Speyeria adiaste (Edwards, 1864)

Dunford, James C., 2009, Taxonomic overview of the greater fritillary genus Speyeria Scudder and the atlantis - hesperis species complexes, with species accounts, type images, and relevant literature (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (90), pp. 1-74 : 24-25

Speyeria adiaste (Edwards, 1864)

( Figure 18-19 )

Argynnis Adiaste Edwards 1864b: 436 .

Argynnis Adiante Boisduval 1869: 61 .

Argynnis Adraste Kirby 1871: 160 .

Argynnis adianthe Barnes and McDunnough, 1917: 8 .

Speyeria egleis adiaste (Edwards) [ dos Passos and Grey 1945a].

Speyeria adiaste (Edwards) [ Emmel and Emmel 1973; see also Grey 1989].

Common names. Adiaste fritillary, unsilvered fritillary, lesser unsilvered fritillary.

Type deposited. There has been some confusion about the name and authorship of this insect. Dos Passos and Grey (1947) designated a specimen described by Boisduval as Argynnis Adiante , housed at the National Museum of Natural History, as a lectotype ( Figure 18 ). However, Brown (1965; see also Emmel et al. 1998a) rejected this designation because “ Adiante ” is not recorded from the area where dos Passos and Grey chose as the type locality, and chose a male specimen described by W. H. Edwards as Argynnis Adiaste , housed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, as the lectotype for S. adiaste ( Figure 19 ) (also see Type locality and Type label data sections below).

Type locality. California. Defined by dos Passos and Grey (1947) as Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, California. Brown (1965) did not fix locality information for the lectotype designated by him. However, he stated that S. adiaste is not found in the immediate vicinity of the city of Santa Cruz, but rather approximately 9 miles north of the city near Boulder Creek. Emmel et al. (1998a) further refined the dos Passos and Grey type locality to 2 miles southeast of Summit Road along Highland Way, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Cruz County, California because no S. adiaste populations are (or were) known from the city of Santa Cruz.

Type label data. From dos Passos and Grey (1947): “ Adiante Bd Calif. ; EX MUSAEO Dris. BOISDUVAL; Type adiante a/c Hofer; Oberthur Collection; Barnes Collection”. From Brown (1965): “Adianthe type; Adiante [female] type sent W. H. E. by Dr Boisduval & figd in But. N. A.; lectotype Argynnis adiaste [female], W. H. Edwards designated by F.M. Brown ’64 also lectotype of adiante Bdv. desig. by dos Passos and Grey ’47”.

Identification, taxonomy, and variation. Sims et al. (1979) noted allozyme characters separated S. adiaste forms from related S. atlantis and S. egleis taxa and suggested S. adiaste is distinct genetically. There are currently 3 described subspecies in the adiaste complex. Adult wingspan is 45-57 mm. The dorsal ground coloring is red brown to pale brown and the ventral surface is reddish orange to pale tan. Males are bright brick red in Santa Cruz County, California or pale, washed-out tawny in south central California. Females are larger and paler than males. The ventral hindwing spot patterns are unsilvered or obsolete and bear delicate lavender-pink reflections. Larvae are reportedly similar to S. callippe [mottled brown and black with black (or paler) dorsal stripes and many orange to yellow or black branching spines] but with lighter gray sides ( Allen et al. 2005). Pupae are similar to S. callippe , but the wing cases are somewhat lighter in color.

Range. Speyeria adiaste is fairly restricted (see Grey 1989) along coastal and transverse mountain ranges in central California, from San Mateo County south to San Luis Obispo County, east to Kern County and northern Los Angeles County. Populations are very local and numbers may fluctuate from year to year. Some populations in Kern County [ Speyeria adiaste atossa (W. H. Edwards) ] have been extinct since 1959 ( Orsak 1974; Sims et al. 1979; Hammond and McCorkle 1984, Garth and Tilden 1986). Tuttle (2007) provided observational notes that S. adiaste has not been extirpated from Santa Clara County, California.

Life history. Speyeria adiaste occurs along grassy slopes and openings in redwood forests (San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties) and in high mountain meadows in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties. In southern California localities, habitat is mixed chaparral and oak woodland ( Hovanitz 1970). The subspecific taxa within adiaste appear to be distributed with their specific violet host plants and by the desiccation tolerance of first instar larvae ( Sims et al. 1979). Flight period is from June to early September. It has been hypothesized that the disappearance of S. adiaste populations is due to fire suppression and resulting habitat change ( Scott 1986b).

Figures

Figure 16-20. Type images for Speyeria spp.; dorsal, ventral, and label images. 16) Speyeria callippe lectotype, described as Argynnis callippe, male, NMNH. 17) Speyeria egleis neotype, described as Argynnis egleis, female, NMNH. 18) Speyeria adiaste lectotype, described as Argynnis Adiante, female, NMNH. This specimen is not recognized as the name bearing type. 19) Speyeria adiaste lectotype, described as Argynnis Adiaste, male, CMNH. 20) Speyeria atlantis atlantis lectotype, described as Argynnis Atlantis, male, CMNH. Images 16-18 by Robert Robbins; 19-20 by James C. Dunford.