Larval hostplant records for butterflies and skippers (mainly from western U. S.), with notes on their natural history

Abstract

Larval hostplants, based on observations of adult oviposition or larval feeding, are presented for butterflies (including skippers) from western United States (mostly Colorado), and many notes on egg placement, overwintering stage, behavior, and ecology of these species are given. A case of larval hostplant switching is reported in which Phyciodes picta (Nymphalidae) originally fed on Aster (Compositae) but now feeds on the recently introduced Convolvulus arvensis (Convolvulaceae), a completely unrelated weedy vine. Ovipositing females have distinctive slow hovering flights, but in Satyrinae these are not as distinct from normal flight. Females of Satyrinae, Speyeria, and Boloria oviposit rather haphazardly near the hostplants, and many Hesperiinae are somewhat haphazard about their choice of grasses/sedges or nearby plants for oviposition.