Status: rare resident
Flights: 1+, Mar-Oct?
Distribution/known sites in Monterey County: a few recent records; Fort Ord, Peachtree Rd, Salinas R. near Soledad
Habitats: disturbed areas: pastures, fields, lawns, gardens, grasslands
Host plants: crab, bermuda, other grasses
Adult food: nectars from many flowers - milkweeds, thistles, composites
Conservation: secure globally
Remarks:
• sachem - a chief of North American tribe or confederation, esp. Algonquin chief
• responsive to climate change - now emerges a month earlier in Sacto area, has expanded range northward and eastward
• male golden-orange w/large square black stigma; fem. mostly brown w/hyaline spot at end of cell
Sachem
Atalopedes campestris
Life history facts
egg: laid singly on dry grass blades in the PM
larva: feeds on leaves, lives at base of grass in shelter of rolled or tied leaves; spins protective leaf tent at grass roots, crawls up grass blade, clips grass tips, returns to eat in tent
pupa:
adult: males perch on /near ground during day to wait for receptive fems.
on nightshade
Peachtree Rd. 8-18-08