Week at Yellowstone

[Mark Walker]

Bob Thomas wrote:

> On the family vacation to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore and doing a
> little Lepping on the side with the help of my ten year old son.
> List: (only listing species different than home in California)

Sounds divine.

Scott's "Butterflies of North America" is a fat book, expensive, and not
altogether accurate - but it's a great addition to the two books you've
mentioned.

The book by the same title by William Howe is sadly out of print.  If you
can find one, it's another great book and a must have - even if the taxonomy
is way out of date.  It's wonderfully illustrated, and is pretty reliable
for id'ing many of the obscure western ssp.

Beyond that, I'm afraid you're limited to regional field guides.  Many good
ones do exist, though not all are equipped with plates.  Of course, there
are the Glassberg books - I haven't bought one yet, but they are apparently
getting better as field resources.

Someday the USGS web site is going to have links to images of ssp. and
geographic variants (I hope).  As it is now, you can use this to narrow it
down to species (except for Speyeria) and then access a good regional list.

Hope this helps.  I've never seen Coenonympha haydenii.  I'd like to see one
- even if it's pasted on the front of a Chevy Suburban.

Enjoy,

Mark Walker.
Oceanside, CA  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: bthomas at lc3s.com [mailto:bthomas at lc3s.com]
> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 7:36 PM
> To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Subject: Week at Yellowstone
> 
> On the family vacation to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore and doing a
> little Lepping on the side with the help of my ten year old son.
> List: (only listing species different than home in California)
> 
> Coenonympha haydenii - Many
> (Hayden's ringlet)
> Poladryas arachne - Many near lake Yellowstone
> (Arachne checkerspot)
> Pontia protodice - Zillions
> (Western white)
> Parnassius phoebus - Only one
> 
> The following were snatched from the front of vehicles as they pulled
> into vista points around the park (I'm an opportunist since I don't
> carry a net)
> Speyeria mormonia - beautiful specimen!
> Clossiana kriemhild - an awesome sight as well
> 
> The following I couldn't clearly identify:
> Many specimens of wood satyr/eyed brown
> Many Many Blues and Coppers
> Many very fast flying and very large Fritillaries
> I looked everywhere for Euphdryas gillettii (Yellowstone checkerspot)
> but never was able to see one.
> It is clear that I need to start carrying a net and get a better
> source for identifying specimens.  Does anyone know of a better ID
> book than the Audubon field guide or the Peterson's western
> butterflies?  I continue to get stumped when trying to ID with these
> two sources :(
> I have many questions about differentiating between specimens
> (Pterourus rutulus and Pterourus glaucus for example) but I'm
> suffering with SUV-lag caused by travelling with four boys in a
> confined vehicle - I'll get to it another day.
> 
> Overall I'm very pleased with the amount of bugs flying around
> Yellowstone.  (many cool Coleoptera and more Dragonflies than I've
> ever seen in one place)
> 
> Onward to South Dakota...
> 
> Bob Thomas
> Cameron Park, CA
> (currently in Cody, Wyoming)
> 
> 
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