Edith's checkerspot
Edith's checkerspot | |
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In Olympic National Park, Washington state, U.S. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Nymphalidae |
Genus: | Euphydryas |
Species: | E. editha
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Binomial name | |
Euphydryas editha (Boisduval, 1852)
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Subspecies | |
See text |
Edith's checkerspot (Euphydryas editha) is a species of butterfly in the family
Description
The Edith's checkerspot can be identified by its wings which are black with red and pale yellow or white bands.[5] It also has a submarginal band that consists of yellow or white spots along with a wide postmedian band that is red.[5] The undersides of the wings consists of alternating bands of yellow orange and cream.[5] The wingspan is 3.2 to 5.1 centimetres (1.3 to 2.0 in).[5] However, the subspecies of Edith's checkerspot vary slightly in appearance based on the areas they routinely inhabit. Coastal populations are black with red and cream spots; mountain populations are red or mottled with red, black, and cream spots. The higher-altitude populations are smaller and darker. The larvae of the butterfly are black, spotted with white or orange, or striped with white. The pupae are white or gray, with black blotches and streaks.[6]
Distribution
The Edith's checkerspot is found in North America, where it ranges from southern British Columbia and Alberta south to Baja California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.[5] The species can be found in locations of the San Bernardino Mountains, Sierra Nevada, higher Cascade Mountains of Oregon to Washington, and in areas of the Great Basin, including central Oregon and the Rocky Mountains.[6] It can also be found on several trails such as Animas River Trail, Falls Creek Trail, Colorado Trail, Hermosa Creek Trail, Engineer Mountain Trail, and Spud Lake Trail.[7]
Habitat
Habitats are mountains, typically on ridgetops, from coastal chaparral and transition zone open woodland to alpine tundra. Edith's checkerspot butterflies prefer grasslands and rocky outcrops found in the mountains. They can be frequently found in areas of nutrient-poor, serpentine soils which sustain the native grasslands that they prefer.[6]
Host plants
Edith's checkerspot caterpillars will use various species of paintbrush (Castilleja), beardtongues (Penstemon), lousewort (Pedicularis), owl's clover (Orthocarpus), Chinese houses (Collinsia), and plantain (Plantago) as host plants.[5] Many populations of the butterfly are monophagous and preference for the different plant types are based mainly on location. Many behaviors, such as egg laying habits and movements are locally adapted, so the survival of the butterflies relies heavily on the growing season of these host plants.[6]
Feeding
Populations of Edith's checkerspots use several different hosts to house and feed their pupae. Though they usually do not pollinate the flowers of the host, larvae have been known to eat the leaves, the flowers, and sometimes the entire host plant, and have starved trying to find another.[6] Adult females and females feed on flower nectar. Caterpillars feed on leaves and flowers of the host plant and sometimes surrounding plants.[7]
Life cycle
The eggs further develop into pre-diapause larvae
Predation
Caterpillars in the genus Euphydryas are usually attacked by one to three parasitoid species, often by a species of Apanteles wasp (Braconidae), a species of Benjaminia wasp (Ichneumonidae), and a tachnid fly.[11] Checkerspot butterflies have developed defense mechanisms to prevent predators from attacking. Larvae twitch in unison to repel predators, and, depending on the host plant of the population, the larvae, pupae, and adult butterflies are somewhat poisonous to vertebrates because they may ingest toxins from the plant.[6]
Mating system
Male Edith's checkerspot butterflies exhibit
Remating prevention
There are at least two mechanisms evolved to prevent females from remating: physical and neurological/behavioral. The physical mechanism involves a literal physical barrier. When the male's spermatophore is deposited into the female's bursa copulatrix, the spermatophore has a long neck that can act as a mating plug to seal it and prevent further mating.[12] However, some second matings occur before the plug has hardened or if the plug erodes. The second, neurological, inhibition mechanism involves mate rejection behavior in which the female flaps and tries to escape. This behavior is stimulated by the neural sensation of bursal distention, which occurs in the presence of a spermatophore.[12]
However, even with these prevention mechanisms, females do occasionally mate a second time. In instances where females mate with several males, they lay eggs which have been predominantly fertilized by the sperm of the last male to mate. This is the process of last male sperm precedence, and can be explained by the fact that the last sperm to enter and be stored in the spermatheca of the female is also usually the first to leave.[16]
Paternal investment
In Edith's checkerspots, average spermatophore weight is about 2.5% of male body weight, a figure that is quite small compared to the spermatophores donated by other species of male butterflies during copulation.[17] Though larger males usually produce heavier spermatophores, neither spermatophore weight nor male body weight influence the number of eggs laid or the percentage of eggs hatched. The spermatophore transferred at mating does not constitute as paternal investment, as spermatophore weight has little effect on female reproductive output. In fact, Edith's checkerspot females emerge from eclosion with all oocytes present and a portion already yolked, further limiting the role of the male spermatophore.[17]
Most male reproductive effort is devoted not to the production of a spermatophore, but to the acquisition of females, especially virgin females. Males often exhibit indiscriminate mate location behavior, which is characterized by males failing to distinguish between female conspecifics and other objects, frequently resulting in misdirected courtship or attempted copulation. Because the cost of mistakes is low (low investment in spermatophores) and potential reward (location of receptive female) is high, indiscriminate behavior can become advantageous.
Mate locating strategy
Indiscriminate mate location
Most male reproductive effort is devoted not to the production of a spermatophore, but to the acquisition of females, especially virgin females. Males often exhibit indiscriminate mate location behavior, which is characterized by males failing to distinguish between female conspecifics and other objects, frequently resulting in misdirected courtship or attempted copulation. Because the cost of mistakes is low (low investment in spermatophores) and potential reward (location of receptive female) is high, indiscriminate behavior can become advantageous.
Perching, patrolling, and hilltopping
Edith's checkerspot males sometimes form aggregations on patches of bare ground like ridges or peaks, and from these perches they dart after passing males and females of both their conspecifics, own species and heterospecifics, other species. This strategy is called perching. Another strategy is termed "patrolling" and consists of males wandering in search of mates.[3] In years of low population density, the hilltopping behavior may become adaptive. In such instances, males concentrate in mating aggregations at the highest point of a slope and females must travel up the slope after eclosion to mate. After mating, females return down the slope in order to minimize sexual harassment, and deposit eggs. Hilltopping occurs in small populations where there is a smaller chance for virgin females to encounter males before reaching the hilltop. Where populations are relatively dense; however, upslope movement may place these butterflies at a reproductive disadvantage.[3]
Evolution of protandry
This butterfly exhibits
Conservation status
The Edith's checkerspot subspecies mirror the changes in climate over long periods of time.
In the case of
The subspecies Euphydryas editha quino and
Impact on humans
Edith's checkerspots lay their eggs on various plant species, sometimes resulting in the death of the host plant, which could be potentially economically important to humans. In addition, larvae, pupae, and adults are poisonous to vertebrates if ingested. A plus for humans involves pollination, because in order to obtain nectar, adult butterflies of the species sometimes pollinate various flowers in the area of their habitat.[6]
Subspecies
This species is often better known by the constituent subspecies listed below. It is subject to change as the nomenclature is altered or new subspecies are found.[24]
- Euphydryas editha alebarki Ferris, 1971 – Klots' checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha augusta (Edwards, 1890) – Augusta checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha aurilacus Gunder, 1928 – Gold Lake checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha baroni Edwards, 1879 – Baron's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha bayensis Sternitzky, 1937 – Bay checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha beani Skinner, 1897 – Bean's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha bingi Baughman & Murphy, 1998 – Bing's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha colonia (Wright, 1905) – Colonia checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha editha(Boisduval, 1852) – Edith's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha edithana Strand, 1914 – Strand's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha ehrlichi Baughmon and Murphy, 1998 – Ehrlich's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha fridayi Gunder, 1931
- Euphydryas editha hutchinsi McDunnough, 1928 – Hutchins' checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha gunnisonensis Brown, 1971 – Gunnison checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha karinae Baughman & Murphy, 1998
- Euphydryas editha koreti Murphy and Ehrlich, 1983 – Koret's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha insularis Emmel & Emmel, 1974 – Island checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha lawrencei Gunder, 1931 – Lawrence's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha lehmani Gunder, 1929 – Lehman Caves checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha luestherae Murphy & Ehrlich, 1981 – LuEsther's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha mattooni – Mattoon's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha monoensis Gunder, 1928 – Mono Lake checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha nubigena Behr, 1863 – Cloud-born checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha owyheensis Austin & Murphy, 1998
- Euphydryas editha quino(Behr, 1863) – Quino checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha remingtoni Burdick, 1959
- Euphydryas editha rubicunda (H. Edwards, 1881) – Ruddy checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha tahoensis Austin & Murphy, 1998 – Lake Tahoe checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha taylori (Edwards, 1888) – Taylor's checkerspot
- Euphydryas editha wrighti Gunder, 1929 – Wright's checkerspot
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4020-6890-4.
- ^ S2CID 24394104.
- ^ S2CID 85268548.
- ^ "FWS-Listed U.S. Species by Taxonomic Group - Insects". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "Attributes of Euphydryas editha". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Euphydryas editha". Encyclopedia of Life. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018.
- ^ a b "Edith's Checkerspot". Durango Outdoors. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- S2CID 54374138.
- ^ "caterpillar". BugGuide. Iowa State University. 14 March 2011.
- ^ JSTOR 3565996.
- ISBN 978-0-7748-4437-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-803594-7.
- ^ S2CID 84989304.
- ^ Kayanickupuram, Joleen. "Euphydryas editha Edith's checkerspot". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ "Mating Behavior". BugGuide. 9 June 2010.
- PMID 28562912.
- ^ JSTOR 2425932.
- ^ S2CID 83995330.
- ^ Anderson, Alison; Allen, Edith; Dodero, Mark; Longcore, Travis; Murphy, Dennis; Parmesan, Camille; Pratt, Gordon; Singer, Michael C. (2001). Recovery Plan for the Quino Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) (PDF) (Report). Portland: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- ^ Kayanickupuram, Joleen (2002). Wund, Matthew; Fabritius, Stephanie (eds.). "Euphydryas editha". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ 62 FR 2313
- ^ 52 FR 35366
- ^ 78 FR 61451
- ^ "Euphydryas Scudder, 1872" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- Bibliography
- Common Names, The International Lepidoptera Survey, The Taxonomic Report.
Further reading
- Glassberg, Jeffrey Butterflies through Binoculars: The West (2001)
- Guppy, Crispin S. and Shepard, Jon H. Butterflies of British Columbia (2001)
- James, David G. and Nunnallee, David Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies (2011)
- Pelham, Jonathan Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada (2008)
- Pyle, Robert Michael The Butterflies of Cascadia (2002)
- S2CID 84102539.
External links
- Media related to Euphydryas editha at Wikimedia Commons
- Edith's checkerspot, Butterflies of Canada
- Butterflies and Moths of North America - Euphydryas editha
- Butterflies of America - Euphydryas editha