The New Mexico Rare Arthropod Resource

Vanessa annabella can be found in open woodlands, meadows, roadsides and other weedy areas, gardens, and prairies (Opler and Wright 1999). Some adults likely spend the winter in the deserts of the southwest U.S. to exploit the early spring blooms of their host plant, whereas in the summer they are more often found at higher altitudes, exploiting wildflower rich meadows (Brock 2008). Larval host plants include members of the Malvaceae family, such as Mallow (Malva spp.), Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea spp.), and Hollyhock (Alcea spp.), and less commonly members of the Urticaceae family, such as Nettles (Urtica spp.) (Opler and Wright 1999, Lotts and Naberhaus 2017). As adults, this species is a generalist, nectaring at many kinds of flowers (Lotts and Naberhaus 2017). There are several broods per year in most regions (Lotts and Naberhaus 2017).

Vanessa annabella is a year-round resident in lowland California and southern Arizona, in the United States, and throughout much of Mexico (Opler and Wright 1999, GBIF.org 2020). In the springtime, this species starts a subtle, slow migration eastward from the west coast in the United States, as well as up in altitude elsewhere (Brock 2008). Therefore, it can be found as a colonist in the spring, summer, and fall throughout much of western North America, as far east as the Rocky Mountains and northward to southern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba (Opler and Wright 1999). It has also been found occasionally as a vagrant in west Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota, and Ontario (Opler and Wright 1999).

As this species is widespread, it likely occurs in many protected areas across North America. This butterfly is routinely picked up during surveys conducted by various monitoring programs including North American Butterfly Association (NABA) annual counts, PollardBase network surveys, and the Art Shapiro monitoring program in California. Population monitoring should continue. Habitat monitoring may also be necessary to better understand how to protect this species. While currently listed as Least Concern on the Red List of Threatened Species, due to recently reported declines, a re-assessment is underway.

In areas where Vanessa annabella population declines appear to be taking place, the major threats include habitat conversion, agricultural intensification, and increased neonicotinoid pesticide use (Forister et al. 2011, Forister et al. 2016). While it is unclear which, if any, of these factors poses a threat to this species specifically, there is evidence that these threats, as well as climate change, have caused population declines in other species of butterflies (Flockhart et al. 2015, Warren et al. 2001, Forister et al. 2010). Considering the recorded declines in the Sacramento Valley of California, it is clear more research is needed to determine what threats may be impacting this species across its range, as well as at smaller, more localized levels. Other forms of habitat degradation, including effects of overgrazing on western rangelands and changes, to historical wildfire regimes, and invasion of non-native plants, also threaten western butterfly populations (Brooks et al. 2004, Debano 2006, Cassell et al. 2019). Finally, climate change in this region has been associated with declining butterfly populations in recent studies using long-term monitoring data (Forister et al. 2021, Crossley et al. 2021).

This species was once reportedly one of the most common butterflies in lowland California (Brock 2008). However, mounting evidence suggests this species is facing sharp declines, especially in California, which is the core of the range of this species. Long term population data collected by the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), Art Shapiro (University of California, Davis) and the North American Butterfly Monitoring Network, from sites across the western U.S., suggest the species has declined by 55-69% in the last 10 years (Forister et al. 2011, Forister et al. 2023). It is unclear if similar declines are taking place in Mexico.

• Forister, M.L., Cousens, B., Harrison, J.G., Anderson, K., Thorne, J.H., Waetjen, D., Nice, C.C., De Parsia, M., Hladik, M.L., Meese, R., van Vliet, H. and Shapiro, A.M.. 2016. Increasing neonicotinoid use and the declining butterfly fauna of lowland California. Biology Letters 12: (20160475).
• Warren, M.S., Hill, J.K., Thomas, J.A., Asher, J., Fox, R., Huntley, B., Roy, D.B., Telfer, M.G., Jeffcoate, S., Harding, P., Jeffcoate, G., Willis, S.G., Greatorex-Davies, J.N., Moss, D. and Thomas, C.D.. 2001. Rapid response of British butterflies to opposing forces of climate and habitat change. Nature 414: (65-69).
• Forister, M.L., McCall, A.C., Sanders, N.J., Fordyce, J.A., Thorne, J.H., O’Brien, J., Waetjen, D.P. and Shapiro, A.M.. 2010. Compounded effects of climate change and habitat alteration shift patterns of butterfly diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107: (2088-2092).
• GBIF. 2020. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. http://data.gbif.org/
• Brock, J.P.. 2008. Butterflies of the Southwest. Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, Arizona. .
• Opler, P.A. and Wright, A.B.. 1999. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts : (540).
• Flockhart, D.T.T., Pichancourt, J.B., Norris, D.R. and Martin, T.G. . 2015. Unravelling the annual cycle in a migratory animal: breeding-season habitat loss drives population declines of monarch butterflies. Journal of Animal Ecology 84: (155-165).
• Forister, M.L., Halsch, C.A., Nice, C.C., Fordyce, J.A., Dilts, T.E., Oliver, J.C., Prudic, K.L., Shapiro, A.M., Wilson, J.K. and Glassberg, J. . 2021. Fewer butterflies seen by community scientists across the warming and drying landscapes of the American West. Science 371: (1042-1045).
• Lotts, K. and Naberhaus, T.. 2017. Butterflies and Moths of North America. 2018. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
• Forister, M.L., Jahner, J.P., Casner, K.L., Wilson, J.S. and Shapiro, A.M.. 2011. The race is not to the swift: long-term data reveal pervasive declines in California’s low-elevation butterfly fauna. Ecology 92: (2222-2235).
• Brooks, M.L., D’Antonio, C.M., Richardson, D.M., Grace, J.B., Keeley, J.E., DiTomaso, J.M., Hobbs, R.J., Pellant, M. and Pyke, D.. 2004. Effects of invasive alien plants on fire regimes. Bioscience 54: (677-688).
• Cassell BA, RM Scheller, MS Lucash, MD Hurteau, EL Loudermilk. 2019. Widespread severe wildfires under climate change lead to increased forest homogeneity in dry mixed-conifer forests. Ecosphere 10: (e02934). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2934
• Debano, S.J.. 2006. Effects of livestock grazing on aboveground insect communities in semi-arid grasslands of southeastern Arizona. Biodiversity & Conservation 15: (2547).
• Crossley, M.S., Smith, O.A., Berry, L.L., Phillips-Cosio, R., Glassberg, J., Holman, K.M., Holmquest, J.G., Meier, A.R., Varriano, S.A., McClung, M.R., Moran, M.D. and Snyder, W.E.. 2021. Recent climate change is creating hotspots of butterfly increase and decline across North America. Global Change Biology 0: (45304).