http://10.70.15.71/taxonomy/term/3/0 en http://10.70.15.71/butterfly/Amblyscirtes/vialis <p><a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term137"><acronym title="When populations of an organism are found only in small patches, even though those populations may be very abundant or the overall geographic range of the organism is vast. For example, populations of the Arctic Skipper are found in very small areas but the species has a circumboreal distribution.">Local</acronym></a> and generally uncommon; along roadsides and streamsides in dappled light and shade in moist habitats within forest; very local. Found in the Coast Range/Bay Area and on the Sierran West slope, foothills to (rarely) 7000'. It often co-occurs with the Arctic Skipper, Dreamy Duskywing, Western Tailed Blue, Clodius Parnassian, Gray-Veined White, etc. Males perch on leaves in sunflecks and occasionally visit mud puddles. There is no color or pattern variation, and the sexes are nearly identical.</p> <p>This is our only member of a large genus whose metropolis is in the desert Southwest and adjacent Mexico. Our <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> is the most widespread in the genus, occurring all the way from our area to the Atlantic coast states.</p> <p>There is one <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term86"><acronym title="The description of how many broods (generations) per year a particular butterfly species produces at any one location. A butterfly with one generation per year is “univoltine”. Butterflies with two generations per year are called “bivoltine” and those with more than two are generally referred to as “multivoltine”.">brood</acronym></a>, flying April to July (later at higher elevations). The host plants are known to be native grasses but no precise identifications have been made in our area.</p> <p>Adults visit small woodland flowers - vetches, mints, dogbane, etc. They are so inconspicuous that they are often overlooked. One well-known Bay Area collector had never noticed this species despite several decades of field experience!</p> Amblyscirtes Sun, 28 May 2006 18:09:50 +0000 admin 20 at http://10.70.15.71