Friday, May 11, 2012

Butterfly of the Week

Northern Cloudywing

Thorybes pylades (Scudder 1870)
Status: Common breeding resident
Flight: Essentially single brooded, with adults flying from early May to mid August. Most individuals have been collected from the last few days of May through the first week of July.
Distinguishing features: Like T. bathyllus, this species is dark brown, with white spots on the fore wing above and darker brown bands on the hind wings below. It differs by having narrow, oblong fore-wing white spots, darker wing fringes, and hollow (rather than solid) dark brown hind-wing bands. Males possess a costal fold. Wingspan: 3.4-4 cm.
Distribution and habitat: Map 48. This species is relatively frequent in the southern two-thirds of the state. It occurs in a variety of dry, open habitats, including prairies and old fields.
Natural history: The larvae of the Northern Cloudywing have been reported to feed on a variety of legumes, including clover, bush clover, and tick-trefoil. These plants are more common in Iowa than those used by T. bathyllus, so it is not surprising that T. pylades is more common.
Questions: Is the apparent higher frequency of T. pylades populations, compared to T. bathyllus, due to the higher frequency of its larval host plants? How variable are the hyaline fore-wing spot patterns within and between populations?


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Chris Helzer to speak at Loess Hills Prairie Seminar

Chris Helzer, the author of The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States, will be speaking at the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar on June 2. The attendees at the LHPS include many people who do not attend prairie conferences or the Iowa Prairie Network winter meeting. It includes teachers, natural resource people, community members, landowners, and generally people from western Iowa, but it also draws people from MN, IL, SD, and NE as well as the rest of Iowa.



Susanne Hickey as well as MJ Hatfield will speak on Friday. Saturday evening will include a short talk regarding the Missouri River floods and ecological impacts. The session will end with children joining the adults for a program by Douglas Wood, an environmental musician, who will also do a program at the campfire later that evening. 

For more information about the seminar, please see the NWAEA website: http://www.nwaea.k12.ia.us/en/programs_and_services/loess_hills_prairie_seminar/ 

Monday, May 7, 2012

Plant of the Week


Tuberous Indian plantain
Cacalia tuberosa Nutt.
scientific name, 2008: Arnoglossum plantagineum Raf.
other common names: Indian plantain, prairie Indian plantain
Cacalia: from an ancient name, the meaning of which was lost
in antiquity
Tuberosa: from Latin, meaning “tuberous,” referring to the thickened roots
Daisy family: Asteraceae (Compositae)

Photograph by Thomas Rosburg, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition