With the warm weather this weekend, I set out to look for three early flying leps: a moth, the Broad-lined Erastria (Erastria coloraria), and two butterflies, Olympia Marble and Henry’s Elfin. The Erastria’s larva feeds on Redroot (Ceanothus americanus), which is also the foodplant for the Iowa population of Nevada Buckmoth and the rare Mottled Duskywing, and I had found it at the buckmoth site in the Loess Hills last April. I visited the same spot on Saturday and found the Erastria to be almost abundant. This is a moth that, according to NatureServe, used to be common throughout the eastern US, but is pretty much gone from the Appalachians east. It may still be relatively common through the Mississippi River valley and is clearly common at at least this one site in the hills. Here is a female:
Broad-lined Erastria, Loess Hills W.A., Monona County, Iowa, 9 April 2011.
While there, I spent some time looking for Nevada Buckmoth egg rings on the Redroot. I’ve done this before and never had any luck, even though they are supposed to be easy to find. This time I did find a few. It was pretty clear that Redroot is this population’s foodplant considering I’ve found hundreds of larva feeding on it and none eating anything else, but finding multiple egg rings on it confirms it.
Nevada Buckmoth egg ring, Loess Hills W.A., Monona County, IA, 9 April 2011.
The hills are the place for Olympia Marble, but it is still a little early for them, so not finding one wasn’t a big deal. Hopefully I’ll have another shot in the next few weeks. Also of note were my first identified tiger beetles of the year, all Cicindela limbalis, the Common Claybank Tiger Beetle which is in fact common in the hills.
On Sunday, Jaclyn and I went on a hike at Elk Rock State Park which is on the southwest shore of Red Rock Reservoir in Marion County. Elk Rock has a small sand prairie and the trail leading to it is lined with Redbuds. Redbuds are the foodplant of Henry’s Elfin and I saw that species at this spot three springs ago. I was hoping to get better photos this time and was lucky to see at least 8 individuals.
Henry’s Elfin, Elk Rock S.P., Marion County, IA, 10 April 2011.
The elfin makes the fifth butterfly I’ve seen this spring following Eastern Comma, Mourning Cloak, Spring Azure, and Cabbage White. I’ve also seen photos of Gray Comma and Orange Sulphur taken recently, so there are more species flying almost every day that the weather is warm. As always, more and better uncropped versions of the above photos are at my Flickr page.
Exploring the Remnants 