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Kenelm Philip
fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu
Sat Jul 6 17:39:33 EDT 2002
I took a trip in early to mid-June down to Haines and Hyder, Alaska.
Hyder is the southernmost community in Alaska that one can drive to. The
visit to Hyder was not very productive--there is very little butterfly
habitat there. I think that when evil butterfly collectors die, and the
Authorities send them to hell--they wake up in Hyder. I saw only three
species of butterflies there on 17 June: _Celastrina ladon_, _Pieris mar-
ginalis_, and _Anthocharis sara_--and very few of each. The day was clear
and pleasantly warm, so anything that was around should have been flying.
I was, however, told by the residents that they see _lots_ of moths in late
summer.
Haines was more interesting, 12-14 June. Butterfly species were:
_Pterourus canadensis_
_Pieris marginalis_
_Anthocharis sara_ (abundant)
_Celastrina ladon_
_Plebejus saepiolus_
_Agriades glandon_
_Speyeria zerene_
_Polygonia satyrus_
_Aglais milberti_
I knew that _A. glandon_ occurred in the Haines area, but I had never en-
countered it myself. This time it showed up, flying below a rock outcrop
just above the Haines Highway, where saxifrage was abundant. This was the
first time I had ever seen this species (in Alaska) _not_ flying in tundra
habitats.
The June 13th record for _S. zerene_ was interesting--I had thought
they emerged in early July, based on previous Haines visits. (I also wonder
if this insect really is a ssp. of _zerene_, but I have never seen _zerene_
from Vancouver Island, so I shall wait until I do before pursuing the
matter.)
Then there was a nice dividend to the Haines visit--two Alaska
records for moths. At mile 8.5 Haines Highway, the UV light trap got four
specimens of the notodontid _Furcula cineria_. And at the base of Sunshine
Hill there were a couple of _Hemaris diffinis_ nectaring on dandelions (and
I saw another one at mile 8.5 Haines Highway). To the best of my knowledge
both of these are new for Alaska--if anyone knows of previous records I
would be interested to hear the details.
Ken Philip
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