First Observations of Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo) Oviposition Behaviour in Canada

Abstract

We present new information on oviposition behaviour in the Mormon Metalmark, Apodemia mormo Felder and Felder, 1859, documented in Grasslands National Park of Canada, Saskatchewan, in August 2011. The Mormon Metalmark is found throughout the U.S. southwest; little is known about its life history in the northern populations found in Canada. We provide photographic documentation of the butterfly laying single eggs directly on soil or rocks. These observations differ from those recorded in the southern part of its range, where it lays eggs in groups of 2–4 on various locations of the host plant, Branched Umbrella-Plant, Eriogonum pauciflorum Pursh. This is the first published account of oviposition behaviour of this species in Canada in the most northern part of its range.