Mike Toliver
@nmbutterfly
Butterflies of New Mexico (really, just butterflies), USMC Vietnam veteran, natural history, movies, music, family
An April visit to Moraine View - the spring ephemeral season is compacted!
USMC, 1968 - 1969, RVN. Asshole-in-chief thinks it's "good" that Robert Mueller is dead ... P.S. - not my meme but I fully endorse the sentiments.
The small fritillaries - genus Boloria - are arctic and arctic-alpine butterflies from the northern hemispere. We have at least 3 species in the mountains of northern New Mexico. I showed one earlier, here's another - the Silver-bordered Fritillary
Another butterfly from the Jicarilla Trust lands in northern New Mexico - Scudder's Sulphur; a critter that likes willow bogs in the southern Rockies
Time for a butterfly - This is the Arctic Fritillary, found in northern New Mexico last August, on the Jicarilla Apache Trust land. It's in the genus Boloria, a group favoring Arctic-Alpine habitats.
Moon-marked Skipper from Arizona this summer. Nice to remember warmer days.
One of my favorite rarities - the Elfoid (Microtia elvira), described in 2023. It used to be considered the Elf - Microtia elva - but DNA and morphology argued for a new species. This was taken before Elvira was described - it's from SE Arizona
Club Mosses have been around for over 400 my. They'll probably be here long after we're gone ...
It's mating season for White-tailed Deer. They're kind of stupid this time of year - watch the road so you can avoid them when they jump out in front of you!
This is why you're supposed to dispose of used fishing line properly ...
I took pictures of this squirrel in the Black Range, thinking it was Abert's Squirrel, but it didn't have the ear tufts I remember for that species. Turns out it's an Arizona Gray Squirrel, a much less common critter!
My favorite butterfly from my time in Viet Nam. No, I didn't take this photo in VN - it was from the butterfly pavilion at U. of FL.
Arachne Checkerspot from the Mogollon, NM. Can you guess why it's named Arachne?