Anthocharis julia

Edwards, 1872

Julia Orangetip, Southern Rocky Mountain Orangetip

Species Guides

6

Anthocharis julia is a in the Pieridae, commonly known as the Julia Orangetip or Southern Rocky Mountain Orangetip. It is one of three species in the sara species group, distinguished by more than 2% mitochondrial COI barcode divergence from A. sara and A. thoosa. Molecular and morphological evidence consistently support its species status with no detected or hybridization. The species is to the southern Rocky Mountains on the eastern side of the range.

Anthocharis - near Bassetts, California by Judy Gallagher. Used under a CC BY 2.0 license.Macrolepidoptera15seit 0065 by Adalbert Seitz . Used under a Public domain license.Anthocharis julia stella by iNaturalist user: paloma. Used under a CC0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Anthocharis julia: /ænˈθɒkərɪs ˈdʒuːliə/

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Identification

Can be distinguished from other Anthocharis by morphological characters of fifth instar larvae and pupal cone curvature; reliably separates it from A. sara and A. thoosa with greater than 2% sequence divergence. Identification by of stages always agrees with barcode identification.

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Habitat

Forested riparian areas, canyons among foothills, and washes, usually in oak woodland.

Distribution

Southern Rocky Mountains on the eastern side of the range.

Diet

feed on flower nectar from plants as well as thistles, fiddleneck, and brodiaeas.

Host Associations

  • Arabis - larval rock cress

Life Cycle

Caterpillars feed on rock cress (Arabis) .

Similar Taxa

  • Anthocharis saraMember of same group; distinguished by barcode divergence and morphological characters of stages
  • Anthocharis thoosaMember of same group; distinguished by barcode divergence and morphological characters of stages; A. thoosa exhibits larger intraspecific divergence in DNA barcodes with identifiable metapopulation haplotypes

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Sources and further reading