Hypaurotis crysalus citima

Photo Life History: Hypaurotis crysalus citima

Habitat:  Mountain Canyons;

Host Plants:  Quercus gambellii

Suitable Lab Host Plants: Quercus alba or any other oaks

How to Care for Live Female Butterflies:  Click here.

Methods of Female Oviposition:  Ken Hansen reports having success getting eggs out of females using the Open Screen Cages.

How to Find Eggs: Eggs near leaf buds or nearby stems.  The best time to look for eggs in the Rocky Mountains is after the leaves have dropped in the fall and before the leaves leaf out in the spring during a time window when you're not having to traverse a lot of snow. 

How to Hatch Eggs:  Keep egg on original bud

How to Find Caterpillars in the Field: Not generally productive.  The key to finding immatures is finding eggs.

Caterpillar setups:  Closed Container--Because larvae can camouflage themselves so well on oak, separating them out and rearing them in closed containers seems to make it easier to find larvae as compared to setting them up in a open terrarium..  Replace host and frass every 24-48 hours.  Place in enough host plant in small squat tub to keep the leaves succulent. 

Larva to Pupa:  Larva Changes Color from green to earth tones.

How to Find Pupae in the Field: 

Number of Broods per Year:  1

Overwintering Stage:  Ovum. 

Overwintering Strategies:  Your Own Backyard; Refrigerator (Keep ova on stems and buds and keep stems in water in the refrigerator.)

Post-Hibernation Strategies: Eggs will hatch when exposed to warmer temperatures.

Avoiding Diapause Techniques:  Unknown.

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

Emergence:  Emergence Container

Field Notes:  Both Mike Stangeland and I have noted that as larvae silk themselves to the host scrub oak, they can construct a loose nest.