By Melanie Weiss

Last year, 2024, in late June I observed Snowberry Checkerspots behaving in a way I had not seen before. It was late afternoon, around 5:30. Liz Kuehn and I were in a beautiful meadow at around 4,800 ft. Several species of butterflies were flying, and as clouds moved in and the temperature cooled, there was a definite chill in the air. We observed individual butterflies drop to the ground and spread their wings to absorb the ground’s warmth as the sun moved in and out of the clouds. Snowberry Checkerspot, Euphydryas colon, was one of the species ground basking and they were abundant in this area. Surprisingly, we also noticed many Snowberry Checkerspots flying into several fir trees, landing on the branches, flying in and out of the tree, chasing each other up and around the tree. Some species of butterflies and moths are known to roost together at night. Although communal roosting has not been observed for this species, could the Checkerspot’s behavior suggest that the tree was to be a night time roosting location? Weighing whether to wait and observe their behavior as darkness fell, or head home after being out all day in the sun, heading home won out. This year I learned that the Sagebrush Checkerspot, Chlosyne acastus, had been seen performing similar behavior in the Kennewick area. Lisa Hill observed a large gathering of this species circling and landing in a pine tree in the first week of May, also late in the day. I’m wondering if anyone else has observed similar behavior. Let’s keep an eye on Checkerspots this season!

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