Tag Archives: butterfly

Noon Walk Butterflies

Posted on November 13, 2013 by the roused bear

I take a walk over my lunch break, and I count butterflies as I am doing it.  Here are the results of this year’s surveys.  I saw 24 species, 943 total butterflies.  The species where I counted more than one … Continue reading →

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Why Does Roadside Butterfly Habitat Matter?

Posted on November 12, 2013 by the roused bear

Monarch butterfly numbers have taken a nosedive.  There were reports about this all summer, and a recent report over at the Texas Butterfly Ranch blog. The caterpillar host plants of monarchs are milkweeds of various species.  With the herbicide resistant … Continue reading →

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Thinking Butterfly Habitat

Posted on November 11, 2013 by the roused bear

The weather has turned cold and the butterflies are likely gone until spring.  Now is probably an odd time to think about butterfly habitat, but it has been on my mind. Iowa is mostly rural.  In fact, according to the … Continue reading →

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An Update

Posted on November 7, 2013 by the roused bear

If you are familiar with this blog, you might know about the Poweshiek skipper.  You see it mentioned above the upper photo.  History of the butterfly entries are sort of about the people associated with discovering this butterfly, or people … Continue reading →

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It’s Snowing Butterflies

Posted on November 2, 2013 by the roused bear

It is magical to see butterflies high up in the air.  It is also magical to see great quantities of butterflies in flight at once.   We have migratory butterflies here in Iowa, and sometimes they accumulate in great numbers.  … Continue reading →

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More

Posted on October 3, 2013 by the roused bear

New England Asters are really attracting butterflies now–mostly orange sulfurs. And, I saw a nice gray hairstreak and was able to spend some time photographing it. Oh, yeah–I was laid off from my job today, too–part of the federal government … Continue reading →

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Last of the Viceroys

Posted on September 25, 2013 by the roused bear

As the season progresses, some butterflies just fade away.  I saw this viceroy Sunday.  Viceroys may occasionally be found here in October or later, but not often.  

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Not So Many Butterflies

Posted on September 20, 2013 by the roused bear

Most years find September a great time for butterflies.  During a normal year, I would find dozens or hundreds of butterflies competing for the nectar resources of asters in my prairie. Tonight I only found three.  Two orange sulfurs and … Continue reading →

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The Hackberry Emperor

Posted on August 3, 2013 by the roused bear

I chased butterflies and other insects along the gravel road near my house yesterday, and came across a hackberry emperor, Asterocampa celtis.  Hackberry butterflies are active little butterflies that are hard to sneak up on to photograph.   But they … Continue reading →

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Butterflies are Nouns, Dragonflies are Verbs

Posted on July 27, 2013 by the roused bear

Teresa Green made a comment on one of my posts about how imaginative the common names for dragonflies are, compared to those of butterflies.  I had not thought about it before, but it is true. Butterfly common names are largely nouns, … Continue reading →

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