Monthly Archives: June 2014

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail

 

This beautiful Canadian Tiger Swallowtail has been visiting my flowers everyday.  We have very much enjoyed watching it flutter all around.

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Caterpillar: The caterpillar is green, enlarged in the front, and marked near the head with four yellow dots and two yellowisheyespots with bluish centers.
Adult: The butterfly is large (but small for a Swallowtail), with a wingspan of 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 inches, and tailed. The upperside is bright yellow and edged with a thick, black border marked with yellow dashes. The forewing is marked four broad, fairly parallel black bands. The hindwing is marked diagonally with a long and narrow black band, and is edged with black along the inside edge, next to the body. The rear of the hindwing is marked with two crescent-shaped blue spots, one of which edges an orange, similarly-shaped spot. The underside of the forewing is similar to the upperside, but the yellow dashes marking the black border are joined forming a continuous line. The underside of the hindwing is also similar to the upperside but is additionally clouded with orange. Note that a rare black form of female can occur.

Range: 
This Swallowtail ranges from Alaska and the Yukon Territory south through British Columbia and east across Canada to the east coast. It extends into the extreme northern U.S. from northeastern Washington to central Michigan, and from northern New York into New England. It occurs in the panhandle of Idaho.

Habitat:
It can be found in and along deciduous and mixed forests.

Diet:

Caterpillar: Caterpillars feed on the leaves of several species of trees: birches (Betula spp.), aspen (Populus spp.), crabapple (Malusspp.), and black cherry (Prunus serotina.).
Adult: Butterflies drink flower nectar.

Ecology:
Caterpillars construct small feeding structures from folded leaves tied and lined with silk. There is only one generation of caterpillars each year. Pupae overwinter in a physiological state called diapause, with the adults generally emerging to fly from May to mid-August. Males may often be observed puddling. This species may hybridize with Papilio rutulus, the Western Tiger Swallowtail, but such pairings are rare.

Reproduction:
Males actively patrol in search of receptive females. Females lay eggs singly on the leaves of host plants.

 

Please visit here to learn more…

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Linking up with:

Macro Monday

Shine the Divine

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Mountains,Arrowleaf Balsamroot, and Pronghorn…

 

At the National Bison Range.

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Fleet-footed pronghorns are among the speediest animals in North America. They can run at more than 53 miles (86 kilometers) an hour, leaving pursuing coyotes and bobcats in the dust. Pronghorns are also great distance runners that can travel for miles at half that speed.

Pronghorns are about three feet (one meter) tall at the shoulders. They are reddish brown, but feature white stomachs and wide, white stripes on their throats. When startled they raise the hair on their rumps to display a white warning patch that can be seen for miles.

Both sexes sport impressive, backward-curving horns. The horns split to form forward-pointing prongs that give the species its name. Some animals have horns that are more than a foot (30 centimeters) long.

Like other even-toed hoofed animals, pronghorns chew cud—their own partially digested food. The meal of choice for this speedy herbivore is generally grass, sagebrush, and other vegetation.

Pronghorns mate each fall in the dry, open lands of western North America. Bucks gather harems of females and protect them jealously—sometimes battling rivals in spectacular and dangerous fights. In the spring, females give birth to one or two young, which can outrun a human after just a few days.

Did you know?The pronghorn is the second fastest land mammal in the world, after the cheetah. It can attain speeds of over 53 miles (86 kilometers) per hour.

For more information please visit here….

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Linking up with friends at:

Nature Notes

Rurality Blog Hop #66

Tree Swallows…

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Cool Facts

  • Migrating and wintering Tree Swallows can form enormous flocks numbering in the hundreds of thousands. They gather about an hour before sunset and form a dense cloud above a roost site (such as a cattail marsh or grove of small trees), swirling around like a living tornado. With each pass, more birds drop down until they are all settled on the roost.
  • Tree Swallows winter farther north than any other American swallows and return to their nesting grounds long before other swallows come back. They can eat plant foods as well as their normal insect prey, which helps them survive the cold snaps and wintry weather of early spring.
  • The Tree Swallow—which is most often seen in open, treeless areas—gets its name from its habit of nesting in tree cavities. They also take readily to nest boxes.
  • Tree Swallows have helped researchers make major advances in several branches of ecology, and they are among the best-studied bird species in North America. Still, we know little about their lives during migration and winter.
  • The oldest Tree Swallow on record was at least 12 years, 1 month old when it was captured and released by an Ontario bird bander in 1998
  • Please visit here to learn more…

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Linking up with friends at:

Wild Bird Wednesday, The BIRD D’pot

Moss Campion and Shooting Stars…

 

Pink Moss Campion with barbed wire running through it on the side of the road …

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Moss Campion is part of the pinks family. It is well adapted to growing in the lower, and sometimes higher Alpine regions. Moss Campion only grows about 5-15 cm tall, hugging the ground for warmth. Its leaves are very small, not exposing too much of the plant to wind and freezing temperatures found in the Alpine biomes. Its mounded cushion shape protects it from the cold, drying winds.

It looks like a soft, green cushion, sprinkled with small pink flowers. It grows in the sandy, rocky soil of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and can also be found growing in the Alps of Switzerland.

For more info please visit here….

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Also some Shooting Stars…
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Linking up with:

Macro Monday

Shine the Divine