''Aglais milberti'', the fire-rim tortoiseshell or Milbert's tortoiseshell, is considered the only species of the proposed ''

Aglais ''Aglais'' is a Holarctic genus of brush-footed butterflies, containing the tortoiseshells. This genus is sometimes indicated as a subgenus of ''Nymphalis ''Nymphalis'', commonly known as the tortoiseshells or anglewing butterflies, is a ge ...

'' genus that occurs in North America.

Description

The wingspan is between 4.2 and 6.3 cm and the forewing's tips are squared off. The upperside is black with wide orange submarginal bands; this orange slightly fades to yellow near the inner edge. Both wings have narrow black marginal borders; the hindwing may have blue spots.

Behaviour

This is a quick species that flits rapidly around woodland roads. When it lands it may open its wings, often on trees or rocks.

Range and habitat

Milbert's tortoiseshell's range includes all of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

south of the

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

, all of the western United States and most of the eastern United States. In these areas they commonly occur in wet areas, including moist pastures, marshes, most trails, and roadsides.

Life cycle

There are two broods from May to October. During this time adults mate and lay eggs. The female will lay her eggs in bunches of up to 900 individuals on the underside of the host plant's leaves. Early-

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 ass ...

caterpillars eat together in a web, but later instars feed alone. They hibernate as adults, often in small congregations. Adults have been known to mate in low-elevation watercourses in arid regions.

Larval foods

* ''

Urtica dioica ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Ori ...

'' – stinging nettle * ''

Urtica procera ''Urtica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Urticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be called nettles or stinging nettles, although the latter name applies particularly to ''Urtica dioica''. ''Urtica'' species are food f ...

'' – tall nettle * ''

Pilea pumila ''Pilea pumila'', commonly known as clearweed, Canadian clearweed, coolwort or richweed, is an herbaceous plant in the nettle family (Urticaceae). It is native to Asia and eastern North America, where it is broadly distributed. This plant is mos ...

'' – clearweed

Adult foods

Nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

Goldenrod Goldenrod is a common name for many species of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, commonly in reference to the genus ''Solidago''. Several genera, such as ''Euthamia'', were formerly included in a broader concept of the genus ...

Lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering plant, flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and wid ...

Plant sap Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a sepa ...

* Rotting fruit * Dung

References

* * *
Milbert's Tortoiseshell
Butterflies of Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Aglais Milberti Butterflies of North America Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Godart Butterflies described in 1819 Nymphalini