Friday, November 9, 2012

Bordered patch?

Yesterday, I thought I'd spotted what appeared to be a crimson patch. It looked very different from the other bordered patches (see below). Right now, we're hosting a LOT of bordered patches (Chlosyne lacinia) on the Copper Canyon daisy, which has begun to bloom profusely. I ran a photo of my find by the devoted folks at Bugguide.net, asking if it might be a crimson patch. 

This beautiful bordered patch ranges more in Mexico and Central America (common bordered patch in background). Somehow, it found its way to our Wildscape.
David F. commented back and said no, I had a bordered patch. However, "this color form is more often seen in southern Mexico and Central America than in the U.S.," he wrote.

Well, how cool is that?

5 comments:

Cordelia said...

Is this a sign that our weather pattern here is warming up?

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers said...

Hmmm, could be. Southerns are definitely coming northward more these days.

CWPickens said...

Very pretty! It does make for tricky identifications, when they don't look quite like the reference photos.

Kathleen Scott said...

Sheryl, I've enjoyed your wildlife articles for years.

Thanks for your comment on Rufous Hummingbirds at Hill Country Mysteries. We had a rufous overwinter last season, arrived the last week in Sept and left mid-March, just outside of New Braunfels. I'm wondering if we'll get a repeat this year because two subadult males arrived last week.

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers said...

Hey, thank you, Kathleen. You're kind! And lucky you to have winter hummers. Hope we get some if not this year, maybe next!

Post a Comment