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July 18-October 30, 2011
Omaha, Nebraska
Part II concludes my weekly backyard butterfly list series with a review of the year's skippers and moths. Part I, the butterflies, can be found here. Over the period recorded I observed 8 species of skippers on 52 days and and 5 moths of note on 16 days.
Species profiles below the squiggle.
Skippers:90 recordings
Silver-spotted Skipper
Epargyreus clarus
First sighting: July 18th
Last sighting: September 12th
Days sighted: 33
No surprise that Silver-spotted Skippers were the most common skipper. I was a bit surprised, however, that the last sighting was so early. I continued to see them in the area after mid-September, just not in my yard. It may be they don't favor the plants I had in bloom at that time. I'll have to work on that.
Peck's Skipper
Polites peckius
First sighting: July 23rd
Last Sighting: October 24th
Days sighted: 20
Numerous and very active. The picture at the left demonstrates the typical closed-wing pose of these skippers. They are easily recognizable from this view. The photo below shows the upper surface of the forewing with the wings spread.
Sachem
Atalopedes campestris
First sighted: July 23rd
Last sighted: October 30th
Days sighted: 18
Probably my favorite skipper in the garden. The males and females are easily distinguished and always flitting about the garden looking for love. The females will perch on a leaf and vibrate their wings while the males fly above, repeatedly darting at the female. When whatever criteria are met, the male alights next to the female and mating occurs. In the image to the left, the female is perched, while the male is in flight. The image below is a female. The males are noticeably smaller and more of a pale yellow.
Fiery Skipper
Hylephila phyleus
First sighting: July 23rd
Last sighting: October 16th
Days sighted: 10
The flashiest skipper in the garden. Its bright yellow wings with small dark spots make it easily recognizable.
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Crossline Skipper
Polites origenes
First sighting: July 23rd
Last sighting: August 6th
Days sighted: 4
A confession; In early editions of this series I incorrectly identified this skipper as a Least Skipper. The error occurred be cause the individuals sighted were very small and appeared to lack markings on their wings. While reviewing the photographs for this diary I noticed the line of small pale cells on the underside of the forewing. A review of Butterflies through Binoculars led me to relabel the skipper as a Crossline. Also, Least Skipper has much shorter antennae and is somewhat out of range.
Wild Indigo Duskywing
Erynnis baptisiae
First sighting: August 13th
Last sighting: October 2nd
Days sighted: 2
Duskywings can be difficult to identify as several species are very similar. I am fairly confident these are Wild Indigo Duskywings as the similar species within the range have slightly different wing patterns. I have Baptisia, the larval food plant, growing in my front yard, so next year I'll have to be on the look out for caterpillars.
Dun Skipper
Euphyes vestris
First sighting: August 13
Last sighting: August 21
Days sighted: 2
One of my favorite images of the year. The lack of spots on the upper surface of the forewing indicates this is probably a male.
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Common Sootywing
Pholisora catullus
First sighting: August 13th
Last Sighting: August 13th
Days sighted: 1
Small and unremarkable.
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Moths:19 recordings
Snowberry Clearwing
Hemaris diffinis
First sighting: July 24th
Last sighting: August 24th
Days sighted: 7
An amazing creature, I was lucky enough to catch one sitting still. Their usual habit is to hover around flowers while feeding. The easiest way to separate them from Hummingbird Clearwings is by the color of the legs. Black = Snowberry, Light = Hummingbird.
Ailanthus Webworm Moth
Atteva aurea
First sighting: July 27th
Last sighting: October 15th
Days sighted: 6
Common and distinct. These moths rest on flowers as they feed so they are easily photographed. Surprisingly, I had to go to last year to find this rather out of focus pic.
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Hummingbird Clearwing
Hemaris thysbe
First sighting: July 24th
Last sighting: August 21st
Days sighted: 4
I was lucky enough to see one of these lay an egg on a nearby viburnum bush and raise it from caterpillar to adult. The entire process took just under a month. The photo on the left shows the light color of the legs. The one below has a somewhat more robust body than typical.
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Squash Vine Borer
Melittia cucurbitae
First sighting: August 24th
Last sighting: August 24th
Days sighted: 1
A wasp mimic. The hindwings are clear except for margins and veins. The larva bore into the stems of the gourd family. I had no gourds this year. Perhaps next year if I can get some cucumbers to grow, I'll see more of these. I had to go all the way back to 2006 for this picture
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Yellow-collared Scape Moth
Cisseps fulvicollis
First sighting: September 21st
Last sighting: September 21st
Days sighted: 1
Similar to several unrelated moths, but can be identified by the yellow to orange collar that extends down the forewing margin. It is said that these moths often feed on Eupatorium, where they obtain a toxin used for chemical defense. I had a Joe-pye Weed growing very near the Sedum where this one was shot, so that may explain my fortune.
You may wonder why I chose to include moths in a list of butterflies. The first I encountered were the Hummingbird and Snowberry Clearwings. Their habits were similar to butterflies in that they flew during the day and fed on nectar from flowers. The reality, though, is they are too cool not to include. The other moths on this list are also fairly striking. Towards the end of the year I started seeing a lot of looper moths, particularly at the sedum and marigolds. I chose not to include them because I could not pin them down to species, and their not really much to look at.
This ends the backyard butterfly list series for this year. I hope you've enjoyed seeing the pics as much as I enjoyed taking them. If you like, you can see a slideshow of larger versions of all the images from Part I and Part II here.
So that's what I've seen in around here,what are you seeing in your area?