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Northern Metalmark (Calephelis borealis [Grote & Robinson])
Wing span: 1 1/8 - 1 1/4 inches (2.9 - 3.2 cm).
Identification: Male forewing rounded. Upperside of both wings brown with wide orange borders and dark median band.
Life history: Adults may rest upside down beneath leaves. Males perch on leaves to seek females. Eggs are laid on the underside of host plant leaves, which the caterpillars eat. Half-grown caterpillars hibernate in leaf litter.
Flight: One brood from mid-June to late July.
Caterpillar hosts: Roundleaf ragwort (Senecio obovatus); possibly golden ragwort (Senecio aureus) and common fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus).
Adult food: Nectar from flowers including butterflyweed, white sweet clover, goldenrod, ox-eye daisy, sneezeweed, and yarrow.
Habitat: Open woodland streams near serpentine, shale, or limestone barrens.
Range: Western Connecticut south through west-central Pennsylvania; central Appalachians and Ohio River Valley. Isolated populations in southwest Missouri and eastern Oklahoma.
Conservation: Most populations are small and isolated. Almost all populations should be of concern.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G3 - Very rare or local throughout its range or found locally in a restricted range (21 to 100 occurrences). (Threatened throughout its range).
Management needs: None reported.
References:
Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.
Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern butterflies. Peterson
field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press,
Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.
Author: Jane M. Struttmann
State and Regional References:
Cech, R. 1993. A Distributional Checklist of the Butterflies and Skippers of
the New York City Area (50-mile Radius) and Long Island. New York City
Butterfly Club Special Publication. 27 pp.
Forbes, W.T.M. 1960. Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States. Part
IV: Agaristidae through Nymphalidae Including Butterflies. Cornell Univ.
Agricultural Experimental Station, Ithaca, N.Y. Memoir 371. 188 pp.
Glassberg, J. 1993. Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to
Butterflies in the Boston-New York-Washington Region. Oxford Univ. Press,
New York, N.Y. 160 pp.
Klass, C. and Dirig, R. 1992. Learning about Butterflies. Cornell Cooperative
Extension Publication, 4-H Member/Leader Guide 139-M-9. Ithaca, N.Y.
36 pp.
Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998. The Butterflies of
Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON. 280 pp.
Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Shapiro, A.M. 1974. Butterflies and Skippers of New York State. Cornell Univ.
Agricultural Experimental Station, Ithaca, N.Y. Search 4:1-60.
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