http://10.70.15.71/taxonomy/term/11/0 en http://10.70.15.71/butterfly/Lerodea/eufala <p>A nondescript, <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term182"><acronym title="A general term for organisms that are typically associated with habitats that are disturbed by human activities or are dominated by non-native, invasive plants.">weedy</acronym></a> brown skipper with small white spots, a slightly grayish <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term126"><acronym title="The rear pair of wings on an insect. The hindwings primarily are used for stability and increased surface area in flight. When butterflies land with their wings closed (and most do), the ventral hindwings is the primary wing surface observed. Some species have complex color patterns and designs on this wing surface, including eyespots and tails that may draw the attention of predators away from more “critical” areas of the body like the head and forewings. These patterns also can serve as important means of species recognition in courtship (demonstrably so in the Lycaeides blues). In others, like Ceryconis wood nymphs, ventral hindwings are cryptic and serve as camouflage.">hindwing</acronym></a> underside, and an odd habit of shrugging its wings several times upon alighting. Eufala ranges from our area to central Argentina and Chile. Its status in northern California is unclear. Although there are records of strays in the mountains, it basically is confined to the Central Valley and adjacent foothills where it is rarely seen before June, increasing to maximum abundance in autumn before disappearing around Thanksgiving. There is a handful of widely-scattered April records. Does it overwinter successfully, or must it recolonize from the south each year?</p> <p>A <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term169"><acronym title="The primary unit of classification below genus under the Linnaean system. For our purposes, groups of interbreeding or potentially interbreeding populations of individuals that share an evolutionary history and ancestry. However, there is significant debate on what exactly constitutes a species and many definitions and concepts have been proposed. The most common of these is the biological species concept, which requires that sets of populations must be able to successfully and regularly interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring.">species</acronym></a> of grassland, marshland, agricultural and waste ground, entering Valley <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term164"><acronym title="Occurring along creeks, rivers, or other bodies of fresh water. These wetter habitats are usually characterized by different flora and fauna than their adjacent upland habitats. The Pipevine Swallowtail and Lorquin’s Admiral are characteristic riparian butterflies.">riparian</acronym></a> forest. Occasional as an urban garden visitor. Rare in the Bay Area, however. Host plants a variety of weedy, summer-annual (<i>Echinochloa</i>), summer-<a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term152"><acronym title="An organism that persists in the same place for more than one year (at least), especially pertaining to plants that do not sprout, grow, mature, reproduce, and die within one year.">perennial</acronym></a> (<i>Paspalum</i>, <i>Sorghum</i>), turf (Bermuda Grass) and crop (Rice, <i>Oryza sativa</i>) grasses. Adults visit a great many flowers, especially Yellow Star-Thistle, <i>Heliotrope</i>, <i>Lippia</i> and Vetch (which they will pitch up onto from below).</p> Lerodea Sun, 28 May 2006 18:08:47 +0000 admin 83 at http://10.70.15.71