Category Archives: butterflies

Butterflies and Storm Water Management

Posted on May 21, 2013 by

Some fairly recent changes in building codes and storm water regulation present what I consider to be some pretty good opportunities for butterfly conservation. Storm water detention basins are engineered structures, designed to detain water from heavy rains for a … Continue reading →

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The Eye of the Butterfly

Posted on May 20, 2013 by

This is a pearl crescent, Phyciodes tharos.

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First Butterfly Photo of the Year

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

I got my first butterfly photo of the year today.  Here it is: It was a pretty underwhelming picture of a pearl crescent.  I have not seen pearl crescents this year until today, and they seem fairly thick now.  I … Continue reading →

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More on Infrastructure

Posted on March 24, 2013 by

I looked at some land use data for Iowa.  Iowa State University Outreach and Extension publishes it here.  Calculating the numbers a little bit shows 74% of the land in Iowa as “cropland.”  Apparently there are several different types of cropland, … Continue reading →

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Here it is–the Poweshiek Skipper

Posted on March 11, 2013 by

I attended a conference last weekend on the conservation of tallgrass prairie lepidoptera.  I was totally impressed with the turnout and professionalism of the people involved.  The attendance was about 60 people, most of them very intelligent and motivated professionals.  Much … Continue reading →

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More Thoughts about Butterflies

Posted on March 5, 2013 by

I am getting ready to attend a conference about butterfly conservation soon.  I was thinking about some butterfly conservation issues, so I went through some of my photos to illustrate the points I would like to make. But the points … Continue reading →

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More Views out the Window

Posted on February 26, 2013 by

I am looking forward to spring.  You may know that I have another website out there, and I have posted my “Butterfly Forecast for Central Iowa.”  Feel free to check it out.  The link is:  http://www.poweshiekskipper.org/forecast/forecastshome.html I guess I won’t … Continue reading →

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More on the Idea of the Butterfly Flux

Posted on January 28, 2013 by

One of the things about blogging is that you can put ideas out there in real time, maybe while they are in the process of being developed.  So I put out the idea of a “butterfly flux,” and since that … Continue reading →

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Butterfly Flux

Posted on January 24, 2013 by

Are you familiar with the concept of flux?  It is sort of a technical concept, and it usually relates to the rate of something (heat, a chemical reaction, photons) across a unit area.  That rate can be in the process … Continue reading →

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Thinking about Butterflies in the Middle of Winter

Posted on January 23, 2013 by

I have been thinking about butterflies and butterfly conservation lately.  I know it is winter, but that is the way it goes. It seems to me that butterfly conservation efforts focus on the rare.  The Poweshiek skipper that I have … Continue reading →

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