Euphilotes battoides | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Euphilotes |
Species: | E. battoides |
Binomial name | |
Euphilotes battoides | |
Synonyms | |
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Euphilotes battoides, the square-spotted blue or buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in western North America from California south to Baja California Norte and then west to southern Colorado and New Mexico. [2] This species may also occur in Oregon and Washington, but more study is needed to verify this. [3] [4]
The wingspan is 16–17 mm. The upperside of the females is brown often with an orange band on the outer edge of the hindwings. Males are blue with dark borders and sometimes an orange band on the outer edge of the hindwings. The underside is off white to grey with black spots. Adults are on wing from mid April to August in one generation per year. They feed on the flower nectar of various plants, but mostly Eriogonum species.
The larvae feed on the flowers and fruits of Eriogonum species. Subspecies battoides has been recorded on Eriogonum lobbii var. lobbii, Eriogonum incanum and Eriogonum polypodum, while subspecies glaucon feeds on Eriogonum umbellatum , Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale, Eriogonum heracleoides , Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. halimioides and Eriogonum flavum var. piperi and subspecies comstocki feeds on Eriogonum umbellatum . Subspecies allyni has been recorded feeding on Eriogonum parvifolium var. parvifolium, records of Eriogonum cinereum and Eriogonum fasciculatum var. fasciculatum are in error, allyni is restricted to E. Parvifolium. The larvae are tended by ants. The species overwinters, in chrysalis, in sand or leaf litter.
The El Segundo blue is a rare subspecies of the square-spotted blue butterfly. It is endemic to a small dune ecosystem in Southern California that used to be a community called Palisades del Rey, close to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In 1976 it became a federally designated endangered species. This butterfly’s habitat has been substantially reduced due to urban development and invasive plants, and it now exists as a handful of populations restricted to coastal dunes in the vicinity of Los Angeles.
Eriogonum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing. It includes some common wildflowers such as the California buckwheat.
Speyeria zerene, the zerene fritillary, is a butterfly found in the western portions of the United States and Canada. The species was first described by William John Swainson in 1827.
Eriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows variably from a patchy mat to a wide shrub, with the flowers turning a rusty color after blooming. This plant is of great benefit across its various habitats, providing an important food resource for a diversity of insect and mammal species. It also provides numerous ecosystem services for humans, including erosion control, post-fire mitigation, increases in crop yields when planted in hedgerows, and high habitat restoration value.
Euphilotes is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae, which consists of a number of species found in western North America. Some of the species are endangered, such as the Smith's blue, Euphilotes enoptes smithi.
Smith's blue butterfly, Euphilotes enoptes smithi, is an subspecies of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. This federally listed endangered subspecies of Euphilotes enoptes occurs in fragmented populations along the Central Coast of California, primarily associated with sand dune habitat in one case with a dune-based Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest in the Carbonera Creek watershed in Santa Cruz County. The range of E. e. smithi is from Monterey Bay south to Punta Gorda.
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution during history. The term is equivalent to the concept of indigenous or autochthonous species. Every wild organism is known as an introduced species within the regions where it was anthropogenically introduced. If an introduced species causes substantial ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage, it may be regarded more specifically as an invasive species.
Eriogonum umbellatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower. It is native to western North America from California to Colorado to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats, including the sagebrush steppe and alpine areas. It is an extremely variable plant and hard to identify because individuals can look very different from one another. Also, there are many varieties. It may be a perennial herb blooming by summer with stems 10 centimeters tall and two to six clusters of flowers, with a whorl of leaves below the stems, or a sprawling shrub approaching two meters high and wide. The leaves are usually woolly and low on the plant, and the flowers come in many colors from white to bright yellow to purple. Native American groups utilized parts of this plant for a number of medicinal uses.
Eriogonum kennedyi is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Kennedy's buckwheat.
Icaricia lupini, the lupine blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from south-western Canada, south through much of mountainous and intermountain western United States and high plains to northern Mexico.
Callophrys sheridanii, the Sheridan's hairstreak and Sheridan's green hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America along the south coast of British Columbia and parts of Nevada, Arizona, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, and New Mexico. In 2009, this species was adopted as the U.S. state butterfly for Wyoming.
Euphilotes rita, the rita blue or desert buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1916.
Euphilotes pallescens, the pale blue, pallid blue or pallid dotted blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the United States in southeastern California, Nevada, southern Utah and northern Arizona.
Euphilotes ancilla, the Rocky Mountain dotted blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Washington south to California and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan south through the Rockies and high plains to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1918.
Euphilotes enoptes, the dotted blue, is a species of blue (Polyommatinae) butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America.
Euphilotes centralis, the central blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1917. It is found in North America.
Euphilotes bernardino, the Bernardino blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1916. It is found in North America.
Euphilotes spaldingi, or Spalding's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1917. It is found in North America.
Eriogonum elongatum, commonly known as longstem buckwheat or wand buckwheat, is a species of wild buckwheat native to coastal southern and Baja California.