Gaillardia World: Waves of Butterflies

Is anything more beautiful than Gaillardia pulchella, aka Blanket Flower?  Yes!   Even more beautiful than Gaillardia alone is the combination of this flower and the butterflies that come to it.   

In 2022, butterflies came in waves.

June brought Pearl Crescents, American Ladies, and Wood Nymphs:

In order of appearance:  Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos),

American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), 

and Common Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pegala)

 

July brought Silvery Checkerspots:

Silvery Checkerspots (Closyne nycteis)

July also brought Gorgone Checkerspots:

Gorgone Checkerspots (Chlosyne gorgone), on Gaillardia,

July 16-22, 2022.

Late July brought Sachems.  (The males have relatively plain undersides, with a rectangular black patch on the upperside.  The females have pale white spots that form a "V" on the underside, with bright white patches on the upperside.)  The end of the video below shows a male courting a female.  We don't see her say yes, but she doesn't say no, either!

Sachems (Atalopedes campestris) on Gaillardia, July 22-29, 2022.

July also brought a Sulphur, tenaciously feeding, despite the wind:

Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) on Gaillardia, July 11, 2022

August  brought a Sootywing, resting on a Gaillardia seedhead...

Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) Aug. 1, 2022

...while a Common Checkered Skipper came to drink:

Common Checkered Skipper (Pygus communisi) August 19, 2022

August brought Pearl Crescents back to Gaillardia:

Pearl Crescents (Phyciodies pharos), August 18, 2022

September brought even more Sachems:

Sachems (Atalopedes campestris) on Gaillardia pulchella, 

Sept. 11, 2022

In October, Sachems continued as the most common butterflies on Gaillardia:

Sachems (Atalopedes campestris) on Gaillardia pulchella,

October 6-19, 2022

The Sachems graced the Gaillardia as long as it kept blooming, which it did until the first hard freeze.    

What's ahead for the butterflies that visited Gaillardia, from June to October?   

Pearl Crescent:  The adults in June and the adults in August were from separate broods--two of the three broods that appear during the summer.  The last adults from the third brood will die at the end of summer, but their larvae will overwinter on plants in the sunflower family.  Those caterpillars will metamorphose into the first adults in the first brood next year. 

American Lady:  The adults that appeared in June may be part of either the first or second of two broods.   The adults may overwinter, and some cocoons may overwinter, on plants in the sunflower family, especially those in the Everlasting tribe.  If they do overwinter, they will be supplemented next year by immigrants from further south.

Wood Nymph:  The adults that appeared in June will fly throughout the summer and into October.   They will die at the advent of cold weather but their larvae will live on, on grasses, especially Purple Top.  The caterpillars will metamorphose and eclose next June.

Silvery Checkerspots:  The adults that appeared in July were probably part of the second of three broods.   The adults will mate and lay eggs on plants in the sunflower family, especially Black-eyed Susans, and the final brood will die when winter comes.  Their larvae will live on throughout the winter, and begin to feed voraciously next spring--to emerge as adults in May.

Gorgone Checkerspots:  The ones who appeared in July were probably part of the second of three broods in Kansas.  The adults from the third brood will die at the end of October, but their larvae will overwinter on plants in the sunflower family.  They will metamorphose early next  year, as the first-brood adults will start flying by the middle of April.  

Sachems:  The Sachems that visited Gaillardia in July and became ever more numerous in late summer and fall will not overwinter in Kansas in any form.   Instead, their relatives will start flying in the South and immigrate to Kansas next year.  Here they will have many broods, with their caterpillars utilizing grasses as food plants, and new adults becoming numerous once more by the end of the growing season.

Clouded Sulphur:  The adults will die at the end of summer but their larvae will overwinter on plants in the legume family, to emerge next year, the first of a succession of many broods that will fly next summer.  

Common Sootywing:  The Sootywing who appeared in August may be part of either the second or third brood that fly in Kansas.   The last adults will die at the season's end, but the larvae will overwinter on their food plants (weedy plants, including pigweed, ragweed, and goosefoot).  The caterpillars will metamorphose into first-brood adults as early as mid-April.  

Common Checkered Skipper:  The Common Checkered Skipper that appeared in August may be part of either the second or the third brood that flies in Kansas.  The adults die at season's end, but their larvae will overwinter on plants in the mallow family, and metamorphose into first-brood adults as early as next March.