Chlosyne lacinia crocale
Bordered Patch
A variable butterfly somewhat similar in some forms to the California patch, this butterfly is far more common in Arizona. When the population there booms, it can stray into California. It sometimes is found at Anza-Borrego, along the Colorado River near Blythe, or in Imperial County. The main host is common sunflower, Helianthus annuus, though it can also use Bahiopsis parishii (Parish viguera) and Xanthium strumarium (rough cockleburr), all in the Asteraceae family. If there is a resident colony in California, I don't know where it is, but a good place to look would be agricultural areas around Imperial County where sunflowers are thriving.
Bordered Patches - Chlosyne lacinia - get into the eastern part of southern California and I had lusted after them for several years before I went to Arizona in the fall of 2007 and saw dozens of them. They are variable, and this first Bordered Patch has a lot of orange dorsally. Sycamore Cyn, Atascosa Mtns, Santa Cruz Co., September 27, 2007.
Bordered Patch with less orange. I made sure I got photos of a variety of these butterflies. Mt Lemmon, Santa Catalina Mtns, Pima Co., September 26, 2007.
Bordered Patch with white and a bit of cream. Also Mt Lemmon, Sept. 26, 2007.
Ventral shot of Chlosyne lacinia, Mt Lemmon again.
Another ventral of the Bordered Patch. Sycamore Canyon, September 27, 2007. For the denizens of Arizona, these are common; I was absolutely thrilled to see them for the first time. I'm sure everyone with this interest knows the excitement of finally encountering something you've always wanted to see, though the particular butterfly may be different for everyone.
William Henry Edwards described this butterfly in 1874 in the journal Transactions of the American Entomological Society. The White Mountains of Arizona are the type locality.
©Dennis Walker
