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Euphydryas phaeton
The Baltimore Checkerspot, is a North American butterfly, of the family Nymphalidae. It's native host plant, is the white turtle head, but it has also, to some extent, made use of the introduced lawn weed, English plantain, and other plants. Georgraphically variable. Upper side is black with red-orange crescents, on outer margins of both wings, and rows of creamy white spots inward. Wingspan: one and three fourths of an inch, to, two and three fourths of an inch. Eggs are laid in groups of 100-700, under host plant leaves. Newly hatched caterpillars, move to the tip of the plant, and feed together in a web, which is enlarged downward, as the caterpillars consume more of the plant. Fourth-stage caterpillars, hibernate in rolled leaves, on the ground. Caterpillar hosts: plants where eggs are laid, and that caterpillars eat before hibernating, are: turtlehead, hairy beardtongue, English plantain, and false foxglove. After overwintering, caterpillars may continue to use these plants, but may also wander and feed on unrelated plants, including: arrowwood, common lousewort, Japanese honeysuckle, and white ash. Adult food: nectar from flowers of milkweed, viburnum, and wild rose. The Baltimore Checkerspot, overwinters as larvae. The caterpillar, is black and orange, in color. The pupa, is whitish, with orange tubercles and black splotches.
Wet meadows, bogs and marshes in the northeast part of its range, dry, open, or wooded hillsides, in the southwest. Damp meadows with grass, sedges, and turtlehead.
I went to Tennessee, in the summer of 2012, to visit a friend of mine, who is also an avid nature lover. She had a large butterfly garden, in her back yard, with lots of host and nectar plants, for the many different species of butterflies, that visit her garden. She had a lot of white turtle head plants, for the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly. We found some Baltimore Checkerspot pupae, and I was able to take some photos of the pupae. One pupa, was eleven sixteenth of an inch long, and one fourth of an inch wide. The color of this pupa, was: whitish, with orange tubercles and black splotches.
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