Chlosyne lacinia
| Chlosyne lacinia | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Chlosyne |
| Species: | C. lacinia
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| Binomial name | |
| Chlosyne lacinia (Geyer, 1837)
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Chlosyne lacinia, the bordered patch or sunflower patch, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.[1]
Description
[edit]
The bordered patch is an extremely variable butterfly. The upperside of the wings is mainly black with the forewing having rows of white and/or yellow-orange spots of varying sizes.[2] There is usually one whitish spot in the forewing cell.[3] The hindwing has many color variations. Those variations can be: almost completely black to having some red postmedian spots to having a few rows of white postmedian spots to having an all red-orange discal area to having a yellow-orange postmedian band of varying width.[3] The underside of the wings is just as variable as the upperside. It varies from having a few rows of white and red spots to having a yellow-white hindwing median band of varying width to the underside being mostly golden yellow with large yellow-orange spots and a thick golden-yellow median band.[3][2] All of these variations have a red spot near the hindwing tornus.[1] Its wingspan ranges from 1+1⁄4 to 1+7⁄8 inches (32 to 48 mm).[4]
Similar species
[edit]Similar species in the bordered patch's range include the crimson patch (Chlosyne janais), the rosita patch (Chlosyne rosita), and the red-spotted patch (Chlosyne marina).
The crimson patch is larger, the upperside of the forewing has two spots in the cell, and the underside of the hindwing has a yellow basal patch with black spots in it.[3][2]
The upperside of the rosita patch's hindwing has a basal patch which is often two toned, and the underside of the hindwing is mostly pale yellow with a thick black marginal border.[3]
The red-spotted patch has a row of red marginal spots on the upperside, and underside of the hindwing.[3]
Habitat
[edit]
The bordered patch may be encountered in habitats such as desert hills, mesquite woodlands, pinyon woodlands, and oak woodlands.[4][1] In North America, this species prefers to inhabit agricultural areas and weedy wastelands where the preferred host plant Helianthus annuus occurs.
Flight
[edit]This species is found from May to October in California, late January to mid-November in Arizona, and all year in southern Texas.[1][4]
Life cycle
[edit]
Males will find females by awaiting them on hilltops.[2] Females will lay their eggs in clusters of about 100 or more on the underside of host plant leaves. The eggs are pale yellow green but later turn a reddish color. The young larvae feed together and but do not make a nest. They will become solitary when older.[1] The larva is as variable as the adult. It ranges from mostly orange with black spines and stripes to black with a red-orange mid-dorsal stripe to almost all black. All variations have a red-orange head.[5] The chrysalis varies from almost all white to white with black markings to nearly all black. The third instar larva hibernates and also estivates.[1] The bordered patch has three or four broods per year.[2]
Host plants
[edit]Here is a list of host plants used by the bordered patch:
- Common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia
- Giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida var. texana
- Baltimora species
- Straggler daisy, Calyptocarpus vialis
- bonesets, Eupatorium spies
- Indian blanketflower, Gaillardia pulchella
- Sunflower, Helianthus annuus
- Silverleaf sunflower, Helianthus argophyllus
- Texas blueweed, Helianthus ciliaris
- Cucumberleaf sunflower, Helianthus debilis
- Maximilian sunflower, Helianthus maximiliani
- Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus
- Camphor weed, Heterotheca latifolia
- Showy palafox, Palafoxia sphacelata
- Santa Maria feverfew, Parthenium hysterophorus
- Crown-beard, Verbesina encelioides
- Xanthium pennsylvanicum
- Orange zexmenia, Zexmenia hispida[1][4]
References
[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g James A. Scott (1986). The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. ISBN 0-8047-2013-4
- ^ a b c d e Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003). Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin, New York, NY. ISBN 0-618-15312-8
- ^ a b c d e f Jeffrey Glassberg (2007). A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America. Sunstreak Books Inc. ISBN 978-1-4243-0915-3
- ^ a b c d Bob Stewart, Priscilla Brodkin, and Hank Brodkin (2001). Butterflies of Arizona. West Coast Lady Press. ISBN 0-9663072-1-6
- ^ Thomas J. Allen, Jim P. Brock and Jeffrey Glassberg (2005). Caterpillars in the Field and Garden. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-19-514987-6