Euphilotes battoides
Euphilotes battoides, the square-spotted blue or buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
| Euphilotes battoides | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Euphilotes |
| Species: | E. battoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Euphilotes battoides | |
| Synonyms | |
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Distribution
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.
Diet
The larvae feed on the flowers and fruits of Eriogonum species. The subspecies battoides has been recorded on Eriogonum lobbii var. lobbii, Eriogonum incanum and Eriogonum polypodum, while the subspecies glaucon feeds on Eriogonum umbellatum, Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale, Eriogonum heracleoides, Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. halimioides and Eriogonum flavum var. piperi and the subspecies comstocki feeds on Eriogonum umbellatum. The larvae are tended by ants. The species overwinters, in chrysalis, in sand or leaf litter.
Subspecies
- E. b. battoides (Behr, 1867) (California)
- E. b. comstocki (Shields, 1975)
- E. b. centralis (Barnes & McDunnough, 1917) (southern Colorado to northern New Mexico)
- E. b. argocyanea (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. fusimaculata (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. mazourka (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. panamintensis (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. vernalis (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
Invalid Subspecies
E. b. bernardino(Barnes & McDunnough, 1916) – Bernardino Square-spotted BlueE. b. centralis(Barnes & McDunnough, 1917)E. b. glaucon(Edwards, 1871) (British Columbia to northeastern California and southern Idaho)E. b. intermedia(Barnes & McDunnough, 1917)E. b. baueri(Shields, 1975)E. b. ellisi(Shields, 1975)
The El Segundo blue (Euphilotes allyni) was originally thought to be a subspecies, but recent authorities consider it its own species.[5][6]
References
- Euphilotes at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
- Butterflies and Moths of North America
- Euphilotes battoides Butterflies of America website
- Lepidoptera of North America 6, Butterflies of Oregon, Their Taxonomy Distribution and Biology, Andrew J. Warren
- Davenport, K. 2018. Lepidoptera of North America 15. Butterflies of southern California in 2018: updating Emmel and Emmel's 1973 Butterflies of southern California. Contributions of the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. 175 pp.
- Rubinoff, D., T. Longcore, J.R. Dupuis, and K.H. Osborne. 2021. Genomic data support the elevation of the federally listed El Segundo Blue (Euphilotes bernardino/battoides allyni) to species status. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 75(2): 161-164.