If you go out in the woods today... Yellowstone etc

[Kip]

I have just been lucky enough to spend two weeks touring Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana and Idaho in the US, centered on the Black Hills, Bighorn Mountains and Greater Yellowstone.
I knew there was a big list of potential species to be seen, and on final count I think I saw between thirty and forty... some of which I will share here if anyone is interested... watch this space
Not without true hazards btw...

[Kip]

Firstly, Papilionids...
Very strong flying, never settling for long, hence not ideal views and not many photos. Western Tiger proved impossible despite it's frequent appearance!

Two-tailed Swallowtail

Anise Swallowtail

I was pleased to see Rocky mountain Parnassian ( ID credit to Guy)...on upland thin Sagebrush flats, on rocky substrate with intermittent larval food-plant saxifrages, visible in the photos. The female shows her sphragis well...

[Charles Nicol]

thanks Kip ! lovely to see some Stateside butterflies

Charles

[Kip]

Thanks Charles... many more to come...

Western White
About as easy to photograph as Peak White!!

Large Marble

Sara Orange Tip

Another restless customer, hence no males, just this single co-operative female

[Padfield]

Hi Kip. Brilliant, as ever, to see the species you discover on your wanderings! I know at least two other people who will never forget your tragic attempts to photograph peak white in a car park in the Alps. Actually, I can't remember if you got it in the end ...

So far as I understand it, your Parnassian is P. smintheus, which is no longer considered a subspecies of P. phoebus, which is no longer the name for what we all call P. phoebus anyway, which is now called P. corybas, which is represented in the Alps by P. sacerdos ... (see https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/NEVA_31_0071-0084.pdf). Leraut still calls the Alpine species P. corybas but either way, you still get a new species!

Guy

[NickMorgan]

Lovely to see the butterflies you saw in the US. I spent three months touring the States in 1995 and I remember seeing a number of butterflies at the time. Sadly, I wasn't quite to obsessed with butterflies in those days, so didn't identify any and I didn't have a camera suitable for photographing them. I now think of it, and other trips, as lost opportunities!!

[David M]

You sure get to some interesting places, Paul!

I love the Sara Orange Tip. Gorgeous little butterfly.

Not so sure about the bear though!! At least butterflying in western Europe doesn't contain a risk of being pursued as a potential meal!

[Kip]

Thanks all!
Guy - You made my day giving me a new species but threw me into confusion at the same time!!! Sure did LOOK like Small Apollo, but I'm happy it's not... Intuitively, none of these very widely separated species should be identical after eons apart! btw, no I never did get the photo, that year at least

Tony - it's fun having digital cameras nowadays - has made my life far more interesting! I don't know if you agree, but US species sometimes feel thin on the ground as you walk through seemingly great habitat.... but then a couple of sites I stumbled upon this time were simply heaving with different species, much to my delight.

David - Truly, bears and snakes are dangerous customers, which did cause me constant concern, as there are many many warnings around and about, and my newest book buy "Death in Yellowstone" didn't half scare me.... missing people being found scattered over several acres having met a "grizzly" fate I fear I all too often forgot in the heat of a new butterfly encounter, but made it through unscathed - hopefully more by judgement than luck

Anyway.... Satyrids are not over represented.... here are the few I saw and achieved some sort of image of....

Firstly, the familiar Large Heath, or as the US calls it "Common Ringlet"... it was a fairly frequent find.

Secondly their Common Alpine, the only erebia I saw... E. epipsodea... took me back to the Alps

A surprise find on a hot Montana Sagebrush scrub hillside... Uhler's Arctic.... same family as Alpine Grayling, and a devil to get within 6 feet of in the gale that was blowing ( a frequent obstacle during the trip)!!

Lastly, found in open sagebrush scrub on my second last day... Hayden's Ringlet, with a restricted range of the "Greater Yellowstone area".... ironically seen outside the park when I didn't even hope for it.

More to come yet!!!!

[David M]

Some fascinating satyrids there, Paul, especially the Large Heath (or Common Ringlet) which is quite unlike the European ones.

[Kip]

I suppose the tullia are more like the scotica form we have... they seem more active than ours!

Nymphalids were not over-represented either, in my finds, but here are those I photographed...

The Sagebrush Checkerspot....

The Field Crescent....

Edith's Checkerspot....

and the only larger Fritillary I saw, the Callippe Fritillary...

I saw several Commas, this is the Hoary Comma, which I rather assume the others were too ( I will never know... hard work to get to, and quite worn generally)....

Finally, and on the last day, the large and simply gorgeous Weidermeyer's Admiral....

I did see and photograph a single very worn Milbert's Tortoiseshell, record shot only, not worthy of a place here. More to come, Blues and Hairstreaks really did show well!!

[petesmith]

Wow Kip - that Weidermeyer's Admiral is just out of this world! Fabulous shot and what a gorgeous creature!
I am always intrigued by the similarities between many US species and their European relatives, and what it means in terms of evolutionary timescales and continental drift - would love to visit the US one day on a butterfly expedition...
Looking forward to your next posts.

[Padfield]

Wow Kip - that Weidermeyer's Admiral is just out of this world! Fabulous shot and what a gorgeous creature!
I am always intrigued by the similarities between many US species and their European relatives, and what it means in terms of evolutionary timescales and continental drift - would love to visit the US one day on a butterfly expedition...
Looking forward to your next posts.

I agree - it's absolutely fascinating and Kip's posts from the New World really illustrate it well. A lot of the shared Holarctic groups must have made the passage (one way or the other) by the northern route during one of the last two interglacials. When the ice retreats the butterflies follow it north - and the distances between East and West at high latitudes are of course not nearly so big as they look on standard map projections of the world. Then the ice heads south again, pushing the butterflies down, where they remain genetically isolated until the next interglacial warm period. That can't be the case for the tropical groups, though, like Eurema, which occur throughout all the tropical regions. Something else must be going on there.

Every time I see Kip's posts I want to go on a trip to the US too ...

Guy

[Kip]

Thanks chaps... every time I go, I marvel at the species similarities, and differences! I hadn't thought of warm enough polar regions and merely assumed stem species must have existed x million years ago on Gondwanaland, the Northern theory is more sensible
btw, if Guy, you ever want to put that trip into action, I would love to be there too!!- As I think we discussed when I last saw you, I'm going to Alta in 2 weeks, yay!!

[David M]

Fabulous continuation, Paul. I absolutely love the Field Crescent, which looks like a Marshie treated with a heat lamp and a freezer during pupation!

Even better is the Weidermeyer's Admiral, which I'd never even heard of until you posted the image, so many thanks for that.

Yes, the US has some really interesting species and is well worth a trip to see a selection of them.

[Kip]

Thanks David, I love the description!!
I didn't see as many Hairstreaks or Coppers as I had hoped for, these are what did present themselves, not a bad, if small, selection...
Firstly, the Lustrous Copper....

Then the lovely and intricate Western Pine Elfin...

The one I got most excited about, I hadn't even noticed it was in the book, but it was cracking!!... it's upperside, not ever shown at rest, is a shade of blue!, easily visible in flight - the Thicket ( or Blue Mistletoe)Hairstreak...

Lastly, the first US Green Hairstreak I have seen... I think Sheridan's, rather than Bramble....

Just a few Skippers, then a Lycaenid finale, and all will be done

[David M]

Another wonderful and intriguing assortment, Kip. So many of these US species are very similar to ones seen in Europe, but clearly geographical separation has seen them evolve into other forms. A fascinating issue and I look forward to your final instalment.

[Kip]

lastly then, the Blues, and skippers...
Melissa Blue,Plebejus melissa , in Sagebrush ultra-dry scrub with buckwheats and Lupines, SSB sized...

The similar but slightly larger Acmon Blue,Plebejus acmon, found in more flower and Lupine rich scrubby grasslands...

The similar but tiny Ancilla Spotted Blue, Euphilotes enoptes ancilla, found with the Acmon Blues,...

Boisduval's Blue, Plebejus icarioides, found in almost every suitable looking flowery place, Common Blue sized, as were the following three species,....

Another Plebejus species, but seems much closer to Glaucopsyche in appearance, to me, the Greenish Blue, Plebejus saepiolus.This was the least frequently encountered, but a noticably different shade of shining blue in flight..

and to illustrate that... the Silvery Blue, Glaucopsyche lygdamus, almost as frequent as Boisduval's ...

My most favourite butterfly of the trip, Arrowhead Blue, Glaucopsyche piasus, found in dry sagebrush mainly, seen on three occasions ...

Lastly, a couple of worn singletons seen, both from small well watered, openly forested gulches....
Spring Azure, Celestrina ladon, which was Small Blue sized...

and presumably Western Tailed Blue, Everes amyntula, Short-tailed Blue sized,...

Of the few Skippers, relatively, here are...
Persius Duskywing, Erynnis persius...

Rocky Mounain Duskywing Erynnis telemachus, (according to distribution)...

A worn Two-banded Checkered Skipper, Pyrgus ruralis..

and finally Clouded Skipper, Thorybes pylades...

That's all folks!

[petesmith]

Fabulous, Kip! Love the Acmon Blue and Boisduval's Blue, and that Arrowhead Blue is absolutely divine.
Again, you can see many similarities with certain European counterparts, and yet divergence also.
Absolutely fascinating stuff - thanks for sharing these.

[David M]

Thanks for this delightful sequence, Kip. I can see why you loved both the Acmon and the Arrowhead Blues...stunning butterflies.

The Boisduval's looks like some sort of hybrid between Green Underside and Alpine Blue! Fascinating.