Iowa Public Television show featuring Linda & Robert Scarth

Linda & Robert Scarth, photographers of DEEP NATURE, spent a day with Chris Gourlet, from Iowa Public Television, where he videotaped them as they worked.

They will be featured on his show “Iowa Outdoors: From the lens of one wildlife photographer to the handlebar view from our state's biking enthusiasts, we explore springtime in Iowa.”

See it today!!

Show times:

Saturday, May 11, 8:30 AM on IPTV

http://www.iptv.org/iowaoutdoors/

Midwest Nature Quote of the Week

Egrets and herons fly with legs extended and necks curved back. Such neck-curved birds are graceful enough, but give an impression of Sunday aviators out for a turn around the field. Not so with the cranes. Flying cranes are like flung javelins, their necks and legs fully extended, reaching hungrily for distance. They are compass needles pointed north, spanning great gulfs of northern sky and taking their journeys seriously.

John Madson, Out Home

Butterfly of the Week: Dun Skipper

Dun Skipper

Euphyes vestris (Boisduval 1852)

Status: Common breeding resident.

Flight: Adults observed in flight from late May through late September, with most encounters occurring in the first half of July. While this species likely has multiple broods, collection records do not clearly indicate when these might occur. Perhaps there is only a single brood, which emerges over an extended period in the summer.

Distinguishing features: This is a uniformly dark brown skipper. Males have a black stigma, and females have few white spots on the upper fore wing. Females often have a faint crescent of light brown spots on the mid hind wing below. It differs from the Little Glassywing and Northern Broken dash by having reduced light markings (if any) on the upper fore wing. Wingspan: 3 cm.

Distribution and habitat: Map 219. Common throughout the state in a wide variety of open habitats.

Natural history: The larval hosts are unreported but are believed to be various members of the sedge family.

Questions: What are the larval hosts for this species in Iowa? How does it overwinter? What factors have allowed it to become the most abundant member of its genus in the state? 

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

Tune in to Talk of Iowa Tomorrow

Tune in to Talk of Iowa tomorrow at 10:00am for an interview with Dean Roosa and John Stravers on The Raptors of Iowa!

The Raptors of Iowa
Illustrations by:
James F. Landenberger
Essays by:
Dean M. Roosa
Jon W. Stravers
Bruce Ehresman
Rich Patterson