Larry, whoopee! I am so happy to see you back here and you have been sorely missed!

My friend and yours is so excited about this trip! I am living vicariously thru her and you in this regard and can't wait to hear and hopefully see pictures of same. Trips like that are out of the question for me and as I am now caretaking my daughter and my grandchildren, I haven't had near the time to "butterfly garden" this summer - which is just as well since the butterflies are scarce this summer for us as well in this drought laden part of the country. We have set so many heat records this year and it has been miserable just to keep my garden watered and my precious plants from dying.

Can you give us a indication of what rare lep species might on the list for possible sitings?

I am still interested in sphingidae and have been feeding the lovely little Nessus sphinx which come to the feeder in early morning and at dusk. Friday I found a newly emerged Darapsa myron on my daughter's door frame. I am still feeling gratitude for raising last year's Erinnyis obscura since it is a rare siting in Oklahoma.

You have been missed and I, for one, am glad you are not fertilizing the soil!

Susan

As Susan said, good to see you back on the forum. Your presence has been sorely missed. And, I've been fortunate enough to be able to be in contact with you. Got new trekking shoes and trekking poles this week--since our conversation. Just 9 more days. Thanks so much.

I'm glad you've got someone to get you out and going.

Sandy

'Good to hear from you Larry -'hope that lady friend can keep up with you! :)
Sherry

Given the time of year, going for a walk at 2 am sounds perfectly reasonable to me. You can always take a nap in the heat of the day. We had a long cool spring here in Wisconsin, but I found several monarch eggs on June 9, so they made it here OK. Numbers seem low compared to previous years. After three weeks of daytime highs in the low 90's, we are finally getting a break. There is no such thing as dry heat in southern Wisconsin, it is always a steambath in the summer.

Very good to hear from you. We do miss you a lot.

KC

Hi Ladobe! What a nice surprise to hear from you. Hope that life continues to treat you well. I miss your informative and interesting posts a lot!

Thanks for the WB folks. Time will tell how active I'll be again on the forum, but I'll try to kick in on a few threads if I feel I can offer anything of value.

Susanlynne - "Can you give us a indication of what rare lep species might on the list for possible sittings?"

Since rare depends on if colony is specific to just one site, or even at a few sites where they are very difficult to get to and so seldom seen, what can be deemed rare depends on the person and how much effort they are willing to expend.

My lists of determinations are long and too much to type, so until Sandy posts pictures of her trip I’ll leave it at that most Lepidopterists’ would agree that some of the especially interesting and rarer leps up there are certain sp/spp from genus Parnassius, Colias, Lycaena, Boloria, Oeneis and Erebia. Sandy will not have time for or be able to make long hikes, so for the guide I wrote for her trip I just pointed out some excellent sites for her that are easy to visit, the specific species to be especially looking for at those sites that I know she has never seen before and most likely would never see elsewhere. They include some "rarer" ones and how to find them.

Sandy will have at least 171 species of Rhops possible to look for, plus all the Micro/Macrolepidoptera, and dozens of species of LFP's she's probably never seen before. She is an experienced field observer that I have a lot of respect for and faith in, so I didn't want to ruin her chance to make new discoveries on her own. Much like the counts she participates in, after the trip I will try to help her with determinations to subspecies, form, race and variety level on the leps and plants as is the case that she sees and gets pictures of if she has trouble doing them herself. I did tell her I wanted her to try to get them all to at least species level though, the best way to learn and understand the why, and that there would be a test afterwards. LOL

I'd give just about anything to be able to spend another summer up there, but like you I am living it vicariously though Sandy.

Larry

Thank you for the explanation and I will - anxiously - await Sandy's reports and images of her trip. I am a person with poor impulse control when it comes to leps. But have had to learn patience and restraint in the last few years because I just cannot do the things I used to do...........like driving to sites with interesting lep species. Ack!!!!! Hate that, but have to learn new ways of doing things that includes many end runs around. It's like navigating a maze to get to the treasure, it just takes longer.....boo!

I'm afraid I am not as intelligent nor driven nor physically able as Sandy. But I do try.

....on my way out to water my dried up garden....that looks like I feel, lol!

Susan

Good to hear from you Larry! We have definately missed you. It has been a slow to happen and bad season in some areas and not having your "voice" on the board has made is more so.

Keep on walkin'
-Elisabeth

Susan, I take offense at your post!! You are one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. Don't ever berate yourself, please. I've learned so much from you about moths. I treasure our friendship. You know that I wish I could take you with me when I get out. You would be the most awesome lep companion to travel with.

Physical limitations are fast creeping up on me too. My time is limited. And, yes, I am driven by that realization.

Sandy

I agree with Sandy, like with many others on this forum you are no slouch when it comes to leps either. My comment was only to state why I didn't feed her with every shred of data because I know she is a very capable field researcher that prefers to discover on her own. Everybody has to approach this field at the level they are comfortable with, why many only explore their back yard while others brave the wilds. Nothing wrong with either if that's all they want. For those of us on the down slide in health and not capable of the field work anymore, we simply have to live that part through others.

To maybe satisfy your need to know a little more Susanlynne...

Among many others, I asked her to look for the Parnassius (3 sp/ssp) at one site in particular because at over 10,000' some of the females can be almost entirely black, not usually seen except very high at places you normally have to make long and step hikes to. Colias gigantea harroweri is one I'd also like her to see. Even on the BTP it usually takes long and steep hikes to get to, so I gave Sandy a possible short side trip out of Grand Teton Nat'l Park to a place where she can almost drive to them. A couple more that will be easy Colias for her to look for are C. meadii medii that are everywhere up high, and the very rare this far south C. meadii ellis and C. pelidne skinneri. Also Lycaena phlaeas arctodon because the race up there is almost red and simply gorgeous, and L. cupreus snowii and atremisia to go with it since she likes the coppers. There are over 50 Nymphalids up there... but I pointed her to the 14 sp/ssp of Speyeria and 8 of Boloria mostly. Also to Euphydryas editha hutchinsi alt fm montanus because it is the smallest from this genus and was named for its discovery on the BTP. Boloria eunomia ursadentis is the rarest resident lep on the BTP at least as far as how many have ever seen it, but it takes knowing exactly what to look for, how to recognize what you see and often long hikes to find it's small colony. Took me most of two summers to find them, and I knew almost exactly where to look. And over the second and third summer I learned that the colony moves through out the season and can be displaced at least 3+ miles during the season. Sandy won't have time and won't be able to make what could be a long hike this trip to hunt for them. But at one site I recommended it is possible she could see a stray blown by the wind from the small colony. I also pointed her to some of the Satyriidae, specifically Oeneis melissa beani because it will be easy at one site instead of the long/step climbs normal to see them, and O. taygete edwardsi only because they have two forms that are biennial at the same site.

Hope that somewhat satisfies your appetite Susanlynne. I'm as excited as you are to see how her trip goes because I know she will find many new species of both leps and plants on it to add to her life list. The vistas up there are second to none, so I'm sure she will get a lot of pictures of them as well. If I still had custody of all my pictures from my extensive lep travels I certainly would have posted them on this forum long ago, and those from three summers up on the BTP would have been among my favorites.

Larry