{"id":106046,"date":"2022-09-09T04:37:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T10:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=106046"},"modified":"2022-09-09T04:59:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T10:59:28","slug":"west-desert-butterfly-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/09\/west-desert-butterfly-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"West Desert Butterfly Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CamillusCamillus Crescent butterfly on rabbitbrush \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week I did some West Desert wandering and while I was there I took some butterfly photos that clumps of blooming rabbitbrush had attracted. One of the butterfly species that caught my eyes were small, brightly patterned crescent butterflies.<\/p>\n

\"WestWest Desert Camillus Crescent \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

At first I thought this was a Field Crescent but after keying it out I believe this is a Camillus Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella camillus<\/em>). This butterfly stuck around on the tops of blooming rabbitbrush for a bit.<\/p>\n

\"HeadHead on Mormon Fritillary \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When a larger Mormon Fritillary (Speyeria mormonia<\/em>) butterfly caught my eyes I focused on it as it nectared on the bright yellow flowers of the rabbitbrush.<\/p>\n

\"MormonMormon Fritillary butterfly on rabbitbrush \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I took images of the Mormon Fritillary in many different poses and from different angles.\u00a0 The rabbitbrush made for a bright, colorful setting for this highly patterned butterfly.<\/p>\n

\"WestWest Desert Mormon Fritillary butterfly \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had fun taking these butterfly photos out in the West Desert but the day was going have a record breaking high temp so I didn’t linger with them as long as I would have liked.<\/p>\n

Birds were much harder to find and those that I did find were either too far away or weren’t in a location that allowed me to photograph them. Happily I still found other things with wings to focus on.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week I did some West Desert wandering and while I was there I took some butterfly photos that clumps of blooming rabbitbrush had attracted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13276,13285,358,26,1314],"tags":[13286,6041,6042,13288,13278,3940,13290,13289,4098,12033,6634,5023,13287,13277,4289,10452,2315,4307,5063],"class_list":["post-106046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camillus-crescent-butterflies","category-mormon-fritillary-butterflies","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-argynnis-mormonia","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-camillus-crescent","tag-camillus-crescent-butterfly","tag-canyon","tag-cresent","tag-cresents","tag-desert","tag-fritillaries","tag-fritillary","tag-head-on","tag-mormon-fritillary","tag-phyciodes-pulchella-camillus","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-summer-3","tag-wildflowers","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mormon-Fritillary-on-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-1530.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-rAq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128836,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/21\/butterfly-photos-from-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":106046,"position":0},"title":"Butterfly 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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I don't normally have to ask for identification assistance but I need it for this other thing with wings.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fritillary butterfly on a Musk Thistle, Little Emigration Canyon, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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