Edith’s Checkerspots are one of the butterflies I encounter often in the Pacific Northwest. They seem to be abundant, with the exception of the ssp. taylori, which is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Sparks Lake, Deschutes County, Oregon
44.02548, -121.728 Meadow at the north end of Sparks Lake, along Sandy Creek. The Edith’s Checkerspots were so abundant at this location. I probably saw 50+. And I took so many photos. I am posting a lot of photos from this one site, just to compare how much they can vary, even in one spot, let alone from area to area. But I’m not going to caption them all.
July 9, 2023
Edith’s Checkerspot seems to just have so much variation (see notes below). All of the Edith’s at this location are E. editha lawrencei.
I know that there is a lot of variation in E. editha. But I was not sure about what ssp. were in this location, or if my id was correct. According to Caitlin C. LaBar, these are all E. editha lawrencei. Thank you Caitlin for the verification. She wrote:
“E. e. lawrencei occurs from that area and out towards the SE, like down around La Pine, and is characterized by the heavy red markings and the white is a little more cream like colon. E. e. edithana is higher in the Cascades and drops over towards the SW, it has less red and brighter white spots, more similar to E. e. taylori.”
I thought that info might be helpful in the future and for others that struggle like I do with identifying checkerspots in the PNW.
See E. editha in Montana.
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