Butterflies and Moths – mountainbreakfast

New Moths for 2020

Like everything else in 2020, mothing wasn’t great for me in the Pikes Peak Region. I wasn’t able to distinguish additional species from the few moth photos posted to Arthropods Colorado and Wyoming, and I’m sure I missed some. But on a single trip up Bear Creek in early August I discovered two species of moths new to my database. The first (above) is probably Hellinsia homodactylus, a Pterophorid, and the second (below) is Glyphipteryx montisella, a Gelechiid, nectaring with a few tiny flower beetles.

Listen to this while you read about my new Colorado butterfly.

Theme 113, with a flute and trombone.

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Zizula cyna [STATE RECORD]

My new butterfly record is of Zizula cyna, a tiny subtropical blue that should not be here. It was taken near the Section 16 Trail, as the label says. I will go back this summer to see if it might persist in that environment. It is not particularly unusual to find stray subtropical butterflies in Colorado, but one this tiny is hard to imagine. Perhaps it came on a car with travelers, but if so, it flew hundreds of yards to the locality in which I found it. So, maybe…

New Moths for 2019

A bit late, but…

These are the moths that I recorded as new to the Pikes Peak Region in 2019. Many thanks to Eric Eaton, Aaron Driscoll, Zach Vogel, and Van Truan for keeping a sharp eye out. Keep looking in 2020!

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Butterflies of the Pikes Peak Region

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Pyrgininae

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Hesperiinae Screen Shot 2019-08-18 at 5.08.14 PM

Papilionidae

Pieridae Screen Shot 2019-08-18 at 5.26.43 PM

Lycaenidae 1 Screen Shot 2019-08-20 at 8.37.49 AM

Lycaenidae 2 Screen Shot 2019-08-18 at 5.32.17 PM

Nymphalinae Screen Shot 2019-08-18 at 5.35.40 PM

Melit. & Arg. Screen Shot 2019-08-18 at 5.41.12 PM

Satyriinae Screen Shot 2019-08-18 at 5.43.42 PM

Addendum: Here are species that I didn’t have on pins. Screen Shot 2019-08-25 at 12.08.02 PM.png

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These are 164 of the 206 species that have been recorded in El Paso County. Many of the rest are rare strays, but we may see them more commonly as the climate warms. Adelpha bredowi, for example, used to be a rare stray, but it shows up almost every year now in the region. I will continue to add to this set as new photos come in from the Pikes Peak Region, with your permission, of course.

New Moths for 2018

The following moths, discovered by several workers in the region, are new to my database of species in the Pikes Peak Region. Thanks to Eric Eaton, Aaron Driscoll, Zach Vogel, and Van Truan for posting photos of some of these. The ones without initials are from my collection, mainly from the bioblitz at Corral Bluffs in September. At that site, on one night, I took ten species new to the region.

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Thirty-six new species found in the area. Keep going, guys. This is fun.

Letting Go

After 33 years of collecting moths in the Pikes Peak Region, I finally have begun to let it go to the C. P. Gillette Museum in Fort Collins at Colorado State University. The first installment, 36 drawers of mostly Noctuidae (the owlet moths) were shrink-wrapped and dispatched on August 29. One drawer is shown here.

And here is the first load.

And in their new home. Screen Shot 2018-09-01 at 10.46.16 AM.png

Many more to go in the next few weeks. Sad to see them go, but I know that they’re in a better place. (!)

Butterfly Emergence Paper, Revised

Emergence dates for butterflies of the Pikes Peak Region: A phenological study

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Eight butterflies. Can you spot them all?

Glen Cove, Pikes Peak treeline, on Sedum rhodanthum flowers.

My Atalopedes Paper

This paper was rejected by the Lepidopterists Society because I did not make a clear enough distinction between “perching” and “roosting.” The latter involves shade-seeking, while perching means sitting on an elevated leaf or flower and watching for passing insects to harass. Anyway, the point of the paper should be clear. Atalopedes skippers modify their behaviors at high temperatures to avoid overheating. They can’t tolerate temperatures above about 40°C, so if the Texas thorn-scrub savanna warms beyond that, they’ll move north. I would.

Continue reading “My Atalopedes Paper”

Latest butterfly records yet

Until this fall, the 22nd of November was the latest date on which I observed butterflies. But this fall I have records from five dates in November and six dates in December, through the 20th, one day short of the solstice. On December 12th I found Colias eurytheme (alfalfa butterfly), Colias philodice (clouded sulfur), and Nathalis iole (dainty sulfur) on the wing in good numbers. On 16 December, Nathalis iole was about, basking laterally against the dark soil on a hillside. And on the 20th, Nathalis iole again, three of them. The previous record for this species was F. Martin Brown’s 3 December 1954 observation. Combined with last February’s records, we now have only about 48 days of butterfly-less weather! Here is Nathalis iole.