Marking Anasazi Skippers (Ochlodes yuma anasazi) at Wild Rivers

Hello again from New Mexico! The best part of the last four weeks was the time my coworker, and I spent at Wild Rivers National Monument marking and resighting Anasazi Skippers. I’ve never done this before, so the process was exciting.

The Anasazi Skipper is a subspecies of Yuma Skipper (Ochlodes yuma) that lives in the Rio Grande Gorge. Female Anasazi Skipper lay their eggs on the leaves of the common reed (Phragmites australis). Once the caterpillar’s hatch, they rely on the leaves of as a food source. The caterpillar creates a cocoon by chewing a section of one of the common reed leaves until it dangles then adheres the leaf sides together with silk.

Wild Rivers is housed within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The runoff from the roads enables a large population of nectar rich Asclepias subverticillata (Horsetail Milkweed) to thrive. The study wanted to see if a nectar rich source away from the common reed in the gorge lured skippers out of the gorge and if the butterflies returned to the common reed patches in the gorge.

Wild Rivers scenic overlook at La Junta campground.

The process of marking went as follows..once a butterfly was netted, the butterfly is carefully placed into a jar. The jar sat on ice for roughly 10 minutes. The cooling process mimics the cool temperatures of nightfall or early morning. Butterflies become lethargic under such conditions and are easier to mark. The butterflies fly off after sitting in the sun for a few minutes.

Butterflies are placed in a cooler for about 10 minutes. The cooling process doesn’t harm the butterflies and allows volunteers to mark the butterflies without damaging them.

Patterns were painted on the butterflies indicating a unique number for each individual caught. The marking of the butterflies had to be done quickly and in the shade.

CLM intern marking a skipper

Among other things, we indicated on the data sheet whether the skipper caught was a male or female. Below is an image of a female. The males have black dashes on the wings.

Female Anasazi Skipper after being marked.

The color indicates the location that the butterfly was captured and the marks on the other side of the butterfly (not seen) mark the individual.

The second day we were at Wild Rivers, we hiked down to the reed patches within the gorge in hopes of sighting a marked skipper. We saw some interesting things along the trail.