Starr County Butterflies
10-20-09, ovipositing
10-21-09
10-23-09, about to eclose
10-24-09, the caterpillars have just emerged
10-26-09
10-29-09
11-1-09
11-5-09
11-8-09, turns brown when about to shed skin
11-10-09
11-12-09, mature caterpillar
11-13-09, chrysalis
11-21-09, butterfly ready to eclose
11-21-09, fresh Theona Checkerspot
One evening in October, 2009, I was fortunate to observe the female in the first picture fly to a small Purple Sage, Leucophyllum frutescens. She disappeared into the plant, but I soon found her crawling around near the base. I wasn't sure whether she was ovipositing, so I took a few pictures to record both the female and the location. The next day I returned and found the eggs.
The caterpillars emerged after only four days. They went through a series of color transformations as they matured: green-yellow to white to black-spotted silver to the mature silver-spotted black. The heads did not turn turned red until the last or second-to-last instar.
I returned most of the caterpillars to host plants after a few days.
The first caterpillar to pupate did so 20 days after it emerged from the egg; it emerged for the chrysalis six days later. The rest of the caterpillars followed a day or two later. The journey from egg to adult took 30 to 32 days.