More SE Arizona Butterflies

Heath, Fred fred.heath at power-one.com
Mon Mar 23 21:13:00 EST 1998


        On a 2.5 hour afternoon trip through Garden Canyon in Fort 
     Hauchucha in Arizona we were able to find only 9 species, but among 
     them were a very fresh Short-tailed Skipper (Zestusa dorus) and 
     Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus siva) which were a treat.
        The highlight of the jaunt was a very territorial Morning Cloak 
     (Nymphalis antiopa) which came out and first challenged us. A few 
     minutes later it was seen manuvering with a bat over the road. At 
     first, we thought the bat was chasing the butterfly, but soon realized 
     much to our amazement and amusement the opposite was true. The bat 
     flew back and forth a few times with the butterfly in hot pursuit. 
     Finally the bat headed down the road, out of the butterfly's 
     territory. The Mourning Cloak came back up the road chasing a 
     Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilo  multicaudata) in the opposite 
     direction.
                                                -----Fred



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