High Altitude Respite

 

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) on Giant Purple
Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia).
Blue Ride Parkway, North Carolina.

This summer cooked the Southeastern Piedmont.  Long stretches of hot, dry weather shriveled the plants and reduced flower production.  All the animals that depend on plants have suffered too.  But a few hours west there was a high-altitude oasis where it felt like spring and meadows were thronged with insects.  We had a respite from the heat in the Appalachian Mountains with a group of friends. 

 

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 
Photo courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

The highest point on the Blueridge Parkway, North Carolina. 
Photo courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a two-lane motor road that runs 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Cherokee, North Carolina near the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The Parkway is part of the National Park System and runs near the summit the Blue Ridge.  In North Carolina some sections of the road are over 5000 feet.  The weather there is much cooler and is more akin to Northern Maine. Even in late summer wildflowers were blooming.  

Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Bumblebee (Bombus sp.) on Cutleaf Coneflower. 
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.

Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on Cutleaf Coneflower.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

The Parkway has many small fields with blooming wildflowers.  Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia lacinata) with its yellow ray and disk flowers were abundant.  Bubblebees (Bombus sp.) and Great Spangled Fritillaries (Speyeria cybele) popped from one plant to plant sipping nectar and moving pollen. 

Pipevine Swallowtail on Giant Purple Hyssop.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Vast flocks of Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor) were feeding on flowers including Giant Purple Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia) with its spikes of purple blooms.  This stunning butterfly has black wings with iridescent blue patches.  These butterflies started life as a larva on Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla) a forest vine.  The leaves of Dutchman’s Pipe contain a highly toxic compound, aristolochic acid, and the larvae of the Pipevine Swallowtail store it in their bodies.  When they transform into butterflies they retain the poison and are protected from predators.  The blue on their wings advertises their toxicity to birds in the neighborhood. 

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
on Mountain Mint (Pycanthemum muticum).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Mountain Mint (Pycanthemun muticum) flowers were visited by stunning Silver-spotted Skippers (Epargyreus clarus) that probed flowers with their long proboscises.  A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) rested on a boulder opening and closing its wings in the sunlight.  

Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Yellow Jewelweed (Impatiens pallida).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Two species of Jewelweed, both the orange and yellow (Impatiens capensis and Impatiens pallida) were flowering along the Parkway.  These flowers, with their long spurs extending from the back, are favorites of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) fueling up for migration. 

Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) leaves.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Rattlesnake Plantain plant with flowers.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

A small native orchid, Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) was flowering in the woods.  This beautiful little plant has green leaves with white veins and delicate white flowers.  

False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum) fruits.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Nodding Mandrain (Prosartes maculata) fruits. 
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Virginia Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Both False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemmu m racemosum) and Nodding Mandarin (Prosartes maculata) were in fruit.  These plants sport bright red fruits bringing color to the forest understory.  Virginia Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) with its bright blue flowers was blooming at the edge of the woods.  

Even in the river valleys below the crest of the Blue Ridge temperatures were more moderate than in the flatlands  Plants were blooming and insects buzzing.  

Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) flowers.
Dupont State Recreational Forest, North Carolina. 

Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) female.
Dupont State Recreational Forest, North Carolina. 

European Hornet (Vespa crabro).
Dupont State Recreational Forest, North Carolina.  

Cranefly Orchids (Tipularia discolor) were in flower.  A damselfly, the Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), was hunting from a perch above a river.  This striking black insect with an iridescent blue body glittered in the sun.  It was a female with the characteristic white spots on the wing tips.  A swarm of invasive European Hornets (Vespa crabo) were chewting bark from the trunk of a streamside tree.  The hornets will expand their paper nest with the macerated bark.  European Hornets were introduced to the New World in the mid-19^th century and are now found across much of Eastern North America.  Females of this hornet can inflict a painful sting.

Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia).
Looking Glass Falls, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina. 

Looking Glass Falls.
Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina.  

A female Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope auranita) built her sun-spangled web in the spray of a waterfall.  After a break in the mountains with the spring-like flowers, insects and waterfalls, it was back to the baking Piedmont Plain with thoughts of autumn coming on.  Thanks to our friends Steve and Malia Kline and Janet Palmer for sharing our adventures.