I was sitting out on the patio enjoying the last of today’s shade before noon when a Battus philenor floated in and did a few touch and goes on the Lantana a few feet away from me before continuing on its journey. It was the first Papilionidae of any species I've seen here this year so far, and the first B. philenor I've seen in Las Vegas in over a dozen years. I've never seen any wild Aristolochia growing in southern NV, nor even in cultivated plantings in town, so they probably only stray through the area.

A few minutes later a couple of Sachem skippers stopped for a sip followed by what was probably a Colias occidentalis that blew by on the wind. Then a tattered Pieris protodice male paid the Lantana a visit as well. It overstayed its welcome though when the large female Collarded lizard that lives in the plants next to my patio snatched it up for a mid day snack.

I first saw Missy (what I call her) when she waddled past me a couple of months ago obviously laden with eggs. I only see her occasionally, but she is not afraid of me so sometimes scurries past my feet. Now I see one of her tiny offspring almost daily as it lives in the plants on the other side of my patio. It too has learned to trust me, but it mostly comes out at night to snatch up the moths, beetles and other insects that come to my lights and land on the ground or on the Lantana. It's small enough to climb up in the plants to get at them and is growing fast. Spike even followed me back into my house one night and I had to shoo it back out. "Spike" because when I first saw him he was so small that he looked like a spike nail. So how senile are you getting when you name and talk to wild lizards? LOL

(Sorry, but the year has been so barren lep wise that there's just not much else to write about.)

Larry

Sandy

Keep the stories coming,
Elisabeth

Sandy

Sorry about your sick family.

Larry

Congrats on your Pipevine BTW!

Susan

Susan,
All the years that I lived in SW Utah I did volunteer work for the local county DOA and the BLM. For the DOA I did the Desert Tortoise counts every spring, monitored and stood observation watches at several raptor aeries, did the lep and native plant studies for a new state reserve being established and participated in all the Gila Monster - rattlesnake round-ups at Red Cliffs Canyon. Red Cliffs is a small box canyon with a highly used year-round semi primitive campground. Twice a year 3-4 of us would collect and relocate the GM's and 4 species of rattlesnakes to another ideal habitat several miles away that was isolated and seldom visited even by hikers. The campers were always glad to see them removed with many having small children or pets with them. So we never told them that we were removing them to protect the reptiles and not the campers. LOL For the BLM I patrolled the AZ Strip and back country North Rim of the GC 3 or 4 days a week covering as much as 300 miles a day on dirt back roads, and was on their wildfire team running supplies and people to the fire lines and standing by on the fire lines as an emergency rescue driver for the firefighters and jump teams in case of blow ups. They put me through EMT and fire schools and issued me a very well equipped 4X4 Power Wagon so I could (and did) handle almost any emergency in the back country. All were lots of fun to be involved in, and naturally I also did Lepidoptera as a side line when "on duty". Miss those days of being active and useful.

Larry

Susan

Your post has me wondering Larry - these may be dumb questions - but you are probably the perfect person to ask! Why are moths attracted to light and is it a bad thing for Leps to leave outdoor lights on all night? What about all those solar lights that from what I understand, you can't turn them off?

Enjoying your stories. As always, I have to check things out. We don't have the Collared Lizard in this area, nor in the area where I grew up. We had the Horned Lizard or "Horny toads" as we called them. However, our yearly Bioblitz is coming up, and there is a picture of the Collared Lizard on the cover of the application. I need to dig my Oklahoma Reptile/Amphibian book out and read up. About all I see around here are the skinks. They are everywhere. And we have lots of toads and frogs species. I have found snake skins in the hanging baskets--not an ideal place for them, IMHO.

Looks like everyone in Laos has contracted dengue fever, including the little guy. You've probably had this during your trips. I don't think I ever want to get it. Wishing I could help my daughter. But we won't be going until November. Hopefully the virus will have run its course and be out of there. I will be bringing plenty of mosquito repellent for sure.

Sandy

Sandy,
I've had my share of localized complications in my pursuits of Lepidoptera for sure, but I never contracted that one. But it does bring to mind Olaf Pagels R, my closest lep companion in Costa Rica who contracted bonecrusher fever as an additional complication to a large brain tumor that all too quickly took his life. His girlfriend was a doctor and took him to Mexico City where they have far superior medical resources, but she/they couldn't save him. I remained in contact with his parents, sister and girlfriend in Escazu for many years after he died, but we eventually lost touch with each other. Have to admit that it brings tears to my eyes when I come across his name in my journals or synoptic collection. He was a wonderful person that I consider one of the best friends I ever had.