An afternoon at Grulla National Wildlife Refuge

Anisha and I decided to visit the Grulla National Wildlife Refuge this Saturday on 17 September, 2022. A 30 minute drive from the university. After much troubles, I, along with a very helpful friend, had finally managed to fix the overheating problem of my old car which I had bought in the university auction—bad idea. Anyway, I drove us (Anisha and I) to the wildlife refuge hoping to see some Eastern New Mexico species of butterflies which could be common this time of year. Such as Mestra amymone- Common Mestra and Pyrisitia lisa - Little Yellow. The day was on the windy side and the wildlife refuge was empty and dry. There was no one till far away save for some rattling grasshoppers flying everywhere. This special species of grasshoppers probably mimicked Danaus plexippus – Monarchs in flight. The refuge was managed by US Fish and Wildlife Service, we could see its board near the entrance but nothing apart form it. Inside, it was full of grasses and barely had any flowers. In places which had flowers, Brephidium exilis – Western Pygmy Blues ruled, the smallest butterfly in North America! There must have been more than 30 individuals.



Apart from the extremely common Brephidium, we saw some sulphurs which never stopped but I suppose they were Abaeis nicippe - Sleepy Orange and Colias philodice - Clouded Sulphur. At one point, we saw a Pyrgus which we thought was new but was the same old Pyrgus communis/albescens – Common/White Checkered Skipper. Anisha and I are currently working on the differences between these two taxa to see if they are actually two distinct species. A Strymon melinus- Gray Hairstreak showed up at one point and started sipping from a Helianthus bud idly.




These fascinating Bee Flies (Bombyliidae) which are a type of true flies were more abundant than anything in the refuge.



Before long, we were disappointed and were heading back to the car. The water was too hot to quench our thirst and I realized we have to buy an ice chest to keep the water cool in the car. On the way back, Anisha saw a roadie, Amblyscirtes, which she thought was A. aenus – Bronze Roadside-Skipper but was the common A. eos - Dotted Roadside-Skipper. A Bronze Roadside Skipper wouldn’t be a lifer either because we had seen it in early September when we had visited our dearest friends Joe and Rebecca in Albuquerque. Heading to the car, I think I finally saw a Common Mestra flying in the air but it never stopped. As I drove the car out, there were some sulfurs flying around. Anisha asked me to stop the car and as soon as I did, she went outside. She comes running back to grab her camera but a Sleepy Orange and a Nathalis iole - Dainty Sulphur have fooled her! We drive the car, which is thankfully not overheating, back to Portales.