Newly discovered populations and food plants extend the range of the endangered quino checkerspot butterfly, Euphydryas editha quino (Nymphalidae) in southern California

3 Pages·2001·1.8 MB·English

by  Gordon F Pratt

GENERAL NOTES
JournaloftheLepidopterists'Society
55(4),2001, 169-171
NEWLY DISCOVERED POPULATIONS AND FOOD PLANTS EXTEND THE RANGE OFTHE
ENDANGERED QUINO CHECKERSPOT BUTTERFLY, EUPHYDRYASEDITHA QUINO
(NYMPHALIDAE) IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Additionalkeywords: Plantago,Castilleja,Antirrhinum,Cordylanthus, Scrophulariaceae,Orobanchaceae,Veronicaceae.
The federally endangered quino checkerspot (Eu- nized elevational (100-1000 m) range (GFP & EWH
phydryas editha quino (Behr) is restricted to the pers. obs., McMillan pers. com.). Many ofthe occu-
coastal slope of southwestern California. When the piedsites supportthe larval host plant Plantago erecta
quinocheckerspotwaspetitionedforlistingin 1988, it Morris (Veronicaceae), and a suspected alternate host
was alreadybelievedextinct. However, severalpopula- plant, Castilleja exserta (A. A. Heller) Chuang &
tionswere detectedintheearly 1990sin southwestern Heckard (Orobanchaceae) (see Olmstead et al. 2001
Riverside County (Oak Mountain, Murrieta Hot fornewplantfamilies). SimilartoE. e. editha (Boisdu-
Springs, and Temecula) and north-central San Diego val) (formerly E. e. bayensis), we believed these two
County (Oak Grove). Furthermore, ayearbefore the plants and other Veronicaceae and Orobanchaceae
species was listed as endangered on January 16, 1997 might be important for population survival of the
(Rogers 1997), several quino checkerspots were ob- quino checkerspot (Singer 1971, 1972).
served on the western slopes of Otay Mountain in EastofAguanga, theelevations ofdievalleys rapidly
southwestern San Diego County. Since then, addi- climb above 1000 m. Forthis reason, the areahadnot
tionalquinocheckerspotpopulations havebeen found been surveyed during much ofthe quino checkerspot
in southeastern (Jacumba) and south central (west flightseason. However, Castillejaexsertawas observed
Tecate Peak) San Diego County(Mattoni et al. 1997). in early May 1998 growing abundantlythroughout an
All of the known historical records of the quino area east of Aguanga and south ofAnza, well above
checkerspot (i.e., captures and observations) were 1000 m (M. Shaughnessypers. ). Oneofus (GFP) sur-
usedto inferthe elevational range andhabitatassocia- veyedthe areaon 20 May 1998, to determine the suit-
tions (e.g., Mattoni et al. 1997). The historical records ability of habitat and the likelihood of quino occu-
placed the quino checkerspot from the coast to a few pancy. During the survey, two male quino were
high-elevation sites, including Black StarCanyon (625 collected, one south of Anza near 1200 m and the
m) in Orange County, Gavilan Hills (660 m) and Sage other east ofIron Springs Mountain at approximately
(765 m) in Riverside County, and San Miguel Moun- 1500 m elevation (Fig. 1). Both specimens have been
tain (660 m), western Mount Palomar (940 m), placed as vouchers in the Entomology Research Mu-
JacumbaPeak (1050 m), andTecate Peak (1200 m) in seum at the University of California, Riverside, CA.
San Diego County. These higher-elevation observa- These checkerspots were a significant eastward range
tions (>1000 m)wereofhilltoppingmales onthehigh- andelevational extension forthe species; eventheval-
est peaks in the area. The food plants and butterflies leys in this areawere largely above 1200 m elevation.
were largely believed to occur well below 1000 m in Other new populations, including additional sites in
the surrounding valleys. Also itwas assumed that the the Anza area, have extended the range of quino
quino checkerspot was restricted to open clay flats in checkerspotpopulations (Fig. 1).
the following habitats: native grasslands, coastal sage The habitat for both the south of Anza and Iron
scrub, scatteredjuniperwoodland, and chaparral. Springs Mountains sites were largely red shank
Intensive and extensive quino checkerspot surveys (Adenostomasparsifolium Torr., Rosaceae) chaparral,
(>1300 man hours) were conducted during die 1998 with other scattered chaparral bushes such as oaks
spring flight season to document presence/absence, (Quercus sp., Fagaceae), mountain mahogany (Cer-
relative abundance, anddistribution ofthebutterflyin cocarpus betuloides Nutt. ex T & G, Rosaceae), and
Orange, Riverside, LosAngeles, andSan DiegoCoun- buckthorns (Ceanothus sp., Rhamnaceae). Interest-
ties. Because mostoftheknownrecordsofthe species ingly, no Plantago species was observed within sev-
werebelow 1000m,withhigher-elevation records rep- eral hundred m of either of these sites. Instead
resenting hilltopping males, surveys were concen- Antirrhinum coulterianum Benth. in DC. (Veroni-
tratedbelowthis elevation. A numberofnewsites for caceae) was found common at the south ofAnza site,
die specieswere documented, butallwithin its recog- and Collinsia concolor Greene (Veronicaceae) and
170 Journalofthe Lepidopterists' Society
PacificOcean
/\/New Range
~'.S Historical Known Range
New Populations
o 1998 (still occupied)
* Historic (pre-1998)
30 Miles DataSource: USFishandWildlifeService
TealeDataCenter
Fig. 1. Newpopulations andinferred range ofthe quino checkerspotbutterfly (Euphydryaseditha quino) southern California. The
rangeextensionwasextrapolatedfromthehigherelevationsitesfoundnearAnza,California.
Castilleja exserta were detected at the Iron Springs May 2001, an additional 40 males and six females
Mountain site. These three plants support larval de- were observed, while between 9 and 28 May, 2001,
velopment of the quino checkerspot to the adult in 134 larval clusters were observed on Antirrhinum
the laboratory (GFP unpubl. data). Furthermore, coidterianum and none on Plantago patagonica, even
Collinsia spp. and Castilleja spp. are larval food though thousands of Plantago were searched (GFP
plants for other Euphydryas editha subspecies pers. obs.).
(Singer 1971, 1972, 1982, White 1974, Garth & We believe these new populations are not a new
Tilden 1986). Euphydryas editha subspecies. They are similar in
Additional quinocheckerspot adults andlarval clus- color pattern and size to other quino checkerspot
ters were observed at and between the south ofAnza populations. Although prediapause larvae from this
and east of Iron Springs Mountain sites during the newpopulation fed on a newfoodplantAntirrhinum
springs of 2000 and 2001. A single interconnecting coulterianum in 2001 (which suggested a new Eu-
silken shelter with 40 to as many as a couple ofhun- phydryas editha subspecies), in 2000 they fed on
dredfirst and/orsecondinstarlarvaewas usedtoiden- Plantago patagonica, the same genus as the major
tifyasingle larvalcluster. Between 11 Apriland9 May, quino checkerspot food plant. Other quino check-
2000, 39 males andfive femaleswere observedandbe- erspot populations were observed to use even more
tween 3 and 18 May, 2000, 54 prediapause larval clus- divergent food plants. For instance larval clusters
ters were found on Plantago patagonica Greene were found on the western and northern slopes of
(Veronicaceae) (GFP pers. obs.). From 24 April to 16 Tecate Peakofsouthern San DiegoCountyon Cordy-
Volume 55, Number4 171
lanthus rigidus (Benth.) Jeps. (Orobanchaceae) (also Mattoni, R., G. F. Pratt, T. R. Lonccore, J. F. Emmel &J. N.
a new food plant for the species) and Plantago erecta George. 1997. Theendangeredquinocheckerspotbutterfly,
Euphydryasedithaquino (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Res.
duringthe springs of1999 and2001 (GFPpers. obs.). Lepid.34:99-118. J.
W
Recent molecular studies suggest these food plants Olmstead, R. G.,C. Depamphilis,A. D.Wolfe, N. D.Young,
(Cordylanthus and Plantago) are more distantly re- W. J. Elisons & P. A. Reeves. 2001. Disintegration ofthe
Scrophulariaceae.Amer. Bot.88(2):348-361.
lated (separate families) than are Antirrhinum and Rogers, G. 1997. EndanJg.ered and threatened wildlife and
J.
Plantago (same family) (Olmstead et al. 2001). The plants: determination of endangered status for the Laguna
food plant therefore may not be the most important Mountains skipper and quino checkerspot butterfly. Federal
RegisterJanuary16, 1997Vol.62:2313-2322.
characterusedto distinguish Euphydryas editha sub- Singer,M.C. 1971. Evolutionoffood-plantpreferenceinthebut-
species. terflyEuphydryaseditha. Evol.25:383-389.
. 1972. Complexcomponentsofhabitatsuitabilitywithina
AlisonAnderson,GregBallmer,DaveHawks,GuyBruyea,Chris butterflycolony. Science 176:75-79.
Nagano, Brenda McMillan, andJohn Enimelhaveprovidedinfor- . 1982. Quantificationofhostpreferencebymanipulationof
mationonpresentandhistoricalpopulations. CeciliaL. Pierceas- ovipositionbehaviorinthebutterflyEuphydryaseditha.Oeco-
sistedtheseniorauthoron much of the fieldwork. We thankFred logia52:224-229.
Sproul forfindingandprovidinginformation on the newlvdiscov- White, R. R. 1974. Foodplantdefoliationandlarvalstarvationof
ered San Vicente Reservoir population, Steve Meyers, Chet Mc- Euphydryaseditha.Oecologia14:307-315.
Gaugh,andMikeWilcoxforfindingandprovidinginformationona
poonpaulpaotpiuolnatnioornthsoouftAhnwzeas,toafnAdnzSaa.mWReeetdhafnokrApnrdo)v-idSianngdeirnsfofromraatllioonf Gordon F. Pratt, Department ofEntomology, Uni-
dieplantidentifications.WealsothankBobLuckforallofhishelp versity of California, Riverside, California 92521,
and support. This research was largely supported by a Fish and USA, Eric W. Hein, 1515 Cassidy Street, Oceanside
GamegrantwiththeaccounttideofCDFGFG7182ESLUCK6/98. California 92054, USA, and Douglas M. Krofta,
Literature Cited 1361 BluegrassRd, Vista, California 92083, USA
W
Garth,J. S. &J. Tilden. 1986. Californiabutterflies. Univer- Receivedforpublication 8January 2000; revisedandaccepted22
sityofCaliforniaPress,Berkeley,California,246pp. October2001.
JournaloftheLepidopterists'Society
55(4),2001,171-174
PRECEDENCE OF CATOCALALOUISEAE BAUER, 1965 AS A NOMEN PROTECTUM OVER
CATOCALA PROTONYMPHA BOISDUVAL, 1840 (NOCTUIDAE)
ABSTRACT. ThenameCatocalaprotonympha BoisduvalhasheretoforebeenconsideredajuniorsynonymofthePalearcticspeciesCato-
calafulminea Scopoli. ExaminationofBosiduval'stypeandrelevantliteraturedemonstratesthatCatocalaprotonymphaisinfactadisusedse-
niorsynonymoftheNearcticspeciesCatocalalouiseaeBauer.Article23.9.2oftheCodeisinvokedtogiveprecedencetotheestablishedname
Catocalalouiseae, andmaintainnomenclaturalstabilityinthegenus.
Additionalkeywords: taxonomy,synonymy,types,Boisduval,Guenee,Staudinger,Culot.
In 1840, J. A. Boisduval described anewspecies of GueneesoriginalillustrationofCatocalaprotonympha
Catocala Schrank (1802) as Catocalaprotonympha, as is reproduced here in Fig. lc. Guenee also remarked
follows: "Species distinctissima antennis crassioribus on the apparent extraordinary rarity ofprotonympha:
dentatis; statura Callinympha; alae posticae fere ut "C'estjusqu'ici, unedesplusgrandesraretes. Pourtant,
apudjam dictam; anticae cinereo-fuscae fasciisvix an- M. Begrand m'a affirme avoirvu, sur un mur, au bois
gulosis" [A species very distinct, by thick dentate an- de Boulogne, unecertainequantitedepetites Catocala
tennae; sizeofcallinympha; hindwingsaboutthesame jaunesquinepouvaientappartenirqu'acetteespece, la
as with those I have already described; forewings ash paranympha, aveclaquellelaconfusionestimpossible"
grey-brown with bands slightly angled]. The type lo- [Uptonow, itisoneofthegreatrarities. However, Mr.
calitywas listed as "P." [=Paris, France]. Begrandispositiveabouthavingseenacertainnumber
Guenee (1852:103) figured protonympha on his of small yellow Catocala on a wall in the Boulogne
Plate 15, Fig. 2, comparingitto Catocalaparanympha woods, they necessarily belonged to the species
L., which is a synonym ofthe widespread Palearctic paranympha withwhichnoconfusion ispossible].
species Catocalafulminea (Scopoli 1763), and stated Subsequently, Catocala protonympha was listed
"Environs de Paris, en aout. Coll. Bdv. Un 6" [vicinity with questionable provenience by Berce (1870:242):
ofParis,inAugust. CollectionofBoisduval. Onemale]. "est regardee comme douteuse parbeaucoup de lepi-