Adelpha californica

Photo Life History: Adelpha californica

Habitat:  Cismontane California Chaparral; Riparian Woodlands

Host Plants:  Quercus chrysolepsis; Quercus agrifolia; Quercus chrysophylla; Quercus douglasii

Suitable Lab Host Plants: Quercus alba  (Almost any species of oaks will work in the lab.)

How to Find Female Butterflies:  Click here. 

Caring for Live Female Butterflies:  Nectaring techniques

Methods of Female Oviposition:  Open Screen Cages; Plant Sleeves; Expose caged females to filtered sunlight.  See notes below.

How to Find Eggs: Look on tips of leaves.

How to Hatch Eggs:  Keep egg on original leaf; keep relatively humid.

How to Find Caterpillars in the Field: Isolated host plants; perches on tips of leaves.  Sometimes larvae are easier to find when adult butterflies are very common; even when oaks are common as well.  (See notes below.)

Caterpillar setups:  Open terrariums; Open Bucket

Larva to Pupa:  Caterpillar silks to leaf or twig; creates and attaches cremaster; hanging as a J before pupating.  Larva Changes Color from green to tan.

How to Find Pupae in the Field: 

Number of Broods per Year:  2-4 depending upon location.

Overwintering Stage: 

Overwintering Strategies:  Your Own Backyard; Refrigerator

Post-Hibernation Strategies: 

Avoiding Diapause Techniques:  Expose larvae to 24 hours of light; Healthy Host Plant.  

Disease Prevention:  Change out host plant and remove frass every five days.

Emergence:  Emergence Container

Field Notes: Eggs and caterpillars were not too difficult to find on local oaks at the Desert View Picnic Area; 0.4 miles south of Stephenson Peak, San Diego County, CA on 22 Jun 1991.  Live females also laid eggs on a sleeve of Quercus gambellii growing in a semi-shaded area of the mountains.