Oregon Large White Skipper

[Patricia and Jeff Harding]

Dan Thackaberry and I found a Large White-Skipper (Heloipetes
ericetorum) in Sherman County, Oregon, near Rufous on the Columbia River
Gorge.  There were still many butterflies flying, including Plebejus
acmon/lupini, P. communis, L. helloides, N. antiopa, P. beckeri and P.
rapae.
We saw one Monarch, but before we could catch and tag it, it fled up the
Columbia, eastward, headed for Mexico.
At the mouth of the John Day River, Dan found a couple of Metalmarks,
Apodemia mormo, but they were flighty, and I barely got a glimpse, much
less a photograph.
Further up the John Day River, near the confluence with Little Rock
Creek, Dan collected a Sachem Skipper (Atalopedes campestris) and a
Sootywing (Pholisora catullus).  I managed to photograph a Viceroy
(Limenitus archippus) there, but it was a very worn individual, hard to
tell from a Monarch save by the small size.  most of the hind wings were
worn off.
Cheers, Jeff