The ventral hindwing marbling of Green Marbles is 80-90% dull grey green, with very few, small white patches present. The costal margin and the base of the dorsal forewing are heavily covered with black scales. The dorsal hindwing has a wide streak of black scaling extending from the wing base to the middle of the wing. Females are frequently quite grey over the entire upper wing surface. The white of the dorsal surface is pearly, and the white of the ventral hindwing is silvered. The forewing apex is more rounded than in other Euchloe.
Immature Stages
Undescribed.
Subspecies
The taxonomy of this group has yet to be fully worked out. The subspecies from the Yukon and BC may be undescribed.
Genus Description
The name Euchloe was written as Euchloë until the taxonomic code eliminated the use of diacritical marks. The name is apparently composed of the Greek eu (good) and khloë (light green colour of spring vegetation), referring to the green marbling on the ventral hindwings (Emmet 1991). The common name refers to the green marbling on the ventral hindwings.
The three species of marbles in BC are all small white butterflies with black markings on the upperside of the wings and a pattern of greenish marbling on the ventral hindwings. Marbles are generally found east of the Coast Range in BC. The most recent review of the genus Euchloe was by Opler (1967b, 1967c, 1967d, 1967e, 1970, 1971, 1975).
Eggs are greenish or cream white when laid, and then soon turn bright orange. Eggs are columnar, with the micropylar area broadly rounded. There are 15-20 prominent vertical ridges, connected by less prominent horizontal ridges. Larvae are green with longitudinal stripes, becoming purplish when prepupal. Pupae are variable shades of brown; they are long and slender, and the head end tapers to a narrow tip. A girdle holds the pupa head up and tightly against a stem.
Marbles lay eggs and feed on the leaves, stems, or flowerheads of Brassicaceae, especially Arabis, that are bolting into flower. Preferred plants grow in full sunlight and are more than 12 cm in height with an erect configuration. Young larvae feed on leaves or within flower buds or inflorescences of flower buds. Older larvae feed externally on seed pods (Opler 1975). Marbles hibernate as pupae, and all have only a single spring brood.
Biology
Green Marbles fly in June in BC, with only one brood each year. Oviposition occurs on Draba sp. and Braya humilis in the northern YT (Kondla and Pelham 1995). Sisymbrium and Descurainia are used as larval foodplants in Siberia (Tuzov 1997).
Habitat
Green Marbles inhabit dry, barren scree mountain slopes in the northern Yukon (Kondla and Pelham 1995). In BC they inhabit dry, gravelly habitats at low elevations.
Distribution
Distribution
Green Marbles occur in Siberia, the Kenai Peninsula, AK, and the Ogilvie Mountains in northern YT, and in northwestern BC along the YT border.
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2021. E-Fauna BC:
Electronic Atlas of the Fauna of British Columbia [efauna.bc.ca]. Lab
for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed:
2024-09-09 8:19:34 AM]
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