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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 38(1), 1984, 32-39
CHECKLIST OF MANITOBA BUTTERFLIES (RHOPALOCERA)
Paul Klassen
Box 212, Elm Creek, Manitoba
ABSTRACT. A list of butterflies (Rhopalocera) occurring in Manitoba is compiled from records of resident and non-resident collectors, published literature, museums, university collections and the author's collection.
It has been forty years since the last published checklist of Manitoba butterflies (Rhopalocera) by G. Shirley Brooks in "A Revised Check List of the Butterflies of Manitoba" (1942). Since that list is out-dated and not readily available, the present list has been prepared, including a number of species not previously recorded.
Many parts of Manitoba have been collected very sparingly, and I am afraid the habitat will be destroyed before these areas have been studied. There is very little virgin prairie left in this province, and some of that is not accessible to collectors. Some species in this habitat are threatened. Most of the province, however, is largely undeveloped, and there are large tracts of virgin forests, marshes, bogs, taiga and tundra untouched by the bulldozer. This will hopefully remain so for a long time.
It is hoped that this checklist will encourage more study of the fascinating butterfly fauna of Manitoba. Any comments and criticism of this list and the notes following it will be appreciated.
The sequence of taxa follows the order of the Miller and Brown Catalogue/Checklist (1981), and the species are numbered accordingly.
Distribution
Most of Manitoba is covered by boreal forest including many lakes, rivers and bogs. The southern part, especially toward the west, consists of grasslands changing to an aspen parkland region farther north. The area bordering the coast of Hudson Bay contains some tundra.
For practical reasons the following definitions are used:
FN = Far North. An area just southwest of Hudson Bay. Here Churchill and vicinity have been collected quite intensively and most far north records are from here.
N = North. Northern third of the province excepting the far north. This area consists of boreal forest with make lakes, rivers and bogs. Not much collecting has been done in this area.
NW = Northwest. The western half of "N".
NE = Northeast. The eastern half of "N".
C = Central. The middle third of the province running north and south. Geographically this area is like the north. Very little collecting has been done here.
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WC = West Central. The western half of "C".
EC = East Central. The eastern half of "C".
S = South. The southern third of the province.
SW = Southwest. The western half of "S". This area consists of dry prairie in the southwest turning to moist prairie farther north and east. A large part of this is in the parkland or transition zone and is broken up by the Turtle Mountain in the extreme south and the Riding and Duck Mountains to the north. Lake Manitoba is east of Riding Mountain. Most of this area is agricultural land with very little virgin prairie left.
SE = Southeast. The eastern half of "S'\ This area consists of boreal forest in the north, mixed forest farther south with moist prairie along the Red River valley. The southern end of Lake Winnipeg is included in this area. Most of the prairie is now in agriculture.
G = General Distribution. Covers the whole province.
Note: Only those areas for which there are actual records of butterflies have been listed. Some species probably cover a much larger area than is indicated in the checklist below.
Checklist of Manitoba Butterflies (Rhopalocera)
Hesperiidae Latreille
Epargyreus Hiibner
clarus clarus (Cramer)—S, C 7a. Thorybes Scudder
pylades (Scudder)—G (except FN) 48. Erynnis Schrank
icelus (Scudder & Burgess)—G (except FN) 83.
brizo brizo (Boisduval & Leconte)—S, C 84a.
juvenalis juvenalis (Fabricius)—S 85a.
martialis (Scudder)—SE 92.
lucilius (Scudder & Burgess)—S 96.
persius persius (Scudder)—SW, NE, FN 99a. Pyrgus Hiibner
centaureae freija (Warren)—SE, WC, N, FN 100a.
communis (Grote)—S 104. Pholisora Scudder
catullus (Fabricius)—S 115. Carterocephalus Lederer
palaemon mandan (Edwards)—S, C 120a. Ancyloxypha
numitor (Fabricius)—S, C 142. Oarisma Scudder
poweshiek (Parker)—S 144.
garita (Reakirt)—S 145. Thymelicus Hiibner
lineola (Ochsenheimer)—SE 150. Hesperia Fabricius
uncas uncas Edwards—SW 156a.
comma assiniboia (Lyman)—S 158b.
c. borealis Lindsey—NE, FN 158d.
ottoe Edwards—S 160.
leonardus Harris—SE 161.
pawnee Dodge—SW 162.
dacotae (Skinner)—S 169.
sassacus manitoboides (Fletcher)—SE 171b.
nevada (Scudder)—SW 173.
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Polites Scudder
coras (Cramer)—S 174.
themistocles (Latreille)—S 179.
mystic dacotah (Edwards)—S, WC 181b. Atrytone Scudder
logan lagus (Edwards)—SW 189b. Poanes Scudder
hobomok (Harris)—S 197. Euphyes Scudder
ruricola metacomet (Harris)—S, C 217b. Atrytonopsis Godman
hianna hianna (Scudder)—S 219a. Amblyscirtes Scudder
hegon (Scudder)—SE 235.
vialis (Edwards)—S 245.
Papilionidae Latreille Papilio Linnaeus
polyxenes asterius Stoll—SE 303a.
bairdii Edwards—SW 308.
kahli F. & R. Chermock—SW 306.
machaon hudsonianus Clark—SW, WC, N 310b.
cresphontes Cramer—S 314.
glaucus canadensis Rothchild & Jordan—G 320b.
troilus troilus Linnaeus—SE(?) 325a.
Pieridae Duponchel Pieris Schrank
protodice Boisduval & Leconte—S 334.
occidentalis occidentalis Reakirt—S, FN 335a.
napi oleracea Harris—G 336d.
rapae (Linnaeus)—S, FN 338. Euchloe Hiibner
ausonides mayi F. & R. Chermock—G 341c.
olympia (Edwards)—SW 344. Colias Fabricius
philodice philodice Godart—S, C 351a.
eurytheme Boisduval—S, FN 352.
alexandra christina Edwards—SW, WC 355e.
hecla hela Strecker—FN 357b.
boothii Curtis—FN 358.
nastes moina Strecker—FN 360c.
gigantea gigantea Strecker—FN 362a.
g. mayi F. & R. Chermock—SW 362c.
pelidne pelidne Boisduval & Leconte—FN 363a.
interior interior Scudder—S, WC 364a.
palaeno chippewa Edwards—FN 365a.
cesonia (Stoll)—SW 368a. Eurema Hiibner
mexicana (Boisduval)—SW 380. Nathalis Boisduval
iole Boisduval—S 389.
Lycaenidae Leach
Feniseca Grote
tarquinius tarquinius (Fabricius)—S 391a. Lycaena Fabricius
xanthoides dione (Scudder)—S 395b.
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hyllus (Cramer)—S 398.
epixanthe michiganensis Rawson—SE 402b.
dorcas dorcas Kirby—G 403a.
helloides (Boisduval)—S 404. Harkenclenus dos Passos
titus titus (Fabricius)—S 417a. Satyrium Scudder
acadica acadica (Edwards)—SE 420a.
a. watrini (Dufrane)—SW 420d.
edwardsii (Grote & Robinson)—S 423.
calanus falacer (Godart)—S 424b.
liparops fletcheri (Mitchener & dos Passos)—S 427c. Incisalia Scudder
augustus augustus (Kirby)—S, C, N 464a.
polios polios Cook & Watson—S, C, N 466a.
henrici henrici (Grote & Robinson)—SE 468a.
niphon clarki Freeman—S, C 470b.
eryphon eryphon (Boisduval)—N 471a. Strymon Hiibner
melinus humuli (Harris)—S 478b. Everes Hiibner
comyntas comyntas (Godart)—S, C 503a.
amyntula albrighti Clench—SW, WC, N, FN 504c. Celastrina Tutt
ladon lucia (Kirby)—G (except FN) 505b.
/. argentata (Fletcher)—SW 505c. Glaucopsyche Scudder
lygdamus couperi Grote—G (except FN) 514b.
/. ajra (Edwards)—SW 514c. Plebejus Kluk
Argyrognomon scudderii (Edwards)—SW, WC, FN 516e.
a. nabokovi Masters—SE 5161.
melissa melissa (Edwards)—SW 517b.
m. samuelis Nabokov—SE 517a.
saepiolus arnica (Edwards)—G 518a.
optilete yukona (Holland)—C, N, FN 525a.
franklinii franklinii (Curtis)—FN 526a.
/. lacustris (Freeman)—C, N 526b.
/. rustica (Edwards)—S 526e.
Heliconiidae Swainson
Agraulis Boisduval & Leconte
vanillae incarnata (Riley)—SW 555b.
Nymphalidae Swainson
Euptoieta Doubleday
claudia (Cramer)—S 562. Speyeria Scudder
cybele pseudocarpenteri (F. & R. Chermock)—S 565d.
aphrodite aphrodite (Fabricius)—SE 566a.
a. manitoba (F. & R. Chermock)—S 566d.
idalia (Drury)—S 567.
edwardsii (Reakirt)—SW 569.
callippe calgariana (McDunnough)—S 572p.
atlantis atlantis (Edwards)—SE 574a.
a. hollandi (F. & R. Chermock)—S, WC 574c.
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a. dennisi dos Passos & Grey—SW 574u.
mormonia eurynome (Edwards)—SW 576i. Boloria Moore
eunomia dawsoni (Barnes & McDunnough)—G 578c.
selene atrocostalis (Huard)—S, WC, FN 579f.
bellona bellona (Fabricius)—S, WC, N 580a.
frigga saga (Staudinger)—G 581a.
improba improba (Butler)—FN 582a.
polaris stellata Masters—FN 585b.
freija freija (Thunberg)—G 586a.
titania boisduvalii (Duponchel)—FN 589a.
t. grandis (Barnes & McDunnough)—G (except FN) 589c.
chariclea arctica (Zetterstedt)—N 590a. Chlosyne Butler
gorgone carlota (Reakirt)—S 605b.
nycteis nycteis (Doubleday)—S 606a.
n. reversa (F. & R. Chermock)—SW 606c.
harrisii harrisii (Scudder)—S 607a.
h. hanhami (Fletcher)—S, WC 607c. Phyciodes Hiibner
tharos tharos (Drury)—G 623b.
batesii (Reakirt)—S, C 624. Euphydryas Scudder
phaeton phaeton (Drury)—SE 635a. Polygonia Hiibner
interrogationis (Fabricius)—S 636.
comma (Harris)—S 637.
satyrus neomarsayas dos Passos—S 638b.
fannus fannus (Edwards)—S, WC 639a.
gracilis (Grote & Robinson)—N, FN 643.
progne (Cramer)—S, N, FN 645. Nymphalis Kluk
van-album j-album (Boisduval & Leconte)—S 646a.
californica californica (Boisduval)—S 647a.
antiopa antiopa (Linnaeus)—G 648a.
milberti milberti (Godart)—S, WC, FN 649b. Vanessa Fabricius
virginiensis (Drury)—S, FN 650.
cardui (Linnaeus)—S, WC, FN 651.
atalanta rubria (Fruhstorfer)—S, C, N 653a. Junonia Hiibner
coenia Hiibner—S 656. Limenitis Fabricius
arthemis arthemis (Drury)—SE 663a.
s. rubrofasciata (Barnes & McDunnough)—S, C 663b.
archippus archippus (Cramer)—S, WC 664a.
Satyridae Boisduval
Lethe Hiibner
anthedon Clark—S 711.
eurydice eurydice (Johansson)—S 713a. Euptychia Hiibner
cymela cymela (Cramer)—S, C 723a. Coenonympha Hiibner
inornata inornata Edwards—SW, C 728d.
i. benjamini McDunnough—S 728e.
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Cercyonis Scudder
pegala olympus (Edwards)—S 732e. Erebia Dalman
rossi ornata Leussler—FN 737a.
disa mancinus Doubleday & Hewitson—G 738a.
discoidalis discoidalis (Kirby)—G 741a.
theano sofia Strecker—FN 742a.
epipsodea freemani Ehrlich—SW, WC 744b. Neominois Scudder
ridingsii ridingsii (Edwards)—SW 748a. Oeneis Hiibner
macounii (Edwards)—S 751.
chryxus Calais (Scudder)—C 752b.
uhleri varuna (Edwards)—SW 753a.
alberta alberta Elwes—S 754a.
bore ssp.—FN 756.
jutta ascerta Masters & Sorensen—SE 757b.
;. ridingiana F. & R. Chermock—SW, WC 757c.
j. harperi Chermock—N, FN 757d.
melissa semplei Holland—FN 758c.
polixenes polixenes (Fabricius)—FN 759a.
Danaidae Duponchel
Danaus Kluk
plexippus (Linnaeus)—S, WC 760.
Notes
C. palaemon mandan—Type-locality—"Lake Winnipeg", restricted to Pine Ridge by F. M. Brown and L. Miller, is common in most wooded areas of southern Manitoba.
T. lineola, first recorded from Manitoba in the early 1970's, is now firmly established in Winnipeg and east of there (Preston and Westwood, 1981).
H. comma borealis from Churchill, should perhaps have another subspecific name.
P. asterius polyxenes is rare in southeastern Manitoba.
P. kahli—Type-locality—"Riding Mtns., Man.", is found mostly in the Riding Mountain and Duck Mountain area, but some are found as far east as the Red River. There seems to be some intergradation between this and the latter species and P. machaon.
E. ausonides mayi—Type-locality—"Riding Mtns., Manitoba".
C. hecla hela—Type-locality—"above Fort Churchill".
C. nastes moina—Type-locality—"above Fort Churchill".
C. g. gigantea—Type-locality—"west coast of Hudson Bay above Fort York".
C. g. mayi—Type-locality—"Riding Mtns., Manitoba".
L. d. dorcas—Type-locality—"Lat. 54°", restricted to The Pas, Manitoba, by Ferris.
H. t. titus—In southwestern Manitoba some specimens perhaps belong to immaculo-sus.
S. a. acadica flies in the southeast and toatrini in the southwest.
S. liparops fletcheri—Type-locality—"Manitoba".
C. ladon argentata—Type-locality—"Cartwright, Manitoba", flies in southwestern Manitoba, while lucia is found in most of the rest of the province.
G. lygdamus afra—Type-locality—"Deer River country", restricted to vie. Brandon, Man. by F. M. Brown, flies in southwestern Manitoba with couperi in the rest of the province. They are quite hard to tell apart as they are variable in size and in the ventral spots and color.
P. argyrognomon scudderii—Type-locality—"Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba", flies in western Manitoba. The bands of submarginal orange lunules, both ventral and dorsal, are on the average more complete than in nabokovi which is found in the southeastern part of the province. The subspecies are very variable and so difficult to tell apart.
38 Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
P. m. melissa flies in south and central Manitoba with samuelis in the southeastern corner.
P. /. franklinii is found in the Churchill area.
P. /. lacustris—Type-locality—"Norway House", is in central Manitoba.
P. /. rustica occurs in southern Manitoba.
S. aphrodite manitoba—Type-locality—"Sand Ridge", which is east of Riding Mountain. These formerly went under the name of mayae and occupy most of southern Manitoba. S. a. aphrodite is in the extreme southeast.
S. a. atlantis is sometimes found in the extreme southeast.
S. a. hollandi—Type-locality—"Riding Mtns., Manitoba", flies in most of southern Manitoba.
S. a. dennisi—Type-locality—"Beulah, Manitoba", closely resembles lais from Saskatchewan. It was known by that name for some time. It probably intergrades with that subspecies. In the Riding Mountain area, hollandi flies in the wetter areas and dennisi in the drier, more open areas, but adults feed at flowers in the same places. Should these belong to different species?
B. polaris stellata—Type-locality—"Churchill, Manitoba", flies in the Churchill area in odd-numbered years.
B. titania grandis flies in southern and central Manitoba.
B. t. boisduvalii from the north is abundant at Churchill.
C. nycteis reversa—Type-locality—"Riding Mountains, Manitoba", refers to most specimens from Manitoba, however some are like subspecies nycteis in facies.
C. harrisii hanhami—Type-locality—"Bird Hill, near Winnipeg, Manitoba", flies in southern Manitoba. There seems to be some intergradation with the subspecies harrisii, as some specimens are like the ones from Ontario in facies.
L. arthemis rubrofasciata—Type-locality—"Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta", is common in southern Manitoba with some arthemis found in the eastern part, where they intergrade.
L. eurydice, formerly known as transmontana in this area, is quite distinct as the ground color very pale, almost white in some specimens, as compared to the dark specimens found in eastern Ontario.
C. i. inornata—Type-locality—"Lake Winnipeg", emended to "Saskatchewan River between Lake Winnipeg and The Pas, Man.", by F. M. Brown, flies mostly in the parklands area and benjamini on the prairies in southern Manitoba. C. ochracea probably does not fly in the province.
E. rossii ornata—Type-locality—"Churchill", is abundant in the Churchill area most years.
E. theano sofia—Type-locality—"Fort Churchill, Manitoba" was formerly known as canadensis, is locally common at Churchill most years.
O. bore ssp., flies at Churchill in even-numbered years. It is quite rare most years, but locally more common, in some. It is quite variable and has a darker ground color than bore hanburyi from Baker Lake, N. W. Territories, Canada.
O. jutta ascerta flies in eastern Manitoba. It is dark and the orange bands are less developed or even lacking in some males. It is found in the odd-numbered years with the rare exception.
O. j. ridingiana—Type-locality—"Riding Mountains, Manitoba", is found mostly in even-numbered years in western Manitoba, but some fly every year. The orange bands are well developed.
O. j. harperi—Type-locality—"Gillam, Manitoba", is a little smaller than the two preceding subspecies. It is quite variable with the orange bands in some females well developed to faint in others. It resembles alaskensis. It is common at Churchill every year.
Some butterflies have, over a number of years, been taken very rarely in Manitoba. The following are probably strays from the south: P. cresphontes, P. t. troilus, C. cesonia, E. mexicana, N. iole, A. vanillae, S. idalia and N. californica.
There are also some species that, although rare, apparently breed in the province. Some of these may be seen to be more common after the areas have been more exten-
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sively collected. Here is a list of these: P. catullus, O. poweshiek, H. ottoe, H. dacotae, H. nevada, A. logan, P. bairdii, E. olympia, L. epixanthe, I. eryphon, S. melinus, S. edwardsii, S. callippe, E. phaeton, P. gracilis, J. coenia and N. ridinsii.
A small number have been included that maybe should be deleted from the list. Papilio bairdii is included based on records from Beulah and Birtle and records of bairdii ore-gonia from Beulah. The author suspects that these may be misidentified specimens of machaon or kahli. The latter is quite variable. C. boothii, C. pelidne and B. improba have been recorded from "north Manitoba". C. boothii and B. improba could occur northwest of Churchill and C. pelidne could be found east of there. B. chariclea is recorded from Kettle Rapids. Formerly Boloria titania from Manitoba were called chariclea titania. As there is no proven reason to the contrary, the above specimens are all included in the checklist.
The following species, included in older lists, have been deleted: H. comma manitoba, no records for Manitoba.
P. zelicaon probably does not occur in the province. The records possibly refer to machaon or forms of kahli.
E. ausonides coloradensis is supposed to fly in southeastern Manitoba. I cannot see any difference between the mayi, type-locality, "Riding Mtns., Man.", and the ausonides from the rest of the province.
P. zephyrus recorded from Aweme and Beulah probably were misidentified Polygonia.
S. cypris = ethene and S. a. Columbia included in older lists probably are S. a. manitoba, which they closely resemble.
S. lais, included in old lists flies in Saskatchewan and Alberta and intergrades with dennisi in Manitoba.
S. calanus calanus recorded as calanus is deleted as the subspecies that flies in the province is falacer.
S. heathii, also omited, because it is an aberration of the latter.
S. liparops strigosa does not occur in the province. Although some specimens of fletch-eri from Manitoba closely resemble strigosa with no orange spots on the fore-wings, these occur in the same populations together with specimens having orange patches covering one-half of the front wings. This subspecies is very variable.
Mitoura spinetorum probably does not fly in Manitoba.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks go out to all the following, who sent in data and helped in other ways: George T. Austin, Patrick J. Conway, Richard E. Gray, W. W. Gregory, R. J. Heron, Ronald R. Hooper, Brian McKillop and William B. Preston of the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, David Parshall, James D. Reist, Oakley Shields and Jim Troubridge, and to the personnel of the University of Manitoba and the Canada Agriculture Research Station.
Literature Cited
Brooks, G. Shirley. 1942. A check list of the butterflies of Manitoba. Can. Entomol.
74:31-36. Miller, Lee D. & F. Martin Brown. 1981. A Catalogue/Checklist of the Butterflies
of America North of Mexico. The Lepid. Soc. Memoir No. 2. 280 pp. Preston, W. B. & A. R. Westwood. 1981. The European Skipper, Thymelicus lineola
(Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. Can. Entomol.
113:1123-1124. Wallis, J. B. 1927. A Colour Key to the Manitoban Butterflies. Nat. Hist. Soc. Man.
31pp.