This species displays a patchy range, from southern British Columbia south through California, and in parts of the southwestern U.S. down to Mexico. It occurs in Idaho mainly in the north.
Its preferred habitats include open woodlands, chaparral, and mountain meadows.
Caterpillar: Caterpillars feed on various species of buck brush (Ceanothus spp.).
Adult: Butterflies drink flower nectar, often from buck brush (Ceanothus spp.).
There is typically one generation of caterpillars each growing season in the north and two in the south. Caterpillars overwinter in a physiological state called diapause. Adults generally fly from May through July.
Males perch to wait for receptive females, or may actively patrol for them if competition is heavy. Females lay green eggs on host plants. The eggs turn pink before hatching.
|Idaho Status:||Unprotected nongame species.|
populations levels are secure, but may be of concern in the future.
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.