wedding tree ~ 09/30/06 ~ Garland Ranch

wedding tree
Fagaceae

It was horrifying for me to discover 6 months after our wedding that this branch broke, the same one which we stood under while exchanging our marriage vows. My husband, ever the optimist, simply stated, "At least we took advantage of a beautiful thing while it lasted."

variable checkerspot ~ 05/27/06 ~ Garland Ranch

variable checkerspot
Euphydryas chalcedona

I am always amazed at how variable these checkerspots really are!

Gabb's checkerspot ~ 05/27/06 ~ Garland Ranch

Gabb's checkerspot
Chlosyne gabbii

I'm fairly sure about this ID, even though I have never heard of Gabb's until I looked it up. If anyone has any additional thoughts, please let me know!

ps 03/07/10 - Art Shapiro confirmed my ID.

acmon blue
Plebejus acmon

ps 03/10/10 - I very much want to call this a square-spotted blue (Euphilotes battoides) simply to have a new species on my blog. However, given the length of the orange band all the way to the HW apex and lack of FW checked fringes, I'll concede it must be an acmon female.

pss 07/01/11 - I updated the embedded links. Now that I look at the picture again, it's obvious this individual does not have the bold squarish spots on the underside typical of Euphilotes.