Butterfly of the Week

Dreamy Duskywing

Erynnis icelus (Scudder and Burgess 1870)

Status: Very rare breeding resident.

Flight: A single flight from late April to mid May.

Distinguishing features: Unlike most Duskywings in Iowa, the Dreamy Duskywing lacks clear spots on the fore wing. In this respect it is similar to the Sleepy Duskywing, but it is smaller and has less distinct and more jagged dark bars on the upper fore wing. Wingspan: 3-3.6 cm.

Distribution and habitat: Map 85. Very uncommon in Iowa, with only one authenticated record from black oak sand savanna in the far northeastern corner of the state. The specimen reported from Ledges State Park in Boone County likely represents a misidentified E. brizo.

Natural history: Very little is known about the behavior and activities of this species in the state. In northern Wisconsin it favors scrubby lowlands with willows and can become rather frequent. Its larvae are reported to eat willows and poplars.

Questions: Are populations of this species stable within the state, or do they undergo frequent colonizations and extirpations? What are the preferred larval hosts?

The Butterflies of Iowa, by Dennis W. Schlicht, John C. Downey, and Jeffrey C. Nekola

A Prairie Populist

Spring rains come to the Nebraska prairie

So there we stood while the rain seemed to come down to buckets full which was the way when a long drouth would be broken and we stood and laughed. Laughed because I got my wish. Laughed because it was so ridiculously funny. I laughed for joy for my garden. J.T. laughed because of it all and because I did. We would nearly stop and Willie would begin and then we would begin all over again. . . . The next morning, as always after those showers, the sun was gloriously warm and bright. The garden was fine as possible but I had a job housecleaning and washing and drying our clothing but was glad that it was necessary just so we got the rain. We had many a good laugh over our wetting for years to come and I don’t think I ever said I wished it would rain that J.T. did not ask if I was willing to be wet to the skin.

A Prairie Populist: The Memoirs of Luna Kellie, edited by Jane Taylor Nelsen

Plant of the Week

Eastern gamagrass
Tripsacum dactyloides L.
other common names: bullgrass, gamagrass, sesame grass
Tripsacum: from Greek, meaning to “thresh” or “rub,” probably because the fertile spike with its large seeds can be broken up so easily
Dactyloides: from Greek, meaning
“finger-like”; also from an ancient name for some grasses
Grass family: Poaceae (Gramineae)

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