The
California Dog-face Butterfly can be identified by
the
shape of the fore wing. Unlike the alfalfa butterfly, whose fore
wing is rounded, the California Dog-face has a fore wing that
comes
to a point. The female is quite a bit larger than
the male. The male has two dots on the underside if the hind wing
and one on the underside of the fore wing. The female has a spot
on the underside of the fore wing. On the topside of the wings of
the male, there is a yellow pattern in the shape of a dog's face
in a black background.
Food
sources utilized by the adult California Dog-face
The
adults feed on lots of flowers including Monardellas,
Butterfly mints,
usually purple flowered mints that attract lots of butterflies,
Salvia
spp., a.k.a. Sages, they seem to really like Saliva
'Pozo Blue' and other blue sages. They also like Zauschneria
sp., California
Fuchsia.
California
Fuchsia has red flowers and is also a favorite of hummingbirds.
They also like to sip from horse manure. Yum Yum. Woolly
Blue Curls, a fragrant shrub with large fuzzy flower clusters
that likes arid landscapes, is also good.
The
California Dog-face Butterfly is a very fast flier.
They are quite hard to
photograph with their wings open. They seem to always be moving
and only open their wings for a moment as they move between
flowers . They are very wary and hard to get close to.
Food
sources used by the larva of the California Dog-face Butterfly
The
Larva of the California Dog-face is limited to feeding on only
one plant
species. The false
indigo bush, Amorpha califonicais its larval food
source. This is an open, feathery, and ancient looking shrub with
pinnately compound leaves and large purple flower clusters. It
has a limited distribution which in turn limits the distribution
of the California Dog-face.
