Saltgrass
Guides
Polyphylla erratica
Death Valley June Beetle
Polyphylla erratica, commonly known as the Death Valley June Beetle, is a scarab beetle in the subfamily Melolonthinae. It is narrowly endemic to the Amargosa River drainage basin in the southwestern United States. The species is associated with saltgrass communities and has been documented at Saratoga Springs in Death Valley. Like other Polyphylla species, it exhibits sexual dimorphism in antennal structure, with males possessing enlarged, lamellate antennae for detecting female sex pheromones.
Pseudocopaeodes eunus
alkali skipper, Carson wandering skipper (for ssp. obscurus)
Pseudocopaeodes eunus is a rare skipper butterfly endemic to alkali flat habitats in the western United States and Mexico. The species comprises five recognized subspecies, with P. e. obscurus (Carson wandering skipper) federally listed as endangered due to habitat loss and extremely limited distribution. As of 2007, only four populations were known to persist. The species is highly specialized, with larvae dependent on saltgrass as their sole documented host plant.