Argynnis nausicaa capitanensis (Capitan Mountains Fritillary)

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Nymphalidae

Genus: Argynnis

Species: nausicaa capitanensis

Capitan Mountains Fritillary - Argynnis nausicaa capitanensis

914585

Species Extent (New Mexico)

Global Rank: G4

State Rank: S4

Rank Metadata
State Rank: S4	Rank Changed: 02/22/2025
Rank Reviewed: N/A
Reason: The Capitan Mountains Southwest Fritillary (<em>Argynnis nausicaa capitanensis</em>) is endemic to the Sierra Blanca, Sacramento, and Capitan Mountains in southern New Mexico. It is found in relative abundance in montane meadows and riparian areas across these mountains, and forest edges appear to be important habitat for this subspecies and its host plant, <em>Viola canadanensis</em>. While the butterfly appears to be at low risk of extinction currently, threats such as fire suppression, which results in dense conifer growth with few forest openings and conifer encroachment into meadows, may eventually cause habitat declines for this subspecies. Therefore, increased monitoring of the population and its habitat are advised, especially as this species is relatively range restricted and several other butterflies in the Sacramento Mountains have been experiencing marked declines due to climate change and habitat degradation. While the EOO and AOO are low for this subspecies there are currently no apparent threats acting on the species and it appears to be stable across its historic range. Therefore, it is currently assessed as S4 in New Mexico.

Ecological Factors
Specificity: Moderate. Generalist or community with some key requirements scarce.	Range Extent: 1000-5000 square km (about 400-2000 square miles)
Occurences: 81 - 300	Population Size: Unknown
Area of Occupancy: An Area of Occupancy of 60km2 was calculated using 1km2 grid cells on GeoCat.	Threat Summary: N/A

State Status:

Federal Status:

USFS Status:

BLM Status:

SWAP Status:

NMRP Strategy Status:

Number of Subpopulations: 0

Number of Mapped Locations: 0

Number of Observations: 0

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