Leanira Checkerspot (Butterfly) - Will Minor Collection (E514)
Will Minor Butterfly Collection ➔ Leanira Checkerspot (Butterfly) - Will Minor Collection
Historical artifact -- Specimen, Animal
Identifier:
E514Description
Male leanira checkerspot of the flavodorsalis subspecies (Chlosyne leanira flavodorsalis) - a subspecies of butterfly - specimen, pressed inside of an almost flat, rectangular, plastic container. There is a raised "bubble" in the center of the plastic that houses the body of the specimen.Original label identifies the specimen as "[Male] Melitaea Fulvia" - a name used historically for the species C. fulvia - and suggests that it was collected at Black Ridge, Colorado. C. leanira and C. fulvia are understood to be very closely related, and the boundaries between the two have been at times disputed. However, the current consensus appears to be that all members of the species complex from Mesa, Delta, and Montrose Counties represent C. leanira, with C. fulvia occurring in the eastern and far southern portions of the state.
The coloration of this specimen is atypical for most populations of C. leanira, suggesting that it likely belongs to the subspecies C. l. flavodorsalis, which is believed to occur only in Colorado and Utah.