Zerene Fritillary

Description:

This is an endangered species of butterfly endemic to California. "Myrtle's silverspot (Speyeria zerene myrtleae) is a medium-sized butterfly in the brush foot family (Nymphalidae), an endangered subspecies of the zerene fritillary.

Habitat:

open grasslands, brushy hillsides along the shoreline

Notes:

"Myrtle's silverspot (Speyeria zerene myrtleae) is a medium-sized butterfly in the brush foot family (Nymphalidae), an endangered subspecies of the zerene fritillary. It is endemic to California, where it is known from only about four locations just north of the San Francisco Bay Area, including two at Point Reyes National Seashore." Wikipedia "Technically, the true Myrtle's Fritillary is extinct and this subspecies at this location is now puntareyes from the taxonomic view. However Fish & Wildlife protects both puntareyes and another recently named subspecies as part of the original concept of Myrtle's Fritillary."