North American Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)

The deer mouse—named because the fur color pattern resembles that of a white-tailed deer—is an extremely common mammal in North America, including the U.S., Mexico and Canada. This little guy can live in so many environments that, whether it’s prairie land or alpine areas, there is no wonder there are so many of them. However, deer mice do not thrive in cold, harsh winters, like those in Grand Teton National Park. Weighing in at under an ounce and just about 3 inches long fully grown, deer mice burrows do not take up much room at all. Female mice have up to 11 pups, depending on how many previous litters there were, and they reach maturity at just 35-50 days old.

Deer mice are known to be busy and social members of the ecosystem. These tiny mammals are nocturnal and spend most of their nights climbing or swimming around to eat and gather food. Mice eat insects, fruit, flowers, seeds, and plants that they collect daily in quantities as big as half a liter. Because they are transporting seeds and caching them, mycorrhizal fungi spores depend on this process to survive. Mice also help out the top of the food chain by being food for birds, snakes, and many mammals. They are still a primary carrier of the fatal hantavirus, and humans are at risk of contracting it, so be careful if you see a nest or burrow—check out this website about hantavirus information below.

Written by Celia Karim
PC: J. Maughn on Flickr https://flic.kr/p/2hUG8Ld

Sources: http://animalia.bio/deer-mouse,
Hantavirus info: https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/hps.htm

American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)

The American red squirrel is the only native tree squirrel in Wyoming, and they are quite abundant in mountainous coniferous forests across the United States. Their favorite activity of caching and dispersing seeds and nuts eludes to the first part of their scientific name, which means ‘treasurer squirrel.’ Besides seeds, they also eat fruit, mushrooms, insects, young rabbits, birds, and mice. These guys have red-grey fur with white fur on their bellies and around their eyes. Adult female squirrels usually have about five pups in a litter during the spring and have been found to raise their young in areas where aspen trees are common. Fully grown squirrels are about a foot long and weigh 7 oz.

Red squirrels benefit their ecosystem in many ways. They are vital to the reproduction of many plant species because when they store and bury seeds, the seeds often end up eventually sprouting. Grizzly bears depend on squirrels because they find the squirrels’ larger winter foodbanks and eat the fatty, protein-rich whitebark or limber pine nuts. The red squirrel is a keystone prey species for many animals including bears, weasels, hawks, owls, wolves and coyotes. They make a good chase because they are fast, nimble climbers, and they also have a loud warning chirp to protect their territory from other squirrels or predators. In Wyoming, a small game license is required to hunt the red squirrel. However, they feed on coniferous pine cones so much that these small squirrels are known to taste like turpentine to people.

Written by Celia Karim
PC: Anne Guzzo

Northern Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus graciosus graciosus)

The northern sagebrush lizard is the only known lizard species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and was discovered in 1922 in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). These reptiles grow to be 5 inches long, are grey or brown with dark stripes all the way from their heads to their tails, and have light colored bellies. Males have a longer tail than females and have some blue coloring on their underside and throat. They live in dry rocky environments up to 8,500 ft in elevation and like sagebrush ecosystems. These lizards also live in places with geothermal activity—hence living in Yellowstone National Park in addition to non-geothermal GTNP. Since they are cold-blooded, lizards are most active during the day so they can eat insects and bugs and bask in the sunlight. They take shelter mostly near the ground in old burrows, logs, plants, and rocks, but are sometimes found up in trees. The northern sagebrush lizard makes a tasty meal for snakes and birds of the GYE, so they have adapted to shed their tail to survive an attack.

Females lay about 4 leathery eggs in early summer that are 12 by 6 millimeters in size. Eggs are buried under loose soil by their shelter sites. Females usually lay eggs twice a year, but they can start reproduction at just 22 months. Baby lizards are only 2 centimeters long, and some hatchlings are even food for adult lizards. The northern sagebrush lizard lives for about 6 years and has a 50% chance of survival once they are hatched. You can see these lizards in GTNP at the Snake River Floodplain, Pilgrim Creek, Bar BC Ranch, and Colter Bay.

Written by Celia Karim
PC: Angie Shyrigh on Flickr https://flic.kr/p/5x2uRV

Mountain Lion (Felis concolor)

Known colloquially as a cougar, puma, panther, or catamount, the mountain lion (Felis concolor) is basically a smaller jaguar without spots. It is unlikely that you will ever see a mountain lion in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) because they are nocturnal and typically avoid anything besides prey, but it is smart to be informed about predators when visiting. Beware of these indications that you are in mountain lion territory: long scratches on trees, remains of a carcass, piles of dirt or leaves/debris scraped up by back feet, large amounts of scat containing hair or bones, and round paw prints with no claw marks. These signs are often found in areas the mountain lion may return to, especially the carcass.

Mountain lions do not have a set mating season, but they will typically have up to 6 cubs every two years. Newborn cubs weigh just under a pound and have dark spots all over their fur that they outgrow as adults, giving way to pale brown fur with white highlights on their underside and head. Cubs will stay with their mom for about a year and a half or until they can fend for themselves. While hunting, a male mountain lion can travel 25 miles in a day. In the winter, mountain lions might follow other animals (aka their food) and move down to lower elevations. Mountain lions have a lot to eat in GYE including deer, bighorn sheep, birds, porcupines, fish, insects, rodents—sometimes pets and livestock, too.

By the 1920s, predator control in GYE took the lives of thousands of mountain lions until there were less than 15 left. Today, there are about 120 cougars in GYE that are being researched as part of the Panthera’s Teton Cougar Project to learn more about the population, interactions, and habitat of this secretive stalker. They are skilled athletes and can land a jump from 60 ft high even though they weigh about the same as a human—200 lbs. This is one fascinating animal you might be okay missing in GYE!

Written by Celia Karim
PC: Yellowstone National Park on Flickr https://flic.kr/p/2fKKuFu

Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)

Painted lady butterflies belong to the family Nymphalidae, also known as brush-footed butterflies. As these insects grow through their life cycle, the butterfly itself only lives for two weeks. During this time, the female butterflies will mate and reproduce to start the cycle again. The caterpillars live from 12-18 days long, going through five stages of instars, or developmental periods. As adults, these butterflies can reach 5-6 cm wide.

These butterflies are widespread across the globe. They are found in every state of the U.S. and throughout Canada as well. They persist in a myriad of habitats, which helps during their long migration from North Africa to Asia and the Middle East all the way to Europe! In the U.S., these butterflies can be seen migrating from the deserts of Mexico and travelling northward in the spring. During their intense migration, these butterflies travel up to 100 miles a day and at 30 MPH! In addition to the boundless areas reached by the Painted lady, over 100 plants have been documented to be the host for Painted lady caterpillars. Families include Asteraceae and Fabaecea, with 23,600 and 18,000 described species respectively.

Written by Anna Cressman
PC: Anna Cressman

Nevada bumblebee (Bombus nevadensis)

The Nevada bumblebee has a very wide geographic range in the Mountain West region. Like other species of bees, their coloration may differ depending on their location. For example, B. nevadensis has a darker coloration in females, with a black band that spans across the thorax from wing to wing, with a black tail which is typically confined to Vancouver Island. In other females found in Northern California, they have an orange coloring on the metasoma, or abdomen (Williams, Thorp, Richardson, & Colla, 2014, p. 152). In addition to their coloration, other characteristics are important to consider when identifying species. B. nevadensis is known for having a long proboscis, or tongue. Because of this adaptation, it can reach the nectar in long, tube-like flowers, such as Penstemon and Monarda.

But with climate change, are long tongued bees at risk? A study performed by Dr. Nicole Miller-Struttman and colleagues revealed shrinking tongue lengths in two species of bumblebees in the Rocky Mountains! They suggested that climate change has been affecting the floral resources, thus shifting the specialized diet that long tongued bees have. Because fewer long-tubed flowers are growing in the mountains, long-tongued bees were forced to supplement their diets with other available resources, minimizing the need for the long-tonged trait (Yong, 2015). Climate change may be causing mismatches between our plants and pollinators.

Check out this article for more information on long-tongued bees! https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/09/how-climate-change-shrank-the-tongues-of-long-tongued-bumblebees/407125/

Written by Anna Cressman
PC: Anna Cressman

Golden-haired flower longhorn (Lepturobosca chrysocoma)

Not much is known about the golden-haired flower longhorn beetle, but we do know they give off a shimmer when seen in the sunlight. The species chrysocoma translates to “gold-haired” in Greek. While viewing these insects in nature, you will notice the metallic shimmer their fine hairs give off. These hairs are also an important trait these beetles have for pollination. Even though they are as efficient as bees in pollination, some beetles still are important pollinators in our ecosystems. Another comparison between this beetle and other bees is that the adults share the same diet of pollen and nectar, but the larvae feed on decaying wood of several species of trees.

These beautiful beetles are found in forests all across North America. In Wyoming, there has been documentation of seeing them in June through August. From personal experience, I have viewed them on sticky geranium flowers (Geranium viscosissimum) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium).

Written by Anna Cressman
PC: Logan Crees

Fuzzy horned bumblebee (Bombus mixtus)

Grand Teton National Park is home to Bombus mixtus. They inhabit open grassy areas, chaparral and shrub locations, and mountain meadows. These bees have a medium tongue length and are considered generalists, meaning they do not specialize their diet. Their food sources range from Phacelia and Monardella to Rhododendron and Senecio species. These species of flowers take on different petal shapes, from long and tubular to flat and disc-like.

While it is possible to classify bumblebees based on their more obvious traits, microscopic characteristics — small notches on mandibles, lengths of antennal segments, hairs that may or may not be present on the tibia vary by species, etc. — are important in identifying bumblebee species (Williams, Thorp, Richardson, & Colla, 2014, p.78). B. mixtus may be confused with B. frigidus, B. balteatus and B. melanopygus when identifying because all of these bumblebees have a very similar coloration pattern, square cheeks, and a rounded angle on the midleg. These last two traits are better seen using a microscope.

Written by Anna Cressman
PC: USFWS – Pacific Region on Flickr https://flic.kr/p/BmYWCj

Two-form bumblebee (Bombus bifarius)

The two-form bumblebee thankfully are of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list, which includes the conservation status of all biological species. Two-form bumblebees are specifically found in the mountainous areas of western North America. They feed on a wide range of wildflowers found in GTNP such as blue bells (Mertensia), green gentian (Frasera speciosa), and cinquefoils (Potentilla). Queens emerge in early spring, search for a place to start a colony- typically in the ground- where begin laying eggs and gathering resources.

This bumblebee gets its name from the two dominant polymorphisms, meaning the two dominant phenotypes you may see with this species. On a bee’s abdomen, the segments are broken down into what are called metasomal tergite. In worker bumblebees, they have 6 segments, which are referred to as T1-6. In the two-form bumblebee, T2-3 can be either orangey-red or black, depending on the geographic location. 

A helpful PDF guide on bumblebees can be found here: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/documents/BumbleBeeGuideWestern2012.pdf

Written by Anna Cressman
PC: Anna Cressman

Parnassius clodius 

Parnassians belong to the swallowtail family, and can be found in some parts of WY, MT, WA, CA, OR, ID, and UT, as well as some parts of British Columbia.  Parnassius smintheus, another species of Parnassian, also has a range found in Wyoming. At first glance, these two species are very similar in appearance, but take a closer look! An easy way to distinguish each species is by checking their antennae. On P. clodius, the antennae are entirely black, but P. smintheus have banded antennae that are alternating black and white (Brock & Kaufman, 2003, p.44). 

During the mating season for these butterflies, males patrol areas in search of females. Once they mate, males attach a sphragum, a plug to prevent a female from mating with other males. The larger the sphragum, the less likely a different male will attempt to mate with the female (Wedell, 2005). Females then lay their eggs on host plants that will become a resource for the larva. In the Grand Tetons, P. clodius eggs can be found on Dicentra uniflora. 

Written by Anna Cressman
PC: Logan Crees