Edith's Checkerspot

Puddling

Edith's Checkerspot
Euphydryas editha
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Nymphalinae

Life History: Males perch or patrol all day to find females. Eggs are laid in groups on underside of leaves or on flowers of the host plant. Caterpillars eat leaves and flowers; sometimes using different host plants before and after hibernation. Young caterpillars live in loose silk webs; third- and fourth-stage caterpillars hibernate.

Flight: One brood; from March-May at low elevations, June-August at high elevations and in the north.

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

Caterpillar Hosts: Various species of paintbrush (Castilleja), beardtongues (Penstemon), lousewort (Pedicularis), owl's clover (Orthocarpus), Chinese houses (Collinsia), and plantain (Plantago).

Perched on seed head

Adult Food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: From sea level to treeline through diverse habitats including coastal chaparral, meadows, fields, foothills, open woods, alpine fellfields.

Range: Southern British Columbia and Alberta south to Baja California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

Conservation: Two subspecies, the Bay Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha bayensis) and the Quino Checkerspot (E. e. quino) are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
NCGR: The bay checkerspot (subspecies bayensis) has The Nature Conservancy Global 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). The other subspecies of Euphydryas editha have The Nature Conservancy Global Rank of G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery. 



Caterpillar and chrysalis photos from web.