10-19-15 Butterfly Field Note

10-19-15 Butterfly Field Note

October 19, 2015

Jeff Pippen wraps up the polinator field season with a field note that details autumn sightings.

Butterfly Field Note Autumn 2015 sightings Jeffrey S. Pippen 18, Oct 2015

Some butterfly species, like this Clouded Sulphur, have three or more broods per year. This means that adults can be seen throughout much of the warm-weather months.

Although Juba Skippers (below) occur from Canada to Mexico, they have two broods per year regardless of climate. This species put in a strong showing on rabbitbrush below the Top House, during their second brood in September.

Some species with wide latitudinal distributions may have one or two broods in the northern portion of their range and four or five broods in southern areas. At the MPG Ranch, Mylitta Crescents have three broods.

West Coast Ladies are irregular immigrants to western Montana. To my knowledge, this individual represents the third MPG record.

Western Pygmy-Blues are the smallest butterfly in the United States. I found this individual nectaring on Gray Rabbitbrush below the Top House. Only one recorded sighting exists for the state of Montana exists.

Tiger beetles run across the ground in search of prey and mates. I observed this Western Tiger Beetle hunting on sandy patches near the Bitterroot River.