Butterfly Week 2024

 

BUTTERFLY WEEK came late to the prairies of NE South Dakota this summer, it has been raining since, well, since spring.  It has rained and rained and rained.  It has been cool and the prairie grass has grown and grown and grown.  To be honest, I have never seen it so high.

The sharptailed grouse chicks above are just sucked in and you could hardly even notice they were there, but from my perch on my ATV, I saw them..

Monday on the prairie featured 30 mph wind, and then afternoon downpours, but the biggest week of butterflies started today at 11:14 when the first adult appeared of the annual flight of Dakota skipper and as for at least two hours the sun came out and the wind blew only slightly.

Regal frits have an odd life cycle.  They feed on violets in prairies.  They lays their eggs late in the season and the caterpillars hatch and then go hide in the ground over the winter.  Then in spring, they form a chrysalis and then fly about now. 

I counted 20 regal fritillaries, but the real prize were a dozen Dakota skippers, both males (orange) females are spotted.  

A few Mellissa Blues were out, these are typically a western species and NE South Dakota are on the eastern edge of their range, a subspecies Karner Blues are an endangered group in Wisconsin.  I like blues, their larvae are raised by ants in a weird symbiosis. 

A male Melissa Blue

Grasshopper sparrows serenaded me, 

A view of my new shed from my favorite Dakota skipper prairie

Then, the clouds strangled the little sun that was out and the butterflies disappeared.  

So, the butterflies will be out there for about a week or so, then others species will emerge, in the meantime get out there and see some of this cool stuff.

Olaf