Page 35 - Walks In The Black Range

The Convergent Lady Beetles have been gathering at this site for at least ten years (based on personal observations) and probably much longer. Such congregations are not unique to Sawyers Peak. In 1930, J. R. Douglass reported on such a mass on Mosca Peak (9,462 feet - SE of Albuquerque) stating that “...have been observed for a number of years to hibernate on the summit of Mosca Peak, New Mexico”. The University of Florida paper linked to above notes a similar assemblage on Alamo Peak in Otero County, New Mexico.
2. Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes (probably P. p. asterius). There were several butterfly and moth species at the summit of Sawyers Peak. (See following.)
3. West Coast Lady, Vanessa annabella. This species is found primarily in California, but its historical range extended throughout the western U.S., the very southern part of western Canada, and Mexico as far south as the Federal District.
4. Funereal Duskywing, Erynnis funeralis. This species is found throughout the southern half of the U.S. and southward into Mexico.
5. Forage Looper, Caenurgina erechtea. This moth is common in the U.S. and southern Canada. For you allergy people, it eats ragweed.
6. Blue Fungus Beetle, Gibbifer californicus. We have seen these beetles in a number of places in the Black Range, especially after the Silver Fire. They eat the fungus which grows on the dead trees.

Numbers 1 through 8 were all found at the summit of Sawyers Peak, all on June 30, 2019, except the Olive Warbler.
7. Olive Warbler, Peucedramus taeniatus, just below Sawyers Peak on June 13, 2010. In North America, this species is found in the sky islands of southern New Mexico and Arizona and in the Sierras of Mexico. It is found as far south as Nicaragua.