Observation date: July 12, 2024
Submitted by: daridoll
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes: SEVERAL of these butterflies were visiting the thistle flowers on my nature hike on Old Ranch Road Trail near Park City, Utah. The terrain was a dry foothill; however, on the other side of the road (to the west), were well established estates with plenty of water resources. The first one that caught my attention was flying through the air. At first, I thought it was a white butterfly, because the underside is lighter. In the sunlight, the underside has an iridescent sheen to it. I followed it with my eyes until it landed on the thistle plant. To my astonishment, it wasn't a white butterfly at all. Although I saw a lot of these butterflies, their foresides ranged in color from yellow to light brown to orange. Definitely not a monarch, because the undersides of all of these have distinct white spots. They all have black veins on the foresides to varying degrees. Some are vibrant, and others are more mottled. Some of them were trying to mate. Others were relishing in the nectar of the thistle flowers. This was the only flower these butterflies were visiting. Other foliage in the area were docks, antelope bitterbrush, sage brush, yarrow, grasses, and another bush I can't identify. July is very dry here, and the terrain was extremely dry. This is a natural environment, so there are no sprinklers. What nature provides is what there is. Temperature was 91F with no humidity. Here is a link to several photos of these: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kHwarSpTEdVUdM8PL_ETLjEioI-jqne1rDCngt43pps/edit?usp=sharing
The system won't accept any of my photos over 8 MB, and there was only one that worked.
Status: Resident
Verified by: James Steen
Verified date: July 15, 2024
Coordinator notes: Thanks so much for the detailed locality and observation. Always feel free to even include a shot of the habitat of the observation. I've done this on several occasions when I submit a species photo. Also thank you for the link to more pics which I did view in detail. This butterfly and others around you photographed that day are Speyeria callippe, subspecies S. callippe harmonia. The green shading was the first give away it was S. callippe. Speyeria cybele, S. cybele letona in your area, are larger and undersides of both forewing and hindwing are dark toward thorax. Please feel free to submit more from Utah, submissions from UT are rare. Thanks, JAMES STEEN
