Anthocharis julia (Opler, 1999)

Stout, Todd L., 2018, A review of three species-level taxa of the Anthocharis sara complex (Lepidoptera: Pieridae: Pierinae: Anthocharidini), Insecta Mundi 615, pp. 1-38 : 4

Anthocharis julia . The species with the most expansive distribution within the sara complex is A. julia as it frequents mountain canyons and forested riparian situations from mid-range elevations of the central Sierra Nevada ( A. julia stella ) east through the higher elevations of the Great Basin of northern Nevada and western Utah ( A. julia sulfuris Pelham, 2008 ). Prior to the description of A. julia sulfuris , the distribution of A. julia stella was expansive from central California and western Nevada north and east through portions of several states and Canadian provinces discussed below in the current distribution of A. julia sulfuris ( Pelham 2008) .

Adult phenotypes of Northern Utah populations of A. julia suggest that A. julia browningi Skinner, 1906 , is restricted to the Wasatch and Bear River Range (Cache County) and is surrounded in the state by populations of A. julia sulfuris both to the west in isolated, higher elevational forested habitat of the Great Basin as well as to the east of the Wasatch Range in the Uinta Mountains and southeast along portions of the Colorado Plateau.

In western Colorado, A. julia prestonorum Stout, 2012 , flies on the west side of the continental divide and A. julia julia flies on the east side of the continental divide ( Fisher 2012). Anthocharis julia julia can also be found to the north in SE Wyoming where a void is created in Wyoming’s Red Desert (Warren pers. comm.). Anthocharis julia sulfuris is prevalent in northern and western Wyoming east to extreme western South Dakota extending northwest into Montana and western Alberta. From western Wyoming, A. julia sulfuris can also be found west throughout much of Idaho into eastern Oregon and eastern Washington east of the Cascade Range. Populations in Oregon and Washington, west of the Cascades north through portions of western British Columbia pertain to A. julia flora Wright, 1892 . The extent of intergradation between A. julia sulfuris and A. julia flora in the Cascades is unclear ( Hinchliff 1994, 1996; Pyle 2002) as adult wing, larval, and pupal characters are similar confirming these taxa as conspecific.

In British Columbia, the distribution of A. julia flora , A. julia alaskensis Gunder, 1932 , and A. julia sulfuris , (as A. sara flora , A. sara alaskensis and A. stella , respectively,) is outlined through dot maps ( Guppy and Shepard 2001). The distribution of A. julia flora includes Vancouver Island and southern coastal areas. The distribution of A. julia alaskensis also includes coastal areas of Central British Columbia north into extreme southern Yukon and northern portions of the Alaskan panhandle. In British Columbia, A. julia sulfuris flies more in the interior of the province southeast to southern Alberta (Bird et. al 1995).

Because of similar phenotypes, A. julia columbia Scott and Kondla, 2008 , is treated as a junior synonym to A. julia sulfuris based upon priority ( Pelham 2008). Adult topotypes of A. julia sulfuris from Kellogg, Shoshone County, Idaho, have been collected and examined (n = 23). Kondla provided papered males and one female of A. julia from Waneta Dam and Charbonneau Creek, British Columbia, 32–36 aerial kilometers south of the A. julia columbia type locality which is located at Brilliant Creek, BC, in the west Kootenay area near Castlegar on the Columbia River. Although these adults are very similar to topotypical A. julia sulfuris , strict topotypes of A. julia columbia have not been examined.