''Chlosyne lacinia'', the bordered patch or sunflower patch, is a

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

.James A. Scott (1986). ''The Butterflies of North America''. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

Description

The bordered patch is an extremely variable butterfly. The upperside of the wings is mainly black with the forewing having rows of white and/or yellow-orange spots of varying sizes.Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003). ''Butterflies of North America''. Houghton Mifflin, New York, NY. There is usually one whitish spot in the forewing cell.

Jeffrey Glassberg Jeffrey Glassberg is an American biologist and author. Following a distinguished academic career he pioneered and patented work in DNA Fingerprinting. Later he founded the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) and is the leading proponent o ...

(2007). ''A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America''. Sunstreak Books Inc. The hindwing has many color variations. Those variations can be: almost completely black to having some red postmedian spots to having a few rows of white postmedian spots to having an all red-orange discal area to having a yellow-orange postmedian band of varying width. The underside of the wings is just as variable as the upperside. It varies from having a few rows of white and red spots to having a yellow-white hindwing median band of varying width to the underside being mostly golden yellow with large yellow-orange spots and a thick golden-yellow median band. All of these variations have a red spot near the hindwing tornus. Its wingspan ranges from .Bob Stewart, Priscilla Brodkin, and Hank Brodkin (2001). ''Butterflies of Arizona''. West Coast Lady Press.

Similar species

Similar species in the bordered patch's range include the crimson patch ('' Chlosyne janais''), the rosita patch ('' Chlosyne rosita''), and the red-spotted patch (''

Chlosyne marina ''Chlosyne marina'', the red-spotted patch or marina checkerspot, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Mexico. Rare strays can be found as far north as southern Arizona and southern Texas. The wingspan is 33–35 mm. Adu ...

''). The crimson patch is larger, the upperside of the forewing has two spots in the cell, and the underside of the hindwing has a yellow basal patch with black spots in it. The upperside of the rosita patch's hindwing has a basal patch which is often two toned, and the underside of the hindwing is mostly pale yellow with a thick black marginal border. The red-spotted patch has a row of red marginal spots on the upperside, and underside of the hindwing.

Habitat

The bordered patch may be encountered in habitats such as desert hills, mesquite woodlands, pinyon woodlands, and oak woodlands. In North America, this species prefers to inhabit agricultural areas and weedy wastelands where the preferred host plant '' Helianthus annuus'' occurs.

Flight

This species is found from May to October in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, late January to mid-November in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and all year in southern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Life cycle

Males will find females by awaiting them on hilltops. Females will lay their

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

in clusters of about 100 or more on the underside of host plant leaves. The eggs are pale yellow green but later turn a reddish color. The young larvae feed together and but do not make a nest. They will become solitary when older. The larva is as variable as the adult. It ranges from mostly orange with black spines and stripes to black with a red-orange mid-dorsal stripe to almost all black. All variations have a red-orange head.Thomas J. Allen, Jim P. Brock and Jeffrey Glassberg (2005). ''Caterpillars in the Field and Garden''. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. The chrysalis varies from almost all white to white with black markings to nearly all black. The third

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ...

larva hibernates and also estivates. The bordered patch has three or four

brood Brood may refer to: Nature * Brood, a collective term for offspring * Brooding, the incubation of bird eggs by their parents * Bee brood, the young of a beehive * Individual broods of North American Periodical Cicadas: ** Brood X, the largest b ...

s per year.

Host plants

Here is a list of host plants used by the bordered patch: * Common ragweed, ''

Ambrosia artemisiifolia ''Ambrosia artemisiifolia'', with the common names common ragweed, annual ragweed, and low ragweed, is a species of the genus '' Ambrosia'' native to regions of the Americas. Taxonomy The species name, ''artemisiifolia'', is given because the le ...

'' * Giant ragweed, ''

Ambrosia trifida ''Ambrosia trifida'', the giant ragweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. Distribution It is present in Europe a ...

'' var. ''texana'' * ''

Baltimora Baltimora was an Italian music project from Milan, active from 1984 to 1987. They are best known for their 1985 single " Tarzan Boy" and are often considered a one-hit wonder in the United Kingdom and the United States. In other European countri ...

'' species * Straggler daisy, '' Calyptocarpus vialis'' * bonesets, ''

Eupatorium ''Eupatorium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, containing from 36 to 60 species depending on the classification system. Most are herbaceous perennials growing to tall. A few are shrubs. The genus is native to temperat ...

'' spies * Indian blanketflower, ''

Gaillardia pulchella ''Gaillardia pulchella'' (firewheel, Indian blanket, Indian blanketflower, or sundance) is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family. Description The branching stem of ''G. pulchella ...

'' * Sunflower, '' Helianthus annuus'' * Silverleaf sunflower, '' Helianthus argophyllus'' * Texas blueweed, ''

Helianthus ciliaris ''Helianthus ciliaris'' is a species of sunflower known by the common names Texas blueweed and yerba parda. ''Helianthus ciliaris'' grows in much of the south-central and southwestern United States (from Texas north to Kansas and west to Califor ...

'' * Cucumberleaf sunflower, '' Helianthus debilis'' * Maximilian sunflower, ''

Helianthus maximiliani ''Helianthus maximiliani'' is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name Maximilian sunflower. This sunflower is named for Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, who encountered it on his travels in North America. ''Helianthus m ...

'' * Jerusalem artichoke, '' Helianthus tuberosus'' * Camphor weed, '' Heterotheca latifolia'' * Showy palafox, ''

Palafoxia sphacelata ''Palafoxia'', or palafox, is a genus of North American flowering plants in the Bahia tribe within the Asteraceae (sunflower family). This genus is named after José de Palafox y Melzi, Duke of Saragossa (1776–1847), a Spanish captain-gener ...

'' * Santa Maria feverfew, ''

Parthenium hysterophorus ''Parthenium hysterophorus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the American tropics. Common names include Santa-Maria, Santa Maria feverfew, whitetop weed, and famine weed.McConnachie AJ, Strathie LW, et ...

'' * Crown-beard, ''

Verbesina encelioides ''Verbesina encelioides'' is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. The species is native to many parts of the United States and Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern po ...

'' * '' Xanthium pennsylvanicum'' * Orange zexmenia, '' Zexmenia hispida''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5103236 Butterflies of North America lacinia Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1837 Taxa named by Carl Geyer