Gorgone checkerspot

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

N5 - Secure
SU - Unrankable

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Gorgone checkerspot is medium-sized brushfooted butterfly. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians. It is found in open areas, including prairies, old fields, open hardwood forests, forest edges, and streamsides. Larvae feed on the underside of leaves of plants in the Aster (Asteraceae) family, including sunflowers, asters, black-eyed Susans, giant ragweed, and giant sumpweed. Adults are short-lived. They feed on the nectar of yellow flowers. Its numbers can vary greatly, from uncommon one year to “extremely common/abundant” the next. It is a species of special concern in Wisconsin and Michigan, but is not given a conservation status in Minnesota.

Adults have a wingspan of 1¼″ to 1¾″ (32 to 45 mm).

The upperside of both wings is orange with a broad black margin, a black and white fringe, and other heavy black markings. The basal area is mostly black with a few irregular orange spots. The discal area is mostly orange with heavy, irregular black spots and jagged lines. The median area is orange crossed with black veins. On the forewing, the postmedial area is black with a row of orange spots. The subterminal area is black and has a row of mostly small white spots, the middle spot being large and pale orange. On the hindwing there is a postmedial row of orange eyespots with black pupils, set apart by a bold, unbroken, black line above. All of the pupils are completely surrounded by orange. There is also a subterminal row of pale orange chevrons. On both wings the border is black and the fringe is checkered black and white.

The underside of the forewing mirrors the upperside but with less heavy black markings. The outer margin is black with white striping between the veins. The underside if the hindwing is the best way to identify the gorgone checkerspot. It is whitish-gray with brown spots, a median band of white chevrons, and black banding in a zigzag pattern.

Size

Wingspan: 1¼″ to 1¾″ (32 to 45 mm)

Similar Species

Habitat

Open areas, including prairies, old fields, open hardwood forests, forest edges, and streamsides

Ecology

Season

One generation per year: Late May to late July

Behavior

Young caterpillars feed in groups

Life Cycle

In the spring the female lays a cluster of pale whitish-green eggs on the underside of a leaf of a host plant.

Third stage (instar) caterpillars overwinter.

Larva Food/Hosts

Leaves of plants in the Aster (Asteraceae) family, including sunflowers, asters, black-eyed Susans, giant ragweed, and giant sumpweed

Adult Food

Nectar of yellow flowers

Distribution

Sources

21, 24, 29, 30, 71, 75, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 12/21/2025).

Occurrence

Uncommon

Its numbers can vary greatly, from uncommon one year to “extremely common/abundant” the next.