Walker's Metalmark - Hodges#4406
Apodemia walkeri
This record describes Apodemia walkeri (species). Recorded family: Riodinidae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.
Identification and Appearance
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- Superfamily
- Papilionoidea
- Family
- Riodinidae (Metalmarks)
- Subfamily
- Riodininae
- Tribe
- Emesidini
- Genus
- Apodemia
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
Habitat and Range
Habitat
Most reliably found at Resaca de la Palma State Park, Brownsville.
Geographic Range
southmost TX (stray) to Costa Rica - Map (MPG, BOA)
Diet and Behavior
Diet: Richard W. Boscoe found that confined females oviposited on huisache - Acacia schaffneri and that the larvae fed on the host.
Additional species information
Species notes from the sources
Etymology: Apodemia walkeri Godman & Salvin, 1886 Walker was employed by the British Museum between 1837 and 1863. He added an immense amount of material to the collections of the British Museum and wrote 87 scientific papers. He is best known for his catalogues of Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Homoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera.
About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group
Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Apodemia walkeri. Species-specific details appear above.
Group overview
Lepidoptera includes approximately 180,000 described species of butterflies and moths. Moths outnumber butterflies roughly 10:1. The monarch butterfly's eastern population has declined by more than 80% since the mid-1990s, and the western population by over 95% since the 1980s. The IUCN lists the migratory monarch as Vulnerable.
Ecological role of the group
Butterflies and moths are essential indicators of ecosystem health. As caterpillars, they are a primary food source for birds - a single nest of blue tit chicks requires ~10,000 caterpillars. Adult moths pollinate many night-blooming plants.
Economic and practical significance of the group
Lepidoptera are critical pollinators. In Europe, grassland butterfly species have declined by almost 50% since the early 1990s. In the UK, three-quarters of butterflies are in decline. In the U.S., five butterfly species have gone extinct since 1950, with 29 listed as endangered.
Recorded sources for this group: IUCN Red List, Xerces Society, USFWS, PNAS, WWF. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.
Photos of Walker's Metalmark - Hodges#4406 (5)
Photo credits: Contributed by Mike Quinn; Additional contributions by Maury Heiman