Trip report Aspen Corner 20 July by Ron Rutowski
On 20 July 2024, thirteen butterfly lovers attended the CAZBA Aspen Corner Butterfly outing on Snowbowl Road in Flagstaff. It was a beautiful day starting with a very cool morning. Blues were the predominant species and Purple Loco Weed was a favorite nectar flower. There were lots of puddling going on by the pond which is always fun to watch. As previous years, we also saw other arthropods including two species of Tachinid Fly, giant Bumble Bees, Wasps and everyone’s favorite day-flying moth, the Police-car Moth (pictured). Butterflies were far between but with sharp eyes, 20 species were seen with a couple seen that we could not determine with certainty.
Our butterfly list: Western Tiger Swallowtail, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Orange Sulphur, Dainty Sulphur, Spring Azure, Boisduval’s Blue, Silvery Blue, Greenish Blue, Reakirt’s Blue, Melissa Blue, Ceraunus Blue, Lupine Blue, Northwestern Fritillary, Painted Lady, Mourning Cloak, Hoary Comma, Taxiles Skipper, Garita Skipperling, Northern Cloudywing, Funereal Duskywing.
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