Natural History Photographs


Montana, USA
Targhee Pass
19 & 22 August 2017

After three days full of geysers, hot springs and impressive landscapes, everyone but me wanted to stay home for a day. So I let myself be dropped of at Targhee Pass, at the border of Idaho and Montana. Here I explored a woodland trail for plants such as the Rattlesnake plantain orchid; but the continuous bombardment of images about what to do in case of a bear attack made me slightly nervous in the silent forest. Hence after a while I looked for more open space where I found a variety of butterflies and flies. At the end of the 19th I found a bleeding Aspen tree, a true butterfly magnet. When I came back on the 22nd, the tree had lost nothing about its attractiveness, with three mourning cloaks, various species of comma butterflies and the California tortoiseshell all competing for access to the fermenting juices.

Pterospora andromedea


Goodyera oblongifolia


Agoseris aurantiaca Madia glomerata


Libellula saturata


Limenitis weidemeyerii


Sympetrum corruptum


Aeshna palmata


Poecilanthrax hyalinipennis


Bombus rufocinctus ♂ Laphria spec.


Pontia occidentalis


Lycaena heteronea ♀ Argynnis spec. Polygonia faunus


Lycaena helloides megaloceras  ♀ &  ♂


Bombus rufocinctus Laphria index


Laphria janus


Gnophaela vermiculata


Geranium viscosissimum


Populus tremuloides  with galls






Butterflies on bleeding Aspen


Vanessa atalanta
Nymphalis antiopa






Nymphalis californica


Polygonia spp. Polygonia progne


Polygonia faunus


Polygonia satyrus