Comstock's silverspot (''Speyeria callippe comstocki'') is a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of silverspot

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

ranging from

northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

to Baja Mexico. Populations are near extirpation in the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its p ...

and it is now rare in the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...

. The larvae feed on Johnny jumpup ('' Viola pedunculata''). It is a very close relative of the endangered

callippe silverspot butterfly The callippe silverspot butterfly (''Speyeria callippe callippe'') is a federal endangered subspecies in the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. This is a subspecies. It is a member of the Heliconiinae, the subfamily known as longwings. Th ...

(''Speyeria callippe callippe''), which is another subspecies of '' Speyeria callippe''. Intermediate populations between these subspecies are fairly widespread.NatureServe access date Oct 20 2009 http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Speyeria+callippe+callippe

References

Speyeria Butterfly subspecies {{Heliconiinae-stub