LCAS DECEMBER 2024 PROGRAM

A Study of Butterflies of Priest Pass

Tues. December 10, 2024 – Program Begins 7:00PM
Montana WILD, 2668 Broadwater Ave.
Free – All Are Welcome

In 2013, while Curt Serviss was birding in Texas, he became interested in butterflies and the challenge of working with this species. Returning to Montana, he researched the available literature concerning the State’s butterfly population/distribution and determined that studies were rather limited and outdated. Based on this and his love of being in the Rocky Mountains, he decided to evaluate the butterfly species on the Continental Divide in the Priest Pass area, 15 miles west of Helena. The first five years of the study, which had identified a diverse population of 61 species, was published in American Butterflies in 2018.  In that same year, a colleague with similar interest in photography and butterflies, initiated a study 6 miles to the west on MacDonald Pass. To date, the Priest Pass and MacDonald Pass butterfly studies have identified 76 and 68 species, respectively. This presentation will address the study methodology, present outstanding photographs of selected species to illustrate the diversity of the butterfly population and give an overview of the results.

Curt Serviss is a retired geologist who lives in Helena, Montana. He holds an MS degree in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Missouri-Rolla. During his travel as a regional exploration geologist, he became interested in birding, documenting sightings on a life list and photographing birds. Since his retirement in 2008, he has traveled extensively in North America photographing wildlife.