I like calling this the September Quiz because it implies this quiz feature appears at regular intervals. Good luck finding the July and August versions.

As always, this is a serious test of prairie knowledge. If you get all the answers correct, you are entitled to a free double thumbs up from the mayor (or appropriate title) of whatever municipality you live closest to. To redeem your prize, just send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the office of that official with a copy of your answers and a dried and pressed specimen of Callirhoe involucrata. Be sure to add the hashtag #prairiesrule!

Good luck to all of you!

Q1. What is an accepted common name of the above flowering prairie plant?

A. Tentative Sorrow

B. Common Yarrow

C. Uncommon Borrow

D. Dickcissel

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Q2. Which of the following is not the common name of a moth species in the Great Plains?

A. The Halfwing

B. The Badwing

C. The Changeling

D. The Wedgeling

E. The Joker

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Q3. What is the correct spelling of the above snake species?

A. Masassauga

B. Massasauga

C. Mississauga

D. Mississippi

E. Bull Snake

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Q4. What is shown in the above photo?

A. Empty eggs of some kind of hemipteran (true bug)

B. A fungus growing on the stem of a grass

C. The flower of needle-and-thread grass.

D. The abandoned exoskeleton of a recently-molted damselfly

E. A pair of my kid’s socks. (THAT’S where they went!)

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Q5. Why is the sun shaped like an octagon behind this gaura flower?

A. Climate change

B. COVID-19

C. Area 51

D. It’s an effect caused by the diaphragm blades inside the camera lens that control the aperture (opening through which light passes into the camera).

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Q6. How many sides does an octagon have?

A. Apparently 7 if the previous question is to be believed.

B. Who even knows anymore?

C. A & B

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Q7. Which of the following is not the common name of a moth species in the Great Plains?

A. Crambid Snout

B. Rough Prominent

C. Delicate Cycnia

D. Implicit Arches

E. Black Bit

F. Cream-bordered Dichomeris

G. All of the above are actual Great Plains moths

H. None of the above are actual Great Plains moths

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Q9. What is shown in the above photo?

A. The seedhead of Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)

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Q10. Which of the following is not the common name of a moth species in the Great Plains?

A. Happy Dancer

B. Sturdy Fig

C. Achneris Flipper

D. Deep Orange Geographer

E. Three-Spotted Boop

F. Festival Arches

G. All of the above are actual Great Plains moths

H. None of the above are actual Great Plains moths

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Q11. True or False: People who name moths are just a little different from the rest of us.

A. True, but in a good way

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Q12. You skipped Q8.

A. Oops

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Q13. Did you know Mississauga is the name of a city in Ontario, Canada?

A. Yes

B. Oh, you did not

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Answer Key:

Q1. B

Q2. C

Q3. B

Q4. C

Q5. D

Q6. A, B, or C, depending upon your current mood and/or local political climate

Q7. G

Q9. A

Q10. H (hee hee)

Q11. A

Q12. A

Q13. B (probably)

Applications for the Hubbard Fellowship are due on September 30! Please click here to get more information on this 12 month Fellowship for recent college graduates interested in a career in conservation. Spread the word!

Last weekend, I visited our family prairie to look at grazing progress and plan out some fall invasive species work. While I was there, I stuck around for the sunset and did a little photography. Earlier in the day, I spent an hour at Lincoln Creek Prairie here in town, photographing flowers and invertebrates while the morning light was pleasant. Here is a series of highlights from those two photo jaunts. Even with the drought, there’s a lot to see in prairies this time of year!