Colorado
pair. Female is green, male brown. We see it in early spring.
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| A Gallery of Insects Boulder County & Environs Colorado |
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| All these insects live at Granite Ridge at 6500' in the foothill of the Rockies. These 18 acres are butterfly-rich with our list now totaling 101 species since 1996. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The Blanketflower Moth (Schinia masoni), master of camou-flage, assumes this position on the Blanketflower, matching its color pattern to that of the flower. Does the blood rush to its head? Its caterpillar eats the flowers and seeds of this plant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Uhler's Arctic (Oeneis uhleri) nectaring on a mustard. This Satyr whose caterpillars eat grasses and sedges is a shy butterfly. Its short flights end in a rapid dive to the ground where it is well-camouflaged. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii). We can almost always find this favorite in our small canyon perching on one special Juniper or patrolling back and forth. Here grow Serviceberry, Chokecherry and Willow, the host plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Cresson's Ctenucha (Ctenucha cressonana) is in the Tiger Moth family and Wasp Moth subfamily. Notice the resemblance to a wasp. The caterpillar food plant is not reported, but we have observed this moth laying eggs on blades of grass. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rocky Mountain Parnassian (Parnassius smintheus) a tailless mountain swallowtail, has Casper-the-Ghost-like whitish trans-lucent wings. Its caterpillar eats our Sedum, Yellow Stonecrop. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocky Mountain Parnassian caterpillar. We found it under its foodplant, Yellow Stonecrop. This mature caterpillar, 2" long, soon pupated. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Green-stripped Grasshopper (Chortophaga viridifasciata) pair. Female is green, male brown. We see it in early spring. |
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| Milkweed Longhorn (Tetraopes femoratus) pair on Showy Milkweed, the plant both adults and larvae eat. The male is a shrimp! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The Pale Snaketail (Ophiogomphus severus), is a fairly common dragonfly in our small canyon where it often perches on the sandy trail. Notice the enlarged last few segments of the abdomen, a characteristic of its family, the Clubtails. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wolf-Spider Hawk (Tachypompilus ferruginesus), a close relative of the Tarantula Hawk, is a magnificant wasp that we see visiting the flowers of Virgin's Bower Clematis vine. In early morning we find them still sleeping among blooms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||