Female. © Peter J. Bryant.

Striated Queen

Danaus gilippus strigosus (Bates)

Lepidoptera: Danaidae

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Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-3-12. © Robert Gorman.
Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-3-12. © Robert Gorman.

Female. Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-9-12. © Peter J. Bryant.
Female. Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-9-12. © Peter J. Bryant.

Female. Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-9-12. © Peter J. Bryant.
Male and female. Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-9-12. © Peter J. Bryant.

Female. Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-9-12. © Peter J. Bryant.
Male. Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-9-12. © Peter J. Bryant.

Female. San Clemente, Orange County, CA. 7/18/10. © Robert Gorman
Androconial (scent-producing) scales on the male hindwing. Box Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA.11-9-12. © Peter J. Bryant.

Male (showing androconial scales on hind wings). Thomas E. Riley Wilderness Park, Coto de Caza, Orange County, CA. 5/30/08. © Ron Hemberger
Male (showing androconial scales on hind wings). Thomas E. Riley Wilderness Park, Coto de Caza, Orange County, CA. 5/30/08. © Ron Hemberger

Male (showing androconial scales on hind wings).Thomas E. Riley Wilderness Park, Coto de Caza, Orange County, CA. 5/30/08. © Ron Hemberger
Thomas E. Riley Wilderness Park, Coto de Caza, Orange County, CA. 8-5-08. © Ron Hemberger

Thomas E. Riley Wilderness Park, Coto de Caza, Orange County, CA. 9/26/13. © Ron Hemberger
Thomas E. Riley Wilderness Park, Coto de Caza, Orange County, CA. 9/26/13. © Ron Hemberger

Caterpillar on Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata. Coachella Valley Preserve, Riverside County, CA. 11-16-13. © Robert Gorman
Caterpillar on Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata. Coachella Valley Preserve, Riverside County, CA. 11-16-13. © Robert Gorman

Caterpillar on Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata. Coachella Valley Preserve, Riverside County, CA. 11-16-13. © Robert Gorman
Caterpillar on Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata. Coachella Valley Preserve, Riverside County, CA. 11-16-13. © Robert Gorman

Characteristics: In general appearance, like Danaus plexippus, but usually smaller in size. Veins on dorsal hindwing pale, not heavily edged with black as in plexippus.

Distribution: Sporadic records from many low elevation localities in the county.

Flight Period. April to November (Emmel and Emmel, 1973). We have one Orange County record for January, although captures are generally during the autumn months .

Larval Foodplants: Funastrum hirtellum, Funastrum cyanchoides car hartwegii (Climbing milkweeds).

Other Remarks: Theodore Hower mentions seeing strigosus occasionally along Santiago Creek and in his yard. The Striated Queen appears to be a fairly frequent stray in Orange County. The species may also occasionally breed in the county, using F. cynanchoides spp. hartwegii (a known foodplant), which grows in open places in the Orange County chaparral (Boughey, 1968). However, in California the species is more typically found in the desert regions.
 
From Orsak, L. J. (1977). The Butterflies of Orange County, California. Center for Pathobiology Miscellaneous Publication #3. University of California Press, New York. 349pp.

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