ncrosby's Favorites

I made a quick stop at Jackson Lake en route to Colorado with family, so I didn't have much time to explore. While Euphilotes was in the back of my mind, I was looking for and had hoped to see Juba Skipper, which was reported here about a week ago on iNaturalist. The hillsides were dry, but there was a good showing of blooming wildflowers. I noticed a blooming Eriogonum ovalifolium (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/164698884) and almost immediately saw a tiny blue butterfly nectaring on the plant's spherical, creamy pink-colored flower heads. I am basing this identification on host plant ID, location (NW New Mexico), and Spring flight season, as per Carry and Toliver's Butterflies of New Mexico. As they surmise, this species should fly across NW NM in association with Eriogonum ovalifolium. I saw about six individual plants on this hillside, all flowering, but only this one Euphilotes. It appears fairly worn, suggesting this represents the tail-end of the season. This record is duplicated on BAMONA.

A real treat to find one of these enigmatic Commas. I've created some side-by-side comparisons with this "Dark" Oreas with the more common Zephyr Comma (P. gracilis zephyrus): https://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/51230639545 (ventral) & https://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/51229909028 (dorsal)