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Photo#816704
Speyeria - Speyeria hesperis

Speyeria - Speyeria hesperis
Dorleska Mine, Trinity Alps, Trinity County, California, USA
July 15, 2013
Hesperis or hydaspe?

I'm going to put it with your other one under S. hesperis,
but both of them are somewhat tentative.

Moved from Greater Fritillaries.

I agree,
still looks more like S. hesperis to me. I'm also wondering if that fourth photo of "S. hydaspe" was identified incorrectly. It looks more like the hesperis than the other three do, but there is a slight hint of the black in the submarginal spots and veins, as you mention.

I never really noticed conciously, but the veins on the under side of S. hesperis do tend to be (always?) reddish instead of blackish.

I've always wondered if some of these closely related species can hybridize? Would make for an interesting study.

tough call
I would tend to favor S. hesperis, but it's hard to say why. However, I can't even rule out S. zerene entirely (though I doubt it is that). Would be nice to see a bunch of them from the same area to get a better picture of the variation within the population.

 
A few comparisons...
The hydaspe I've photographed in the Trinities tend to have black spots on the VHW between the orbs and the submarginal band, with the veins passing through the submarginal band as a thin dark line:


Haven't photographed many hesperis in the Trinities, but the one I do have is in some ways a better match for this individual - no black spots, and the veins passing through the submarginal band are reddish instead of thin dark lines:


(I'm going to pretend you didn't even mention zerene!)

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