Roadside Skipper found in Scotts Bluff County

August 10 Colin Croft took a picture of a couple of Roadside Skippers (Amblyscirtes vialis) in a ravine in the Wildcat Hills in Scotts Bluff County where they had not previously been reported. Congratulations and a thank you to Colin. This butterfly is still unreported from roughly one third of Nebraska counties. While most commonContinue reading “Roadside Skipper found in Scotts Bluff County”

Hesperia leonardus pawnee Dodge 1874 Another butterfly described from NE

This is probably one of my favorite group of butterflies (skippers actually). Members of the genus Hesperia are native prairie specialists. Finding any of them today is to rediscover habitat roughly unchanged from what white settlers first encountered when entering our area in the early 1800s. They are the insect equivalents of the American Bison.Continue reading “Hesperia leonardus pawnee Dodge 1874 Another butterfly described from NE”

Pawnee and Western Branded Skippers – Big Year Species 100 and 101

This past Saturday (Aug 22) Jonathan Nikkila and I made a late summer trip (an annual for me, Jon’s first) to Ash Hollow State Historical Park at the west end of Lake McConaughy in Garden County to look for skippers and swallowtail larvae. There was a high haze all day which the evening weather saidContinue reading “Pawnee and Western Branded Skippers – Big Year Species 100 and 101”