Leonard's and more...

Aaron Brees and I spent this past Saturday (4 September) looking for butterflies in western Iowa, south of Council Bluffs.

For me, I was most interested in finding LEONARD'S SKIPPER which proved to not be exceedingly difficult (thanks to Aaron knowing the nectar source: blazing star).  What WAS rather difficult was getting a very cooperative one.  Alas, I came back with a random assortment of ID'able photos:

       

       

TAWNY-EDGED SKIPPERS came in a variety of looks.  Here is one:

Another one of the most common species was SACHEM.  Here is a female:

A "second-lifer" for me were the many REAKIRT'S BLUES that we found throughout the day.  Here is one on some goldenrod:

... and here it is with an EASTERN TAILED-BLUE for comparison:

One of the better finds of the day was this JUNIPER HAIRSTREAK, which was only my second-ever:

While on the theme of hairstreaks, I took a couple seconds to play with the common Gray Hairstreaks:

Not on my radar screen was this lone COMMON ROADSIDE-SKIPPER which turned out to be quite late for Iowa.  I only managed one picture but I believe it to be easily identifiable:

Another great find was yet another FUNEREAL DUSKYWING.  This is maybe the 8th or 9th state record for Iowa (all the previous records were found this summer as well!).  Here is a picture of our most recent:

Another second-lifer for me was SOUTHERN DOGFACE.  We saw several but I definitely failed in getting any decent photos of any.  Here is a feeble attempt:

Not much to say about this guy except that it's a RED-SPOTTED PURPLE and that I only took the picture because I was a little shutter-happy:

Come on people, focus on the butterfly, not the plant.  It's a WILD INDIGO DUSKYWING:

I only remember one REGAL FRITILLARY that day but this one actually sat down a couple times.  I'm sure Aaron got some better photos than this:

I'm not sure if this list is correct or not (and maybe Aaron will correct me), but here is what I remember seeing that day:

Eastern Tiger-Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail
Giant Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Orange Sulphur
Southern Dogface
Dainty Sulphur
Little Yellow
Gray Hairstreak
Juniper Hairstreak
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Reakirt's Blue
Variegated Fritillary
Regal Fritillary
Pearl Crescent
Gorgone Checkerspot
Polygonia Sp.
Mourning Cloak
Common Buckeye
Red-spotted Purple
Viceroy
Monarch
Common Wood-Nymph
Silver-spotted Skipper
Funereal Duskywing
Wild Indigo Duskywing
Common Checkered-Skipper
Fiery Skipper
Sachem
Least Skipper
Leonard's Skipper
Tawny-edged Skipper
Common Roadside-Skipper

~33 species

Although not butterflies, I snapped a couple shots of the VARIEGATED MEADOWHAWKS:

       

... and this RED SADDLEBAGS:

     

Lastly, we can get to things that aren't actually insects!  For example, I couldn't pass up this tree frog: