Insects – Butterflies & Dragonflies & Damselflies

Pamir Wildlife

The Pamir Mountains form the western edge of the Tibetan Plateau. A pamir is a high-altitude valley or plateau surrounded by mountains. Many valleys in this range exceed 14,000 feet in altitude, and peaks reach well above 20,000 feet, making these some of the highest mountains on the Euroasian continent. The area contains the major center of glaciation in this part of the world, and all of the nearby mountain ranges are still being forced upwards by movement of the Indian-Australian tectonic plate pushing northward under the continent.

^{Pamir Knot, Hindu Kush satellite image by Jeff Schmaltz, NASA}

^{Pamir Mountains by Amanov Dmitry, Jun 2014}

Wildlife in the Pamir region is well-adapted for high altitudes, long, cold winters, and short growing seasons. Mountain people use the land for grazing large herds of domesticated sheep and yaks, but grazing space must also be shared with wild sheep, wild yaks, dozens of bird species, over 700,000 insect species, and many large predators. Let’s look at a few of the more notable species.

^{Himalayan vulture, Gyps himalayensis, on Rupin Pass trail by SahanaM, Oct 2018}

^{Himalayan vulture, Gyps himalayensis, by OK-Photography, Getty Images}

The Himalayan vulture, Gyps himalayensis, inhabits the pamirs up to 18,000 feet. These birds easily soar on warm thermal updrafts, but are not capable of long distance flight. They are often found basking in the sun on high, rocky perches. Traveling in large flocks, they follow grazing herds, keeping watch for dead animals. They can be aggressive to most other predators at a kill site, but give way to snow leopards, wolves, and cinereous vultures. The biggest threat to current populations is from drug overdoses of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug that has been heavily used to treat injury in domesticated herds.

^{Herd of Marco Polo sheep in the Tien Shan mountains, by okyela, Getty Images}

^{Marco Polo sheep, taken at Berlin Zoo by Cloudtail, Aug 2018}

The Marco Polo sheep, Ovis ammon polii, is the largest sheep in the world, with large, spiral horns reaching six feet in length, with spans up to five feet across. They feed in the early morning and spend the remainder of the day basking quietly in sunny grassland. Their feet and hooves provide sure footing among sharp ridges and loose scree, and they spend nights sleeping among large boulders for protection. As the climate has warmed, there has been a loss of snowpack, resulting in less available fresh water for drinking and growing thick grasslands. These factors are driving the sheep to lower altitudes where they are more susceptible to predators including gray wolves, red fox, and brown bear.

^{Snow leopard, Panthera uncia, by Irbis1983}

^{Snow leopard, Panthera uncia, by Bernard Landgraf, Jan 2005}

Snow leopards, Panthera uncia, have seen a steady decline with a current population of fewer than 10,000. Their thick fur, gray/white with black rosettes, provides great warmth in colder altitudes, but is prized by poachers, who constitute their main threat. They are solitary animals, active for several brief periods daily, and dependent on healthy populations of ibex and sheep to eat. Powerful legs and furred paws enable them to pursue prey, in any weather, across rocky mountain terrain. After making a kill, they move the carcass to a protected area to eat. At one time, these predators were hardly ever seen, but overgrazing has caused humans to move domesticated animals into areas where snow leopards normally hunt, providing more opportunities for these predators to be killed by protective herdsmen.

^{Wild yak, Bos mutus, by Adarsh Thakuri, Jun 2008}

^{Wild yak, Bos mutus, by the Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica}

Wild yak, Bos mutus, can live in extreme conditions at altitudes up to 20,000 feet. They are large animals standing 6′ tall, weighing 1500 pounds, with black horns spanning six feet. Black, long, fine hair hangs all the way down to their feet, providing warmth for the body and legs. Yaks are very social, forming large herds of several hundred animals. They graze in two groups, with the females typically found about 300′ higher in altitude than the males. Females with young often keep to high, steep slopes where predators, including wolves and bears, are less prone to roam. Wild yaks readily hybridized with domesticated species, resulting in a natural spread of the gene pool.

^{Apollo swallowtail butterfly, Parnassius apollo, by Hectonichus, 2007}

^{Clouded Apollo swallowtail butterfly, Parnassius apollo, by Zeynel Cebeci, Adana Turkey, May 2016}

Butterflies are another common inhabitant of high-altitude mountain regions, particularly from the genus Parnassius, known as the snow Apollo swallowtail family. They are color adapted with dark bodies and wing bases that readily absorb heat from the sun providing a source of quick energy. Their normal ranges are found above 14,000 feet, and they are active for only 2-3 months annually, during the short summer season. Dozens of species have been identified with many having very small populations, numbering only a few hundred individuals. Poaching for collectors remains their main threat.

At the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum, we have many of these and other species on display in our mountain region diorama. Consider a visit to learn more about the wildlife of high-mountain plateaus worldwide.

^{High-altitude species from around the world on display at the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum include: Marco Polo argali sheep, Alaskan brown bear, bighorn sheep varieties, mountain goat.}

Insects Over Winter

It is starting to get chilly in the Midwest as we head toward winter. Insects also recognize the shorter daylight hours and dropping temperatures. They use two main strategies to cope with winters: freeze avoidance and freeze tolerance. Avoidance may require travel or a dry place to stay warm. Tolerant insects can stay here and control their body’s response to freezing temperatures. Staying in place has several advantages including being able to emerge early in spring, allowing those insects to feed before predators are out.

^{Clockwise from upper left: Monarch butterflies on migration by Dopeyden, Getty Images; Cecropia moth cocoon by Sylvie Bouchard, Getty Images; Milkweed bugs by Rick Wood, Rick Wood’s Images; Four-lined plant bug, Poecilocapsus lineatus, by Heather Broccard-Bell, Getty Images Signature; Common pill-bug by Ines Carrara, Getty Images}

Those insect groups that opt for traveling to warmer climates often make a one-way trip. Monarchs are one of the best known insect migrators. Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains leave in early fall to arrive at overwintering sites in the mountains of Mexico. Their offspring return to the southern U.S. in spring to breed, and this second generation returns to the East and Midwest over the following summer. Monarchs west of the Rockies overwinter in Baja, California, and many of the same individuals that fly south do return, but their trip is considerably shorter allowing time for breeding during summer months in the northwest U.S.

^{Honeybees in hive by OK-Photography, Getty Images}

Many different species of insects can control or stop ice formation in their bodies. Honeybees cluster together and shiver, generating enough body heat to keep the air above freezing in their hive. Other insects get rid of all the food and water in their bodies, becoming dehydrated and unable to freeze. Some species can control where ice crystals may form in their bodies, and prevent their formation inside cells that would cause harm to the insect. Insect species that retain some water use cryoprotectants, chemicals resulting from large amounts of sugar. One such chemical is glycerol, which lowers the freezing temperature of water and other liquids.

^{Dragonfly larva with fish by Mauribo, Getty Images Signature}

^{Fast running stream by Mburnham, Getty Images}

Some insects remain active throughout the winter. Aquatic insects in immature stages can easily spend the winter in fast moving or deeper water that does not freeze. Some insects move inside warm and protected places like attics, sheds, and gaps in house walls. They also overwinter in tree cavities, under bark, inside dead plants, and in old burrows. Allowing vegetation with hollow stems to stand through the winter will provide many populations a safe place to spend the season.

The insect version of hibernation is called diapause, when growth and development is halted until longer daylight hours prevail. Late winter weather patterns with warm periods interspersed with cold periods endanger many species. Another change we have experienced in recent years involves warm temperatures lasting later in fall and starting earlier in spring. These changes interrupt the historical natural cycles, causing insects and other animals to abort hibernation and actively look for food or mates. Food plants do not produce enough to support animal populations, or another cold period returns, and species are not able to adapt, and often perish.

^{A garden in winter by Vermontalm, Getty Images; Snag and deadwood in winter by BayDavn0211, Getty Images; Spring garden and returning insects by Anthony Lerma, Getty Images}

Insects are a vital part of healthy habitats, providing pollination services and food to many species. We can help overwintering insects by leaving dead stalks standing until late spring to provide safe habitat. Leaves left piled up provide nutrients, insulation, and a place of shelter. Uncovered soil can also host ground nesters such as native bees. Snags and logs provide lots of cavities protected from the weather. Selecting some plant species that bloom early or late in the year will provide additional food at those times. Growing plants in clusters enables insects to find all they need in one place. With a little planning, everyone’s backyard can be an inviting habitat for insects year-round.

Butterflies

I recently visited The Butterfly Place in Westford, Massachusetts. It was quite nice to walk through and learn about the various species and habits of these beautiful and lively insects.

Clockwise from upper left, all pictures by Don Arnold: Brown Clipper butterfly, Parthenos sylvia; Giant swallowtail butterfly, Papilio thoas; Julia butterfly, Dryas julia; Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus; Malachite butterfly, Siproeta stelenes

Butterflies come in a variety of colors and patterns providing camouflage to hide from potential predators, identifying an individual to potential mates, and/or allowing an insect to absorb heat needed for daily activities. The colors we see can come from colored pigments that reflect light of a specific color or from structural pigments that take on different colors depending on the angle and intensity of reflected light. Structural pigments produce blues, whites, and colors with a metallic sheen. Genes control which pigments appear in each part of their wings to create the multitude of patterns. Variations in just a few genes may determine that a pattern in one species is slightly different in size, shape, or color in another species, or completely different in a third species.

Blue morpho, Morpho peleides, with brown & white pattern vs same colors and slightly different pattern on Owl butterfly, Caligo eurilochus

Butterflies eat by sipping sweet nectar from a variety of flowers. Their tongue, called a proboscis, forms a hollow straw that restricts them to a liquid diet. When not eating, you can observe the proboscis curled up in front of their mouth. When uncurled, it forms a long tube, able to reach deep into a flower to the base where nectar is stored. Watch the video below as this monarch inserts its proboscis into the base of the lantana as it feeds. Many butterflies enjoy juice from fruit, especially as it starts to decompose to a softer, more liquid-like stage.

Rice paper butterfly, Idea leuconoe, probing for nectar

Puddling is another feeding activity where butterflies take in liquid from puddles, wet gravel, sweat, and scat. These are all sources for minerals and salts needed for egg development. Females may find their own puddling sources, but males also engage in this activity, passing along a complex package of sperm, minerals, salt, and other nutrients to females during mating.

Clockwise from upper left, all pictures by Don Arnold: Piano key butterfly, Heliconius melpomene; Rice paper butterfly, Idea leuconoe; Sara butterfly, Heliconius sara; Scarlet swallowtail butterfly, Papilio rumanzovia; Zebra longwing butterfly, Heliconius Charitonia

Butterfly houses are interesting and fun places to observe many of these species and their behaviors up close. We can provide for our native butterflies by learning which plants host caterpillars and which plants provide nectar for adults. Select these plants for your garden, or place potted plants on an outside porch during warmer months. You can provide additional habitat for butterflies and other small insects by mowing less frequently, limiting the use of pesticides in your yard, and leaving small brush piles in your garden.

Butterflies & Flowers

Backyards, prairies, and wetlands are covered with blooms at this time of year. Many plants depend on butterflies to visit flowers, collect pollen, and move it to another flower to assist in plant reproduction. Plants offer nectar as a sweet treat to attract butterfly species, who come for a sip and carry away some of the plant’s pollen. As butterflies move from plant to plant, the pollen is picked up or deposited at each stop.

Black Swallowtail butterfly, Papilio polyxenes, on purple coneflower by DonArnold, 2022

Coneflowers & sunflowers by SueOBrien, 2014

Butterflies can only consume liquids, sipping through long, hollow tongues. They generally prefer a mixture of different nectar sources. Plants with many blooms or clustered flowers are preferred by all pollinators because less energy is needed going from one bloom to the next over very short distances.

Cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, on dandelion by John Haslam, May 2007

Dill, Anethum graceolens, by DonArnold 2022

Female butterflies search for specific plants to lay their eggs on. These are called host plants, and they provide food for the caterpillars. Each butterfly species requires specific host plants, and caterpillars will starve before eating any others.

Pale purple coneflower, Echinacea pallida, by DonArnold, 2022

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, on Buttonbush by DonArnold, 2020

During the heat of summer, there are lots of butterfly species to watch for. In northern Illinois, watch for monarch, black swallowtail, tiger swallowtail, white cabbage, red admiral, question mark, common buckeye, queen, and viceroy.

Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, by DonArnold, 2020

Shorts Aster,Symphyotrichum shortii, by SueOBrien, 2022

An easy way to observe many different species is to find areas rich with flowers providing nectar for the butterflies to feed on. Flowers in full bloom in our area include coneflowers, milkweeds, and sunflowers. Many of these plants provide seeds later in the year and throughout the winter for backyard birds.

Purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, by DonArnold, 2022

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, on Buttonbush by DonArnold, 2020

Watch for these flowers and their visitors, or consider planting a variety of flowers in your backyard to attract butterflies to your own habitats.

From upper to lower, left to right: Black swallowtail larva, Butterfly weed, Common buckeye butterfly, Common milkweed, Gray-headed coneflower, Queen Anne’s lace, Queen butterfly, Question mark butterfly, White clover, Spicebush swallowtail butterfly

All pictures by DonArnold, 2022 except: Question mark, Polygonia interrogationis, by Joe Finney, Jul 2013……… Common buckeye, Junonia coenia, by Jim Flannery, Jul 2015……… Queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus, by Roy Niswanger, Oct 2008

Butterfly Defense

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Buttonbush by DonArnold, 2020)

The life cycle of a butterfly includes four stages: the egg, the larva or caterpillar, the pupa or chrysalis, and the adult butterfly. Butterflies are eaten by many predators including birds, frogs, toads, ants, wasps, snakes, rodents, and mammals. They are vulnerable during any of the life cycle stages, but mostly as caterpillars or adults. Butterflies have developed several strategies to avoid predation including flight, camouflage, poison, and mimicry.

Four life cycle stages….egg laying, larva, pupa with adult emerging

Butterflies in flight are hard to follow. Large, flexible wings brought together in a clapping motion forcefully expels the air caught between the wings. Butterflies have control over which way the wings are aligned and the direction the air is expelled, pushing the butterfly where it wants to go. They use this ability to direct their flight in sudden changes of direction to avoid flying predators.

White cabbage butterfly flight by DonArnold, 2022

Camouflage is another highly effective defense strategy. Dark, round spots located farther back on the wings appear to an observer as eyes on a much larger face. Deimatic behavior involves sudden movement in combination with this type of pattern that causes potential predators to hesitate or stop from attacking.

Butterflies often have many splendid colors on the backs of their wings. The underside of the wings of many species are quite drab. In this way, the insect can sit still with wings folded together and draw very little attention to itself. Patterns and colors may also blend in with their surroundings making them appear as sticks, leaves, tree bark, or bird droppings.

Adonis Blue, Lysandra bellargus, by Tom Lee, May 2017

Male has bright colors while female can hide easier with duller colors

Bright colors, such as the oranges seen on Monarch butterflies, are a warning display to potential predators that this butterfly is bad tasting or toxic. Several plants, such as milkweed, have developed chemical toxins as a defense against herbivores eating them. Monarchs and other species can eat these plants, separate out the toxin, and store it for their own use. After becoming sick from eating one or more of these butterflies, predators learn to avoid them.

Notice closely related top and side colorations between Monarch (toxic) and Vicery (mimic)

Some species have developed bright colorful patterns that are quite similar to toxic species. The viceroy butterfly can be difficult to distinguish from a monarch, especially given only a quick look. Advertising their bright colors, viceroy butterflies fool predators into thinking they are also toxic. This is referred to as mimicry.

Butterflies are out in large numbers throughout the high summer, and you can observe many of these strategies in backyards, public areas, or open fields.

Backyard Activities

During the summer, I take a walk around the yard every day to observe the dozens of insects in the garden. It is fun to identify the species and watch the activities they are engaged in and learn how they keep my backyard healthy and looking so wonderful. Here are some of the insects I recently observed.

Cabbage White Butterfly, *Pieris rapae* by Ypna

Bees, wasps, and flies often visit ‘Walker’s Low’ catmint, Nepeta faassenii, a purplish, low-spreading perennial that flourishes in bright sunny locations. I most often see honey bees, Apis mellifera, and cabbage white butterflies, Pieris rapae, visit the catmint. Both insect species are taking nectar for food from the catmint. They don’t stay long in any one place, and flit constantly from one flower stalk to another, taking small sips and moving on.

Another hotspot for insects is in the vegetable garden. We have tomatoes, peppers, beets, carrots, parsley and dill, Anethum graveolens, an annual herb in the celery family used as a spice for flavoring food. Dill is also a host plant for the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio polyxenes. After the eggs hatch, the earlier stage caterpillar is black overall, with sharp orange spikes covering the body and a white “saddle” in the middle. As the caterpillar matures, it will lose the spikes, turn light green with yellow spots and whitish stripes, then enter the chrysalis stage and eventually emerge as an adult butterfly.

Another winged insect you may see, the Crane Fly, a member of the Tipulidae family, has a bright orange body and glowing green eyes. These insects can be found in moist woodlands or around bodies of water including a creek or pond running through your backyard. They lay their eggs in water or moist environments, and the larvae live in the top layers of soil. The larvae help to break down organic material in soils while the adults are an important food source for spiders, fish, small amphibians and birds. The typical lifespan for an adult is only 1-2 weeks.

Monarch, *Danaus plexippus* by Captain Tucker

Monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, are starting to appear daily. The monarch is the State Insect of Illinois, and it is found throughout the state in all habitats except deep forest. Up to three generations are born each summer, and the last generation in late summer / early autumn is migratory, flying to overwintering sites mainly in the high altitude regions of Mexico. Monarchs are dependent upon the many species of plants in the milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae. Eggs are laid on leaves and the caterpillars feed exclusively on species of milkweed. In recent years, we have seen a decline in the number of milkweed plants everywhere in Illinois, but you can help monarchs by planting them in your own yards and encouraging local business and government to do the same.

*Popilla japonica*, Japanese Beetle by DonArnold

The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, can be found on many plants in the garden. It is an invasive species that does very little harm in its native country, but is a pest of over 300 species of roses, grapes, linden trees and numerous other plants. The adults eat everything between the veins of the leaves, then the plants can no longer create their own food. Japanese beetles display iridescent copper-colored wings folded over their backs behind a dark green head. Several insects and parasitoids have been brought into the U.S. to control these beetles, with limited success. Traps have also been developed, but data suggests that these merely entice the beetle to a host plant.

Green bottle fly, *Lucilia sericata* by DonArnold

The common green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, also known as a blow fly, is a member of the fly family, Calliphoridae, comprising over 1200 known species. Members of this family occur worldwide in almost every location that includes humans. Adult flies feed on carbohydrate-rich nectar in the garden, as well as any decaying meat or garbage. Dumpsters and garbage containers accessible from outside may attract flies in huge numbers. Eggs are laid on carrion and larvae feed on the carrion. The time period from egg to adult can be between 2 and 4 weeks, and a female may lay 10-15 clutches of 200 eggs each in her lifetime. The best control for these insects is to keep refuse covered at all times.

Naiad

At this time of year, creeks, rivers, marshes and ponds are filling with water from melting snow and spring rains. Dragonflies and damselflies are two animal groups to watch for in these wetland areas.

You may not see many of them flying around your backyard or local ponds yet. The ones we love to watch flitting over the ponds and showing off their aerial skills are adults. Each summer, males & females will mate and lay eggs in submerged plant stems, mud-banks, damp logs or directly into the water. After two to six weeks, eggs will hatch into naiads (pronounced nay’-ed), sometimes called nymphs, and they will live in the ponds for several months to several years, depending on the species.

A naiad is a formidable predator. The abdomen contains a set of openings through which the naiad can propel water at jet force pushing it through the pond at incredible speeds. The lower jaw of this insect is about one-third the length of the entire body. When it is not eating, this jaw remains at rest under the head. But when hunting, the lower jaw can shoot out to stab its prey. All dragonflies are in the insect order Odanata, a Greek word meaning ‘tooth’. An excellent short video can be found at A Baby Dragonfly’s Mouth Will Give You Nightmares | Deep Look

Naiads can be placed into three groups: ones that crawl, ones that climb or ones that burrow. The crawlers have long legs, drab colors and move slowly along the bottom of ponds. Climbing naiads can be found on dense vegetation in quiet ponds. Burrowers can be found in muddy banks along faster flowing creeks and streams.

Try this activity to learn more: take a dip net or small container and scoop up some of the soft mud at the bottom of a pond. Pour that out into a shallow, light colored tray. Keep it shaded and wet, so any naiads are protected until you return them to the pond. With a little luck, you should be able to spot one or two of them. Can you identify their color? Can you find their lower jaw and see how it moves? Can you see the openings for water intake and jet propulsion along the back underside of the abdomen?

Come back in the early morning or late afternoon of a summer day, when temperatures start to soar, to see if you can spot a naiad climbing out of the water onto plant stems or leaves and molt one final time to reveal its wings and fully formed adult body.

Check out these links to learn more about common dragonflies in Illinois: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides/guide/380

http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/zoology/odonata/