Colias alexandra

[mikeh]

Here is a box of various Colias alexandra, christina and harfordii populations from western North America.

[gaspipe]

Fantastic thank you for sharing

[trehopr1]

Indeed, thank you for sharing.

Always nice seeing things from the west when you have only
collected in the east.

Have you collected C. behrii ?

I have all of one fine (male) specimen acquired
from an old collection being parted out.

[bobw]

It would be nice to have an idea of the provenance of each series...

[leptraps]

That is a stunning drawer of specimens. Are all of the yellow Colias eriphyle? I am assuming the the solid yellow and White specimens without the black border are female?

[bobw]

Yes, the ones without the solid black border are female. There are no eriphyle, which is a subspecies of philodice. As MikeH said in the original post, they are mainly alexandra, with christina on the right and a few harfordii.

[mikeh]

Column 1: top seven Arizona White Mountains, bottom seven from the eastern Wasatch Plateau in Emery county Utah

Column 2: top eight west slope of Beaverhead Mountains in Idaho, bottom six are altiplano populations from high plains in central wyoming

Column 3: top 5 desert hills in western Utah, middle eight Front Range Colorado, bottom one south central Colorado

Column 4: top 10, western slope of Colorado, middle 4 western montana, bottom 1, another western Utah individual

Column 5: western Montana

Column 6: top 10, Southern California harfordii, bottom 5 western Montana

Column 6: top 3, Absaroka and Big Horn mountains in Wyoming, next 1 central Oregon

Column 7: top 4 Black Hills South Dakota, bottom 8 kluanensis populations from Alaska and Canada

Column 8: Black Hills South Dakota

[bobw]

There are some nice series from interesting places there. I'll try to post some of mine sometime if I can get round to taking photos.

[mikeh]

Jan 1, 2021 22:08:14 GMT -8 trehopr1 said:

Have you collected C. behrii ?

I haven't had a chance to collect in C. behrii habitat but I have picked up a few over the years.

[mikeh]

Columns 1&2: C. skinneri (pelidne skinneri) from Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Also a few canadian individuals at the bottom of miscellaneous species.

Columns 3&4: C. scudderii from Utah, Colorado and Wyoming

Columns 5&6: C. gigantea from Wyoming

Columns 7&8: C. nastes from Canada and C. interior from Montana, Wisconsin and Michigan

Columns 9&10: C. meadii from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Canada. C. behrii from California and a couple miscellaneous Canadian species at the bottom.

[trehopr1]

Wow, another wonderful Colias drawer !

Thank you so much mikeh for sharing with us.

Those C. behrii and C. gigantea are especially nice...

[bobw]

Nice!

[trehopr1]

Hey mikeh, I don't wish to be a bother but, could you post us
a close up of those C. nastes from Canada. The male is partially
obscured in the photo and he really looks to be very unique.

I am unfamiliar with the species so any close-up's would be most appreciated.

Also, what is the frequency by which you encounter those "white" females of C. gigantea ?
Is it 50% of the time ? Maybe less ?

I also noticed that some of the females appear very "light" in yellow coloration as if there
is a "transitional" phase (?) or form (?) present in the species. Perhaps, bobw can tell us
what is going on here with the species as he is the resident expert on Colias butterflies...

Thanks again !

[trehopr1]

Another question mikeh regarding C. interior.

I noticed you only have 7 females in your lovely series.
Are they less frequently encountered for some reason ?
Do they have a different flight time or emergence cycle than males ?
You also have a singular albino female. How tough are those to come by ?

Sorry for being so inquisitive but, I've always liked Colias in general
and these western species are intriguing...

[leptraps]

I am reluctant to post Photographs of my drawers. I posted several drawers of my Tiger Swallowtails which resulted in several emails about being a show off.