North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of California

Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe)
JPG -- species photo

Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe [Boisduval])

Wing span: 2 - 2 1/2 inches (5 - 6.4 cm).

Identification: Upperside tawny to bright red-brown with dark, evenly-spaced markings. Underside has triangular silver submarginal spots with narrow brown edging; other spots large and usually silvered.

Life history: Males perch and patrol for females. Eggs are laid singly in litter near violets. Unfed first-stage caterpillars hibernate until spring, when they feed on violet leaves.

Flight: One brood from May-August.

Caterpillar hosts: Violets including Viola purpurea, V. pedunculata, V. beckwithii, V. douglasii, and V. nuttallii.

Adult food:

Habitat: Sagebrush, chaparral, dry woodland, prairie hills.

Range: Central British Columbia east to South Dakota and Manitoba, south to southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

Conservation: Subspecies callippe in California's San Francisco Bay Area is threatened with extinction.

Speyeria callippe callippe has The Nature Conservancy rank of T1 - Critically imperiled because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. (Critically endangered throughout its range).

Management needs: Protect and manage populations of subspecies callippe.

References:

Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, 
     Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.

Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies. Houghton-Mifflin Co., 
     Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

State and Regional References:

Brown, J.W., Real, H.G., and D.K. Faulkner. 1992. Butterflies of Baja 
     California. Lepidoptera Research Foundation, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Comstock, J.A. 1927. Butterflies of California. Privately published, Los 
     Angeles, Calif. [Facsimile available from 	Entomological Reprint 
     Specialists, Los Angeles, Calif.]

Dameron, W. 1997. Searching for butterflies in southern California.
     Flutterby Press, Los Angeles, Calif.

Emmel, T.C. Editor. 1998. Systematics of western North American butterflies.
     Mariposa Press, Gainesville, Florida.

Emmel, T. C. and J. F. Emmel. 1973. The Butterflies of Southern California. 
     Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series No. 26.

Garth, J.S. and J.W. Tilden. 1986. California Butterflies.  California Natural
     History Guide 51. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los 
     Angeles.
     
Langston, R.L. 1981. The Rhopalocera of Santa Cruz Island, California. Journal
     of Research on the Lepidoptera 18: 24-35.     

Miller, Scott E. 1985. Butterflies of the Califorenia Channel Islands. Journal
     of the Research on the Lepidoptera 23: 282-296.     

Opler, Paul A. 1999. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies, revised 
     edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.

Orsak, L.J. 1977. The Butterflies of Orange County, California. Museum of 
     Systematic Biology, University of california, Irvine.

Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies. 
     Privately published, Denver, Colo.

Steiner, J. 1990. Bay Area Butterflies: The Distribution and Natural History 
     of San Francisco Region Rhopalocera. Hayward, Calif.: Hayward State 
     University, Masters Thesis.

Tilden, J.W. and A.C. Smith. 1986. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies. 
     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.

Tilden, J.W. 1965. Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay Region. California 
     Natural History Guide 12. University of California Press, Berkeley and 
     Los Angeles.
Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe)
distribution map
map legend

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