 2001; Pyle 2002; James and Nunnallee 2011). In Glacier National Park, Montana reported from montane xeric meadows (Debinski 1993).
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Forest and Woodland
Deciduous Forest and Woodland
Wetland and Riparian
Riparian and Wetland Forest
Riparian Shrubland
Food Habits
Larval food plants include Amelanchier, Ceanothus, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Holodiscus, Malus, Populus, Prunus, Salix, and Spiraea (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Guppy and Shepard 2001; Pyle 2002; James and Nunnallee 2011). Adults feed on flower nectar (including Achillea, Asclepias, Apocynum, Aster, Cirsium, Eriodictyon, Heracleum, Tanacetum), sap, mud, and dung (Guppy and Shepard 2001; Pyle 2002; James and Nunnallee 2011; Scott 2014).
Reproductive Characteristics
Females lay eggs singly on upper surface of leaf tips of host plants. Eggs hatch in 5-6 days (depending on temperature), reaching new larval instars in about 5 days each to final L5 stage, another 6 days as pupae, for a total development period of about 34 days to adult eclosion. Larvae build no nests, but rest for extended periods on upper surface of host plant leaves; overwintering occurs in second-generation L2 instars, which roll host-plant leaves into a hibernaculum and bind it with silk to a twig (Scott 1986; James and Nunnallee 2011). Males territorial, perch throughout the day on shrubs and trees waiting for females to pass, and sometimes patrol (Scott 1975b, 1986; Guppy and Shepard 2001; Pyle 2002; James and Nunnallee 2011).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Debinski, D. 1993. Butterflies of Glacier National Park, Montana. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. No. 159: 1-13.- 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.
- Opler, P.A. and A.B. Wright. 1999. A field guide to western butterflies. Second edition. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 540 pp.
- 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).
- 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. 1975b. Mate-locating behavior of western North American butterflies. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 14:1-40.
- Scott, J.A. 1986. The butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
- Scott, J.A. 2014. Lepidoptera of North America 13. Flower visitation by Colorado butterflies (40,615 records) with a review of the literature on pollination of Colorado plants and butterfly attraction (Lepidoptera: Hersperioidea and Papilionoidea). Contributions of the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthopod Diversity. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 190 p.
- 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.
- 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
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Lorquin's Admiral"
- Additional Sources of Information Related to "Insects"
