On July 19 Colin Croft was exploring Buffalo Creek Wildlife Management Area in southern Scotts Bluff County when he came across a Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) which hadn’t previously been found in Scotts Bluff County. Marine Blues stray to our area from their southern home range and breed continuously (feeding on various legumes) once arriving so they should be available for viewing until the first freeze. For whatever reason most records are from the western half of the state but they should be found in eastern Nebraska as well So be alert for their presence and contact us at nebraskabutterflies@gmail.com if you find one in a county where they have yet to be recorded (see distribution map below).
Colin also encountered several late flying Dione (aka Great Gray) Coppers (Tharsalea dione) which had been previously reported as a 4H record but without complete data. Dione Coppers normally fly for several weeks beginning in late June so these were at the late end of their flight period.
In other news – evidently a female Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae) found the Baptisia plant in my prairie garden earlier this summer as there are a half dozen of her fresh looking offspring in my backyard. Several weeks ago there were three Marine Blues hanging out there with one laying eggs on a Canada Milkvetch. I saw another two days ago, possibly one of her offspring. Or another stray. Either way it pays to plant hostplants.