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California desert wildflowers have been getting quite a bit of publicity, and not just locally. Our very high rainfall has caused the desert to burst into bloom. Spring break provided the excellent opportunity to slip out of the offices of What’s That Bug? which is currently down due to heavy traffic. Paco the gardener and I headed out to Joshua Tree National Park for an overnight camping trip and photo safari. I shot with a Hasselblad, but luckily Paco also had a digital camera with a macro lens when I spotted this little beauty along with five friends calmly resting on a single plant early in the morning in Queen Valley. The night had been quite cold and the butterflies still had not become active. They posed for several hours. A trip to the gift shop at the national park entrance produced a wonderful book which we quickly added to our library. Butterflies through Binoculars The West by Jeffrey Glassberg is an excellent Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America. I knew this beauty was a Pieridid, but wasn’t sure of the species. Jeffrey Glassberg knows. There are excellent photos of the Desert Pearly Marble, Euchloe hyantis lotta as well as subspecies California Pearly Marble, Euchloe hyantis hyantis. The habitat is “open arid regions including desert, juniper-pinyon pine and sagebrush.” It feeds on crucibles.

Related Posts

1. Giant Desert Centipede (October 3, 2006)
2. Pearly Wood Nymph (February 27, 2008)
3. Desert Spider Beetle (February 8, 2007)
4. Large Marble Update (April 26, 2008)
5. Northern Pearly-Eye (August 5, 2008)