Neominois ridingsii explained

Neominois ridingsii, or Ridings' satyr,^[1] is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found from southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba south to the Guadalupe and Catron counties of New Mexico, and west to the central Sierra Nevada of California and central Oregon.^[2] The habitat consists of short-grass prairie, intermountain areas and grasslands with some areas of bare soil.

The larvae feed on Bouteloua gracilis. Third- and fourth-instar larvae overwinter.

Subspecies

• Neominois ridingsii ridingsii (Colorado)
• Neominois ridingsii coloalbiterra Garhart & M. Fisher, 2008 (Colorado: Roan Cliffs)
• Neominois ridingsii curicata M. Fisher, Scott & Garhart, 2008 (Colorado: upper Gunnison River Valley)
• Neominois ridingsii minimus Austin, 1986 (southern Alberta east to south-western Manitoba, northern Montana and western North Dakota)
• Neominois ridingsii neomexicanus Austin, 1986 (south-central Arizona, New Mexico)
• Neominois ridingsii pallidus Austin, 1986 (Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada, from northern to central Oregon)
• Neominois ridingsii stretchii (W.H. Edwards, 1870) (western Wyoming to western Colorado and from Washington to south-eastern Oregon Nevada and northern Arizona)
• Neominois ridingsii wyomingo (Scott, 1998) (northern Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah)

Notes and References

1. William H. Edwards (1865) "Description of certain species of diurnal Lepidoptera found within the limits of the United States and British America" Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia
2. http://butterfliesofamerica.com/docs/Neominois_carmen.pdf A new species of Neominois from northeastern Mexico (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae)