http://10.70.15.71/taxonomy/term/41/0 en http://10.70.15.71/butterfly/Agraulis/vanillae <p>This dazzling bit of the New World Tropics was <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term130"><acronym title="A species or other taxon that is transported or disperses, accidentally or intentionally, to a new locality, where it may be come naturalized or weedy. For instance, most of the dominant plants in the Central Valley of California are actually endemic to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and north Africa where seasonal patterns of dry and wet, hot and cold, conditions are extremely similar. Many of these species arrived in California in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through human related activities. Interestingly, many butterflies in lowland California are now dependent to some degree on these introduced plants.">introduced</acronym></a> into southern California in the 19th Century --we don't know how-- and was first recorded in the Bay Area before 1908, though it seems to have become established there only in the 1950s. It can be quite common in the East and South Bay --particularly in Berkeley-- and has been found breeding spontaneously as far inland as Fairfield where, however, it is not established. There are scattered records in the Central Valley and even up to Folsom, perhaps resulting from people breeding the <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> for amusement or to release at social occasions. According to Hal Michael, who grew up in South Sacramento, this species bred there in abundance on garden <i>Passiflora</i> in the early 1960s. It seems to have died out by the early 1970s, however. Intolerant of hard freezes, it still managed to survive the record cold snap of 1990 that largely exterminated the Buckeye regionally!</p> <p>This butterfly has no native <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term128"><acronym title="The species or set of species of plants that caterpillars must eat to develop properly. Host plant specificity can vary greatly across butterfly species, ranging from only 1 plant species to dozens of suitable plant species. Host plant specificity can promote speciation between two or more groups of closely related through reproductive isolation. Prime examples of this are Euphilotes blue butterflies and some Apodemia metalmarks that almost exclusively use different species or varieties buckwheats (Eriogonum) as larval hosts. A similar situation has been demonstrated in Mitoura hairstreaks that feed on trees in the family Cupressaceae (junipers, incense-cedar, cypresses).">host plant</acronym></a> in California and is entirely dependent on introduced species of the tropical <a class="glossary-term" href="/glossary/3#term122"><acronym title="The nested rank between family and species in the Linnaean system.">genus</acronym></a> <i>Passiflora</i> (Passion Flower, Passion Vine), including the common Maypop (<i>P. incarnata</i>) and <i>P. X alatocaerulea</i>. However, it will not eat all of the <i>Passiflora</i> in cultivation in California.</p> <p>In the Bay Area this species can be seen flying any day of the year, if it is warm and sunny enough.</p> Agraulis Sun, 28 May 2006 18:09:52 +0000 admin 18 at http://10.70.15.71