Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site
Monitoring butterfly populations across Central California for more than 35 years… Lycaena mariposa
Common Name: Mariposa Copper
Resident at only one site on the transect - Donner - where it is confined to three tiny pockets where it has occurred for 35 years. This is a species of bogs and boggy meadows, often where California Pitcher Plant (Darlingtonia californica) and Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) grow. It has a single brood (July-August) and flies in the shrubby zone at the edge of the bog, usually adjacent to Lodgepole Pine. The host plants are supposed to be Blueberries (Vaccinium). These do not occur at any of the three Donner sites where it apparently breeds, so its presence there is an ongoing mystery. The semiaquatic Cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris) and Twinberry Honeysuckle (Lonicera conjugialis) are regular associates in the Sierra.
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