Scout report from GRSF

[Rick Borchelt]

Ran into Barry Marts yesterday afternoon and we visited a number of the sectors for the annual count to check on road conditions and any early butterflies.  Moths of various kinds were abundant and often distracting but butterflies were scarce on the ground.  

I had one Olympia Marble before I ran into Barry, and we each had a couple of Mourning Cloaks and anglewings along the roads.  We had perhaps four azures, all above our heads and all dark blue, so likely Northern (of the new ssp valerii).  

We spent an hour or so on Hoop Pole stalking a Cow Path Tiger Beetle that evaded my two attempts to net it, but Barry got some nice pics.  We saw a probable elfin there that did not stop to present its credentials. 

The roads I'm sorry to say are in pretty poor shape, not having been graded yet for the season.  They usually do so before Easter but not sure it will happen this year.  Carroll downhill from the Overlook is really rough, and taped off past the sawmill.  Cliff Road from the ridge down to campsite 85 is challenging for a sedan; you really should have a high clearance vehicle.  The road is closed past the picnic site along the creek, probably because of a washout going up the cliff face toward High German Rd. Piclic is its usual rutted mess.

All in all, the season is right on schedule and we should see a good flight of Marbles on the 4th.  Visitors today may see more activity after Friday night's rain and yesterday's warmth; unlikely that it will be cold enough in the next two weeks to significantly delay butterfly emergence. 

Cow Path Tiger Beetle, C. purpurea, photographed by Barry.  One of the earliest tiger beetles out in MD.

Road closure on Cliff Road. 

Hepatica coming into bloom along Cliff Road.

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Rick Borchelt
College Park, MD
preferred personal email:  rborchelt |AT| gmail |DOT| com

http://leplog.wordpress.com

[Rick Borchelt]

Turns out the putative Cow Path Tiger Beetle was *much* more interesting: Maryland's second report of Common Claybank Tiger Beetle (the first was in 2019).  

Cow Path occurs in GRSF with some regularlity; look for it in short grass over shale.  We found the Claybank on -- a clay bank road shoulder, with extruding shale. 

ID characters include the fact that the middle figure on the elytra clearly touches the margin of the elytra in Claybank (which shows well in Barry's photo), but stops short of the elytra margin on Cow Path. Tiger beetle guru Alex Harman notes that this is the form 'transversa,' common in the South, with much reduced dorsal maculation.  Cow Path never has a spot at the shoulder; Claybank sometimes does but not usually in the transvera form. The green margin of the elytra is usually much more pronounced in Claybank, hence the old name for this taxon "green-margeined tiger beetle."

[Sam Droege]

All:

The 2019 Claybank record came from a trip I took to Will's Mountain.  I found a couple (Tiger collecting is very secondary to catching bees for me) along the transmission line running parallel to the ridge on the Hagerstown side of the mountain.  I would describe the soil as silty clay.  Lots of tiger activity that day.  Picked up a number with just my fingers.

Here is the record information for one of the specimens:

Discover Life -- USGS_DRO571732

Note that the site has collecting restrictions for Tiger Beetles (something I had forgotten and got in trouble over)....

sam

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[Rick Borchelt]

Thanks so much, Sam! I suspect it is regularly confused in Allegany Co with the more common C purpurea purpurea, as I was, and may be more common than thought. 

Rick Borchelt
College Park, MD
preferred personal email:  rborchelt |AT| gmail |DOT| com

http://leplog.wordpress.com

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