Overview
The historical range of the Quino checkerspot butterfly included much of non-montane Southern California, including southwestern Ventura, southwestern San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Western Riverside and San Diego counties. At the time of its listing as endangered in 1997, more than 75 percent of its historical range was lost due to habitat loss and fragmentation. This reduction in the historical range was also due to the invasion of non-native plant species, as well as catastrophic natural events like increased frequency of drought and wildfire. It is currently known to occur in western Riverside and San Diego counties, California, and northern Baja California, Mexico.?Its habitat is characterized by patchy shrub or small tree landscapes with openings of several meters between large plants or a landscape of open swales alternating with dense patches of shrubs.
Scientific Name
Identification Numbers
Characteristics
Physical Characteristics
The Quino checkerspot is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of approximately 1 inch (3 cm).
A member of the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae, the Quino checkerspot is a black, white and orange butterfly.
Behavior
Adults are sedentary by nature and generally fly close to the ground, and also congregate on hilltops and ridgelines. These butterflies require open areas with high solar exposure to facilitate breeding and movement.
Food
Adults feed and lay eggs on dwarf plantain, white snapdragon, woolly plantain and Chinese houses.?Larvae may also use other species of native plantain, purple owl’s clover and thread-leaved bird’s beak as primary or secondary host plants.
Timeline
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