Image of Sleepy Orange

Description:

Sleepy Orange Butterflies (Abaeis (Eurema) nicippeseen) on the Big Island of Hawaii. News of the Lepidopterists’ Society Volume 57, Number 2 The Sleepy Orange Transits the Pacific: a new butterfly species for Hawaii Abaeis (Eurema) nicippe (Cramer, 1779), native to the Americas, is widespread from the southern tier of the regularly strays well north of its permanent range, rarely reaching Canada. The species overwinters as an adult, and has two forms which are most easily distinguished by coloration of the underside of the wings: light yellow in summer and reddish-brown in winter, both with dark brown maculation. The larval host plants, various species of Senna, are widely planted as ornamentals. On December 23, 2013, R. McGough observed A. nicippe adults and pupae on Senna in the town of Waialua, on the North Shore of the island of Oahu. This represents only the third pierid species to become established in Hawaii; the two others are Pieris rapae, which was introduced over a century ago, and Phoebis agarithe detected in 2004 (HDOA, 2005). A. nicippe was sighted again on Oahu in February 2014, and then quickly became relatively common, with sightings across the island in 2014, including in the city of Honolulu. By October 2014, A. nicippe was extremely abundant on Maui, with an egg seen by F. and K. Starr on Cassia sp .By the end of 2014 the butterfly was seen or collected on Kauai, Molokai, Big Island, and even the tiny island of Kahoolawe. Sightings occurred from sea level up to at least 6,800 feet on the slopes of Haleakala on Maui. This rapid expansion across the Hawaiian Islands demonstrates the strong dispersal ability of A. nicippe. It is remarkable how quickly and thoroughly A. nicippe spread throughout the archipelago, especial considering the high levels of single island endemism in many native groups of Hawaiian Lepidoptera (e.g. Haines et al. 2014), which suggest that populations frequently become isolated on islands.