The 66th annual meeting of the Lepidopterists’ Society will be held from Sunday July 30 - Tuesday August 1, 2017 at the Tucson University Park Hotel (http://www.tucsonuniversityhotel.com) in Tucson, Arizona which is within walking distance to the University of Arizona Insect Collection (http://www.uainsectcollection.com). This event is hosted by the Department of Entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The University of Arizona has recently been ranked the top entomology program in the United States with particular specialties in Biodiversity, Integrative Pest Management and Pollination.
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Join other butterfly aficionados Saturday, November 4 – Tuesday, November 7, 2017, for the 22nd Annual Texas Butterfly Festival, and see for yourself why USA Today calls Mission, Texas, “the butterfly capital of the USA.”
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On June 10th, an eager group of 10 participants hiked the Col. Devin Trail for about 3/4 mile, checking out the butterflies mud puddling at the seeps, and nectar plants like Butterfly Milkweed, Buckbrush, Elk Weed and Arizona Thistle. Together we found 42 species of butterflies, with Orange-headed Roadside-Skipper and Long Dash being the best bugs.
Species list:
Western Tiger Swallowtail, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Orange Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Mexican Yellow, Sleepy Orange, Queen-Alexandra’s Sulphur, Dainty Sulphur, Western Green (Bramble) Hairstreak, Gray Hairstreak, Western Pine Elfin, Marine Blue, Reakirt’s Blue, Spring “Echo” Azure, Acmon Blue, Nais Metalmark (pictured), Zela Metalmark, Variegated Fritillary, Northwestern (Atlantis) Fritillary, Mylitta Crescent, Painted Lady, Common Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Weidemeyer’s Admiral, Arizona Sister, Mourning Cloak, Canyonland Satyr, Silver-spotted Skipper, Golden-banded Skipper, Northern Cloudywing, Funereal Duskywing, Meridian Duskywing, Rocky Mountain Duskywing, Afranius Duskywing, Common Checkered-Skipper, Four-spotted Skipperling, Taxiles Skipper, Tawny-edged Skipper, Deva Skipper, Bronze Roadside-Skipper, Orange-headed Roadside-Skipper, Long Dash.
Species we didn’t see last Saturday, but were seen a few days earlier when scouting, were: Thicket Hairstreak, Western Tailed-Blue, Northern Crescent and Satyr Comma.
Thanks everyone for a sharp eye, or a helping hand at the steep places! Marceline VandeWater
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