Sagebrush-steppe

Guides

• Hydraecia medialis

  Hydraecia medialis is a noctuid moth native to western North America. Adults are active from mid-August through September and are characterized by pale gray-tan forewings with a darker, often reddish median area and distinctive red-brown or brown and white postmedial line. The species inhabits open ponderosa pine forests, drier sagebrush steppe, and juniper woodlands across a range extending from British Columbia to northern New Mexico.

  Noctuidaewestern-North-AmericaLupinus-feederlate-summer-flightpine-forestsagebrush-steppe

• Pogonomyrmex salinus

  Owyhee Harvester Ant

  Pogonomyrmex salinus is a harvester ant species native to sagebrush-steppe habitats of the western United States. A 5-year field study in southwestern Idaho documented colony dynamics and vegetation associations, finding population density inversely related to sagebrush cover and positively associated with non-cheatgrass understory vegetation. The species avoids cheatgrass seeds in its diet, preferring small-seeded grasses and forbs. Colony survival rates improve after the first year, with 12.4% first-year failure compared to 4.6–8.4% in subsequent years.

  harvester-antsagebrush-steppeseed-predationIdahonest-ecology

• Purshivora media

  Purshivora media is a species of aphid in the family Aphididae. It is a specialist feeder associated with plants in the genus Purshia, commonly known as bitterbrush or cliffrose. The species is native to western North America where its host plants occur in arid and semi-arid shrubland habitats. Like other aphids, it reproduces parthenogenetically during favorable conditions.

  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