Aglais milberti

Aglais milberti, the fire-rim tortoiseshell or Milbert's tortoiseshell, is considered the only species of the proposed Aglais genus that occurs in North America.

Milbert's tortoiseshell
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Aglais
Species:
A. milberti
Binomial name
Aglais milberti
(Godart, 1819)[1]
Subspecies
  • Aglais milberti milberti
  • Aglais milberti furcillata (Say, 1825)
  • Aglais milberti viola (dos Passos, 1938)
  • Aglais milberti pullum (Austin, 1998)
Synonyms
  • Vanessa milberti
  • Nymphalis milberti

Description
Ventral view

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 and Alaska south of the tundra, 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 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
larvae feeding on stinging nettle in Crestone, Colorado

Adult foods
Ottawa, Ontario
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References
  1. Latreille, Pierre André; Godart, Jean Baptiste (1819). "Histoire naturelle. Entomologie, ou histoire naturelle des crustacés, des arachnides et des insectes". Encyclopédie Méthodique. 9 (1): 3–328 (p. 307).
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