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3 Jul SE AZ: Chiricahuas, 7/3/2009 ["John Saba" ] 3 Jul RE: [leps-talk] webpage memorial for George Austin [Todd Stout ] 2 Jul Re: George T. Austin [] 02 Jul AZ, Lockett Meadow, Coconino Co. ["Marceline VandeWater" ] 1 Jul George T. Austin [Andrew Warren ] 1 Jul San Bernardino Mountains again ["Walker, Mark" ] 30 Jun AZ: White Mountains 6/26-6/28 ["David Powell" ] 29 Jun Big Meadow, near Kings Canyon National Park [] 29 Jun Plain Fritillary (s. callippe rupestris) [] 29 Jun RE: SE Arizona Butterfly Counts ["Hank Brodkin" ] 29 Jun SE Arizona Butterfly Counts ["Hank Brodkin" ] 28 Jun L. arota question ["a_c_kim" ] 26 Jun AZ: San Francisco Mountains, Coconino County [Philip Kline ] 26 Jun AZ: Mt. Ord and Mogollon Rim [Philip Kline ] 26 Jun Fw: Kern R. Valley July 09 Butterfly Counts [] 26 Jun Seeking Recommendations For SoCal Butterfly Watching Sites ["kosmokratur" ] 24 Jun SE AZ: Black Checkerspot in Madera Canyon today ["John Saba" ] 23 Jun Re: Ceranus ovipositing ["Bob Barber" ] 23 Jun RE: Ceranus ovipositing ["sjcary AT earthlink.net" ] 23 Jun Ceranus ovipositing ["Bob Barber" ] 23 Jun Re: June "Blues" [] 23 Jun June "Blues" [] 22 Jun Bates Canyon, Santa Barbara County, CA. [] 19 Jun San Bernardino Mtns - June 15 ["Walker, Mark" ] 18 Jun Mexico: Baja California - first Euphyes vestris harbisoni for Mexico ["David Powell" ] 17 Jun Fw: Satyrium saepium caliginosum [] 17 Jun RE: Satyrium saepium caliginosum [Todd Stout ] 16 Jun Re: Satyrium saepium caliginosum [] 16 Jun SW outside Yosemite National Park: [] 16 Jun Season Summaries, records and questions [] 16 Jun Satyrium saepium caliginosum ["Bill Bouton" ] 12 Jun AZ: Jerome area, Yavapai County ["vireo" ] 11 Jun AZ: Montosa Canyon, Santa Cruz County [Philip Kline ] 11 Jun Moths in the national news [Bruce Walsh ] 10 Jun Big Pine Mountain, SBA county, CA ["Lethaby, Nick" ] 9 Jun Lake Isabella-Havilah-Piutes Butterfly Count [] 9 Jun Fw: [DesertLeps] State (AZ) Butterfly Sighting Record Submission - Silver-banded Hairstreak [] 9 Jun RE: [leps-talk] Leatham Hollow; Cache County, Utah [Todd Stout ] 8 Jun State (AZ) Butterfly Sighting Record Submission - Silver-banded Hairstreak ["CJ (Chris) Vincent" ] 08 Jun AZ, Thumb Butte Trail #33, Prescott, Yavapai Co. ["Marceline VandeWater" ] 6 Jun WOW! Powell & Opler [Bruce Walsh ] 5 Jun Fw: Sat. Sequoia Bfly Ct. changed to Monday [] 04 Jun AZ, Colonel Devin Trail from Washington Park Trailhead, 12 miles North of Payson ["Marceline VandeWater" ] 3 Jun Re: [DesertLeps] SEAZ Butterfly Counts [chris kline ] 2 Jun AZ: Miller Canyon, Cochise County addendum [Philip Kline ] 2 Jun AZ: Miller Canyon, Cochise County [Philip Kline ] 2 Jun SEAZ Butterfly Counts ["Hank Brodkin" ] 2 Jun Leatham Hollow; Cache County, Utah [Todd Stout ] 31 May SE AZ: Pima Canyon, Santa Catalina Mountains, 31 May 2009 ["teleost07" ] 31 May SE AZ: Florida Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains (correction) ["teleost07" ] 31 May Willow Looper Please ID ["bugonhernandez" ] 31 May SE AZ: Florida Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains, 29 May 2009 ["teleost07" ] 30 May Figueroa Mt., Santa Barbara County [Chris Grinter ] 30 May Two late posts from San Diego Co. locales ["petespino8" ] 29 May SE AZ: Garden Canyon, 5/27/2009 ["John Saba" ] 28 May Re: NEW BOOK: The Butterflies of San Diego County [Pete Spino ] 28 May AZ: Florida and Madera Canyon - corrections [Philip Kline ] 28 May AZ: Santa Rita Mountains [Philip Kline ] 27 May Sierra Nevada, west of Bishop, CA. [] 27 May White Mts., California and Nevada [] 27 May Grand Canyon area ringlets ["Norbert Kondla" ] 26 May Santa Ynez Mountains, SBA Co, CA ["Lethaby, Nick" ] 26 May SE AZ: Madera Canyon, 5/25/2009 ["John Saba" ] 25 May SE AZ: Huachuca Mountains, 5/25/09 ["teleost07" ] 25 May Hermes Coppers have started flying in San Diego ["Michael Klein" ] 25 May AZ: Mogollon Rim country (Gila/Coconino Counties) ["David Powell" ] 24 May SE AZ: Molino Basin, 5/24/2009 ["John Saba" ] 24 May Fw: Lindsey's Skipper Story [] 23 May Bates/Cottonwood Cyn SBA Co, CA ["Lethaby, Nick" ] 23 May Lindsey's Skipper Story ["Bill Bouton" ] 21 May NEW BOOK: The Butterflies of San Diego County [SHIRAIWA KOJIRO ] 20 May AZ: White Mountains ["David Powell" ] 19 May RE: [DesertLeps] Butterbredt Peak, Kern County, CA. [Todd Stout ] 19 May Butterbredt Peak, Kern County, CA. [] 19 May Sageland, Kelso Valley, Kern County, CA. [] 19 May Re: Black Mtn, SLO Co., CA 18May09 ["Bill Bouton" ] Subject: SE AZ: Chiricahuas, 7/3/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 23:05:27 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Cochise Co., Chiricahua Mts., Pinery Canyon Rd., Friday, 3 July 2009, 1100 - 1400, 24 species: Golden Banded-Skipper (Autochton cellus) 10 Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) 5 'Southwestern' Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis tatius) 1 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Taxiles Skipper (Poanes taxiles) 6 Large Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes exoteria) 2 Cassus Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes cassus) 15 Orange-edged Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes fimbriata) 40 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 3 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 1 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 2 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 1 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 2 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 2 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 8 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo) 1 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 1 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 1 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 9 Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 1 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 1 Nabokov's Satyr (Cyllopsis pyracmon) 1 Red Satyr (Megisto rubricata) 10 (125 individuals) Weather: Sky cloudy, wind mostly still, temperature ca. 76-62 degrees. Started to rain ca. 1400. Nectar: Pay attention to the Wright's Bluets. Penstemon was drawing roadside-skippers. Moisture: A little water in some streams. Comments: Cloud cover, rain, and lack of time kept numbers low. Lepster(s): John Saba. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: RE: [leps-talk] webpage memorial for George Austin From: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 07:21:00 -0600 Hi Andy, I am so sorry to hear about George. I never met him; but did correspond a little. Thanks to you, Mike and Kim, and BOA for putting that page together for George; outlining his contributions. I had no idea that he had been involved in so many papers and projects. Todd Todd L. Stout Utah Lepidopterists' Society http://www.utahlepsociety.org/toddstout.html todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com 801-558-6302 TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" 1999 To: tils-leps-talk AT yahoogroups.com; desertleps AT yahoogroups.com; sowestlep AT yahoogroups.com; norwestleps AT yahoogroups.com From: hesperioidea AT yahoo.com Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 09:45:51 -0700 Subject: [leps-talk] webpage memorial for George Austin All, We have assembled a small, still incomplete webpage memorial to George Austin; most people don't realize how prolific he was, nor the magnitude of his contributions to the study of butterflies. Of course, this is not intended to replace a formal obituary, just some images and info for the moment: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/GTA.htm Andy Warren [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Re: George T. Austin From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:41:03 -0700 Everyone:
I am very sad to hear of George T. Austin's death.
Coincidently, just before I received the news, I had just entered many of
George's eastern California records into the BAMONA website database which I
just sent off to Kelly Lotts moments ago after I added many other records
tonight.
George had written a LOT about Nevada butterflies. He had told me he was
working on a Nevada butterflies book, I do not know if that was the book just
recently published or if he had a state book in the works. If he had such a
work in progress, I hope it was virtually complete and is published by his
wife.
George was one of the reviewers of my Yosemite publication and some of his
records are in that work. All that I know about Nevada butterflies is because
of George T. Austin's work....especially his articles (one was a full issue of
the Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera) on the butterflies of Clark County,
Nevada and his more recent work covering hostplant data and many adult records
for the state.
I only met George a couple of times, once at the Pacific Slope meeting in the
San Bernardino Mts in 1985 and shortly after that when he and John Emmel
visited the LACM the same day I was working in there. Andy Warren is right,
many may not have heard of him, but those of us who subscribe to Journals which
cover his work surely have.
I hope George did have a state book written and completed, just needing final
editing. We lose an expert who had so much knowledge of a state so few know
anything about. We will miss him and I share Andrew Warren's sadness. Just a
few days ago, I cited Austin's work on Hedge-Row Hairstreaks with regard to
subspecies fulvescens, so his work touched on our California fauna as well.
Ken Davenport
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: AZ, Lockett Meadow, Coconino Co.From: "Marceline VandeWater" <marcelinevandewater AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:09:41 -0000 Last week, Philp Kline posted on his trip to Locket Meadow, the Inner Basin in the San Francisco Mountains just North of Flagstaff. Enticed by the forsight of 3 possible lifers, Paul K. and I drove out there yesterday and just had a wonderful time! The temperature AT 78 degrees definitely beats the 104 in Phoenix, clouds were forming in the SW but no rain to spoil our trip. The butterflies where hopping We started along FR 418, next took FR 552 up to Lokett Meadow. There was not much nectar higher up: some Irises, Sneezeweed and Daisies. A lot of butterflies however were mudpuddling around the small ponds in the meadow and on a wet part of the dirt road. 29 species: 2 W.Tiger Swallowtail 1 White sp. 2 Orange Sulphur 3 Thicket Hairstreak 1 W.Pine Elfin 1 Marine Blue 3 Spring "Echo" Azure 14 Silvery Blue 5 Melissa Blue 6 Acmon Blue 1 Arctic Blue 2 Variegated Fritillary 4 Arachne Checkerspot 4 Fulvia Checkerspot 6 Field Crescent 1 Hoary Comma 5 Mourning Cloak 1 California Tortoiseshell 1 West Coast Lady 10Common Buckeye 1 Tropical Buckeye 2 Weidemeyer's Admiral 2 Riding's Satyr 5 Northern Cloudywing 4 Mexican Cloudywing 6 Rocky Mountain Duskywing 2 Pacuvius Duskywing 5 Garita Skipperling 1 Pahaska Skipper Marceline VandeWater Scottsdale, AZSubject: George T. Austin From: Andrew Warren <hesperioidea AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 08:26:27 -0700 (PDT)
All,
I have been asked to forward some very sad news to the butterfly community. I
have been informed that George Austin passed away yesterday in Gainesville,
Florida.
Other than being a very close friend and colleague of mine, George was an
extremely dedicated scientist, one of the hardest workers I have ever met, and
had a unique, one-of-a-kind personality, which (almost) everyone loved.
Lepidopterology has lost one of its greatest superstars; George's passing
represents a huge setback for our science and hobby. If you knew George, please
keep him in mind next time you are out in the field...
Condolences can be sent to George's wife, Anna Austin:
2004 SE 41 Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32641
With a heavy heart,
Andy Warren
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: San Bernardino Mountains againFrom: "Walker, Mark" <xvermontrz AT cox.net> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 00:04:28 -0700 I took my young children on their very first camping trip, spending last Saturday night (June 27) at altitude in the San Bernardino Mountains. Unlike my trip two weeks previous, the weather was exceedingly warm - even into the wee hours. On Sunday, we examined various habitats for butterflies and found the diversity to have improved. The Euphydryas editha that were so common two weeks ago were fewer in number (and showing wear), but the numbers remained exceptionally high compared to recent years. In areas where Castilleja is common, the checkerspots were still very common. Far more common this week were the Hilda Blues (Plebejus saepiolus). Based on conditions two weeks ago, I was thinking this species was not going to have a good flight - but males and females were quite ubiquitous in all meadow habitats, and were even common along riparian corridors at 7000 ft. Also more common this visit was Speyeria coronis semiramus. Both males and females were on the wing - and very fresh. Still no sign of Baird's Swallowtail, though I didn't expect them this late in the season anyway. Still - the foodplant is lush and in want of some parasitic wormies to make them feel appreciated. Papilio rutulus was very common, however, with large numbers seen congregating at wet sand. A bit lower, we found Zerene eurydice having a good flight. Also present at this altitude were plenty of Plebejus icarioides. The species of Lupine that it is eating at 6000 ft. is different than the Lupine (grape soda?) found at higher elevation. The high elevation Lupine is thriving, but no blues were seen associated with it. Lower still, we found huge numbers of Plebejus lupini form chlorina (gorgeous females!) flying along with huge numbers of Euphilotes bernardino - both associated with Eriogonum fasciculatum, for which they seem to be frantically competing. Interesting that the Plebejus lupini flying at higher altitude was not form chlorina - and significantly smaller. The variation of species as we traversed between 9000 ft. and 3000 ft. was of particular interest. At high elevation (8800 ft) we saw: Pontia protodice Colias eurytheme Callophrys nelsoni Leptotes marina Plebejus saepiolus Plebejus lupini Hemiargus ceraunus Euphydryas editha Speyeria coronis Junonia coenia Nymphalis californica Polygonia gracilis Hesperia juba Hesperia Colorado Ocholodes sylvanoides Nathalis iole At 7000 ft. we saw: Papilio rutulus Pontia protodice Satyrium sylvinus Leptotes marina Plebejus saepiolus Euphydryas editha Speyeria coronis Nymphalis californica Junonia coenia Phyciodes mylitta Limenitis lorquini Adelpha californica Hesperia juba Hesperia Colorado At 6000 ft. we saw: Erynnis ? (no white border) Papilio rutulus Zerene Eurydice Colias eurytheme Pontia protodice Leptotes marina Plebejus lupine Plebejus icarioides Speyeria coronis Phyciodes mylitta Junonia coenia Polygonia satyrus Nymphalis californica Vanessa atalanta Limenitis lorquini Adelpha californica At 3000 ft. we saw: Apodemia virgulti Cercyonis sthenele Erynnis funeralis Plebejus lupine/acmon form chlorina Euphilotes bernardino Pontia protodice Mark Walker "Blasting, billowing, bursting forth With the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes" Graeme Edge "If you go down to Willow Farm, to look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies Open your eyes, it's full of surprise, everyone lies, like the fox on the rocks, and the musical box. Oh, there's Mum & Dad, and good and bad, and everyone's happy to be here." Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford "If I can't sell it, I'll sit on it" Ruth Brown [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: AZ: White Mountains 6/26-6/28 From: "David Powell" <vireo AT vireos.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:24:02 -0000 Lepsters, Bill Bouton and I just spent 3 days in the White Mountains of Arizona chasing leps. The weather was a problem throughout our time in the Whites, with clouds rolling in by 11:00 AM everyday, and heavy rain on one day. Temperatures were in the 60s, with 70s on Saturday afternoon. We visited Rose Peak, US191 from Mile 211 to Mile 217 (all below the Mogollon Rim), Mexican Hay Lake, Sipe Wildlife Area, a meadow north of Mexican Hay Lake, Hawley Lake, and McCoy Crossing in the mornings, starting about 8:30 and ending at about 11:00. We also got about 45 minutes of sun at South Fork one day, and a nice sunny hour on the top of a hill 20 miles west of Springerville. We found a bunch of Common Ringlets (Coenonympha tullia subfusca) in a meadow near Green's Peak on a cool, dark, windy afternoon. There was relative little blooming, particularly in the mountain meadows. The season seems to be behind schedule, perhaps due to the cool weather. Highlights were Orange-headed Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes phylace) at South Fork and "Baird's" Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon bairdii) hilltopping along US60. I'll be back to try it again on the CAzBA trip in two weeks. Hopefully the weather will be better, but I am not counting on it. Dave David Powell Phoenix, AZ vireo AT vireos.com http://www.vireos.com/AZ Species list (54 species): "Baird's" Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon bairdii) - one hilltopping 20 miles W of Springerville Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius) one hilltopping at Rose Peak Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) 10 to 15 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio m. multicaudata) 2 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 10 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 6 Queen Alexandra's Sulphur (Colias alexandra apache) 6 or so near Hawley Lake, then 20-30 along the Rim Road on the way back to Phoenix) Margined White (Pieris marginalis mogollon) 8 to 10 at Hawley Lake Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 1 Western Green Hairstreak (Callophrys affinis apama) 6 along US 191 "Siva" Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus siva) 3 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus franki) 10+ Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 10+ Southwestern Azure (Celestrina echo cinerea) 8 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 10+ Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus gyas) 6 Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamas arizonensis) 2 US 191 Melissa Blue (Plebejus m. Melissa) 20+ Boisduval's Blue (Plebejus icarioides) 1 Rose Peak Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini texanus) 8 Arctic Blue (Plebejus glandon punctatus) 3 along AZ 261 Nais Metalmark (Apodemia nais) 1 along US 191 Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyeri augustifascia) 3 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 4 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 10 Northwestern Fritillary (Speyeria hesperis nausicaa) 4 (more along the Rim Road) Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 3 Milibert's Tortiseshell (Aglais m. milberti) 1 Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis a. antiopa) 5 "Zephyr" Hoary Anglewing (Polygonia gracilis zephyrus) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 10 Arachne Checkerspot (Polydryas arachne nympha) 3 at Rose Peak Fulvia Checkerspot (Chlosyne fulvia colorado) 3 Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis drusius) 20 at Hawley Lake Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia crocale) 1 at Rose Peak Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella) 20 Common Ringlet (Coenonympha tullia subfusca) 50+ Canyonland Satyr (Cyllopsis pertipeda dorothea) 3 US 191 and South Fork Red Satyr (Megisto rubricate cheneyorum) 2 Rose Peak Riding's Satyr (Neominois ridingsii) 3 at Luna Lake Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus profugus) 8 Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) 4 Mexican Cloudywing (Thorybes mexicana dobra) 4 at Hawley Lake Common Sootywing (Pholisora Catullus) 2 Pacuvius Duskywing (Erynnis p. pacuvius) 1 US 191 Afranius Duskywing (Erynnis afranius) 1 US 191 Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis) 2 Four-spotted Skipperling (Piruna polingi) 1 at South Fork Garita Skipperling (Orisma garita) 1 at South Fork Orange-headed Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes phylace) 5 at South Fork Pahaska Skipper (Hesperia pahaska williamsi) 1 Draco Skipper (Polites draco) 15 Tawny-edged Skipper (Polites Themistocles) 25+ Deva Skipper (Atrytonopsis deva) 1 at Rose PeakSubject: Big Meadow, near Kings Canyon National Park From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:17:18 -0700 Everyone:
Ray and I would drive about 6 miles to a wet meadow near Eshom Camp but
little was flying there. I told Ray that cloud buildup appeared to make Big
Meadow and the High country outside Kings Canyon National Park risky. Ray
disagreed and felt we might have a chance. The butterflies on granite domes
there are totally different than the Badger-Eshom experience. I stated to
get there was a 30 minute drive and it was already getting late, by now 1:20
PM.
To get there, we would have to take a rough single car wide dirt road,
often above steep drop offs, rough road and blind curves. Pray you don't
have a vehicle meet in the wrong place (I had such an experience on my
return run with a steep drop off on one side, a very deep rut on the other
and a very steep grade to back up on). This was about eight miles of deep
woods and often we would have to drive around Giant Sequoias. About 5 miles
of this was inside Kings Canyon National Parks. Neither legalities nor our
time frame allow any collecting along this road. No stops and no nets. It
took 30 minutes to cover this distance and then we were on the well
maintained two lanes paved Generals Hwy. heading to Big Meadow where we
would arrive in about 15 more minutes just after 2 PM. And it was mostly
cloudy with thundercloudes, but warm.
Big Meadow is under the supervision of the U. S. forest service. While
in Sequoia National Monument, butterfly collecting is allowed. And so is
photography. Flocks of Bird Watchers were seen minutes before on the dirt
road we traveled up just a few hundred yards below the Generals Hwy. They
must allow that too. Binoculars everywhere. Maybe some were butterfly
watchers.
Back to Big Meadow. It started off slowly, but then we started getting
periodic sun. An undescribed subspecies of Edith's Checkerspot (Euphydryas
editha) would prove common on Polygonum flowers on the granite domes. There
was abundant Penstemon newberryi, the host plant for Ireland's Checkerspot
(Euphydryas chalcedona irelandi) and this is a well known spot for this
butterfly (based on John Masters series of it at the LACM) and my past
collecting here. But conditions were EARLY and I would only get two of
those, a third one seen was very worn and not collected. The big prize of
part 2 of the collecting day were Clodius Parnassians. And not subspecies
baldur, the well known high Sierra Nevada subspecies. There tend to be a
larger parnassian similar to subspecies sol, a larger sized subspecies than
baldur. These are known from both Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks
and feed on Dicentra nevadensis. These would prove to be common along a
small stream with abundant lupines and wall flowers at the base of the
granite domes, but also seen frequently on the granite domes themselves.
We did not have time to sample the nearby boreal meadows or other great
habitats for fritillaries, skippers and coppers below waterfalls further up
the road. After Ray had to leave, I would collect one nice female of a
subalpine Lupine Blue, subspecies (or species?) named alpicola. Visible
nearby was the snowcovered high country. Time just ran out for us. This
area will be a butterfly hot spot for about three weeks, then will be about
as dead for butterflies as it gets, so don't plan August trips here. But
Stony Creek just a few miles to the south stays good for butterflies into
October.
So Ray did good by finding those Plain Fritillaries back on the
Badger-Eshom Road and selling me on the idea of staying positive and going
to Big Meadow later. I am sure Ray and I will go back later, maybe even
this year.
Ken Davenport
Subject: Plain Fritillary (s. callippe rupestris)From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:44:27 -0700 Everyone: My objective in collecting the Badger-Eshom Road west of Kings Canyon National Park (Tulare County, CA) June 28th was to finish off my series of the Plain Fritillary, long known as Speyeria callippe inornata but now more correctly known as rupestris. Unlike many callippe subspecies, this unsilvered fritillary from the west slope of the Sierra Nevada from northern Tulare to Calaveras Counties is considered to be generally rare but sometimes found commonly. My experience with this fritillary is that it is both scarce and hard to net even when seen. Ray Bruun from the Mt. Shasta region and David, a close relative from Norway joined me on this day. It impressed me that Ray would come so far for this butterfly. Ray's goal was to get good photographs. Other than this fritillary, few species I value occur on the 9 mile stretch of road between Eshom Camp and Badger. However for Ray, the Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum) would be a big prize. We met up at Badger and I promptly took a wrong turn that would cost us about 45 minutes. Once we got back on the right road we found my previous good spot a couple of years back. Ray noted the milkweeds and asked if the callippe nectar on it. No I said.....then soon spotted a nice male callippe flying rapidly along the trees and chaparral....and then landed on a milkweed. I netted it, a perfect unsilvered callippe. I had to tell Ray I had been wrong about the milkweed, but no other fritillaries were seen at that spot in 1/2 hour. Further up the road, I would net a nice female on, you guessed it! Milkweed! All Yerba santa in the area had already gone to seed and for the rest of the day I became right. Not one more of these elusive fritillaries would land on the milkweed. However Ray who was driving his own vehichle went a block up the road ahead of me. Here, Ray and David found LOTS of these elusive fritillaries. They were common and so it should have been no problem to get specimens or photos, right? WRONG!!! Ray noted that these callippe never land or pose for the camera. The adults were wary of the observer and collector. Often they flew within the leaves of the oak trees just out of the nets reach, often on the other side of a ditch or embankment or would fly off into the "jungle" of inpenetrable chaparral or oak woodland with abundant poison oak. Often the callippe flew in on me rendering my net useless. And when I did get lucky and net one, the individual was often frayed and worn. Our plan was for Ray to get his photos and for me to finish collecting my series quickly, so we could try other habitats at higher elevations. Because of my wrong turn earlier and problems netting good quality adults, that plan was not going so well for me. Ray wanted to try up the road in different habitats so it appeared he had succeeded in getting good photos. Since the callippe were my prime objective, I continued to collect those until 1 PM. I still did not have an adequate series but Ray deserved some other options before the day ended. Cloud build up over the High Sierra appeared to have doomed our plans for high elevation butterflies outside Kings Canyon National Park. But Ray thought we might be successful so off we went (to be covered in a separate post). Ray had to leave Big Meadow, a place with granite domes at 4 PM. There Ray told me he had failed to get photographs of the unsilvered callippe fritillary. The darn things just would not land. I would stay at Big Meadow till 4:40 PM and then returned to the Badger-Eshom Road where I arrived at Ray's spot at 5:20 PM. The callippe were still present and were most elusive. I would have only 30 minutes before they would disappear. I did net one at a wet spot down the road where I had speculated they might mudpuddle there later in the day when in full sun. I was able to net about 20 of the callippe in three hours but about half of those were in poor condition and some were released. None were silvered. I will not provide a list of what occurred with the callippe. Few were high motivaters to watchers or collectors. One worthwhile swallowtail I did nearly net was a Two-Tailed Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata). Some Nelson's Hairstreaks were seen unusually low, one Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak was collected and all of us found a few Hedge-Row Hairstreaks. The most common butterfly: The Sylvan Satyr (Cercyonis sthenele silvestris) was abundant, but most of those were already worn. Monarch Butterflies were abundant but they were not nectaring on the milkweed either! So, I did accomplish my goal of finishing my series of this choice silverspot. And it appears watchers and photographers have their similar issues as well. The butterflies often do not pose. David Horner took three days over three years to photograph an indra! This one day trip occupied me from 5 AM till after 10 PM. Who says people interested in butterflies are wimps! Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: RE: SE Arizona Butterfly Counts From: "Hank Brodkin" <hbrodkin AT cox.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:35:30 -0700 Naturally there is a typo! The post refers to the 2009 Count, not the 2008. Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31Ί 26' 59.8", W110Ί 16' 02.8" hbrodkin AT cox.net "Butterflies of Arizona - a Photographic Guide" "Finding Butterflies in Arizona - a Guide to the Best Sites" http://members.cox.net/hbrodkin/ -----Original Message----- From: Hank Brodkin [mailto:hbrodkin AT cox.net] Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:29 AM To: 'SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com'; Desert Leps (DesertLeps AT yahoogroups.com) Subject: SE Arizona Butterfly Counts THE 4TH OF JULY BUTTERFLY COUNT is an ongoing program of NABA to census the butterflies of North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) and to publish the results. Volunteer participants select a count area with a 15-mile diameter and conduct a one-day census of all butterflies seen in this area. If you are interested in participating in 2009 in southeastern Arizona, please contact the compiler listed and join that count for a day of fascinating butterfly counting. Counts held in June or July are officially 4th of July Counts. Due to the climate here most of our counts are in August because that is when the most butterflies are flying. However these non-4th of July Counts will also be published. On these counts nets may be used to take voucher specimens to insure accuracy of identification, especially for species that are unusual for the count areas. Here are the SEAZ Butterfly Count Contacts for 2009: July 18 - Santa Catalina Mountains Count, Karen Nickey - no e-mail - 520-326-2070 July 25 - Portal Count, August 31 Portal Census - P.D. Hulce, dhulce AT amnh.org ; 520 558 2396 August 1 - Ramsey Count, Hank Brodkin, hbrodkin AT cox.net - 520-803-9700 (e-mail preferred) August 8 - Patagonia Count; Rich Bailowitz, raberg2 AT q.com 520- 520-544-0602 Again, please contact the individual Compiler if you want to attend any of these.. Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31Ί 26' 59.8", W110Ί 16' 02.8" hbrodkin AT cox.net "Butterflies of Arizona - a Photographic Guide" "Finding Butterflies in Arizona - a Guide to the Best Sites" http://members.cox.net/hbrodkin/Subject: SE Arizona Butterfly Counts From: "Hank Brodkin" <hbrodkin AT cox.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:29:12 -0700 THE 4TH OF JULY BUTTERFLY COUNT is an ongoing program of NABA to census the butterflies of North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) and to publish the results. Volunteer participants select a count area with a 15-mile diameter and conduct a one-day census of all butterflies seen in this area. If you are interested in participating in 2008 in southeastern Arizona, please contact the compiler listed and join that count for a day of fascinating butterfly counting. Counts held in June or July are officially 4th of July Counts. Due to the climate here most of our counts are in August because that is when the most butterflies are flying. However these non-4th of July Counts will also be published. On these counts nets may be used to take voucher specimens to insure accuracy of identification, especially for species that are unusual for the count areas. Here are the SEAZ Butterfly Count Contacts for 2009: July 18 - Santa Catalina Mountains Count, Karen Nickey - no e-mail - 520-326-2070 July 25 - Portal Count, August 31 Portal Census - P.D. Hulce, dhulce AT amnh.org ; 520 558 2396 August 1 - Ramsey Count, Hank Brodkin, hbrodkin AT cox.net - 520-803-9700 (e-mail preferred) August 8 - Patagonia Count; Rich Bailowitz, raberg2 AT q.com 520- 520-544-0602 Again, please contact the individual Compiler if you want to attend any of these.. Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31Ί 26' 59.8", W110Ί 16' 02.8" hbrodkin AT cox.net "Butterflies of Arizona - a Photographic Guide" "Finding Butterflies in Arizona - a Guide to the Best Sites" http://members.cox.net/hbrodkin/Subject: L. arota question From: "a_c_kim" <a_c_kim AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:19:06 -0000 Hi, I went to Silverado Cyn, Orange County, CA on friday from about 1:30-2:30 to look for coppers, but mainly L. arota. I met Bob Allen at the canyon but our meeting was cut short by a fire truck trying to pass this narrow mountain road. Hi Bob. I found no L. arota at this location, but did find them abundantly in the San Gabriel Mountains in Glendora at Little Dalton Canyon, right at the hairpin loop just north of Big Dalton Canyon Road. Both sexes came to mud, which I found interesting since I thought males only puddled. What subspecies is this population north of Glendora? They look like nominate arota to me. Subspecies nubila are known to occur from the Santa Monica Mts to Mt. Wilson area. I found no other coppers in both locations. Andrew Kim Irvine, CASubject: AZ: San Francisco Mountains, Coconino County From: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:28:04 -0700 (PDT) On Wednesday afternoon, I visited Lockett Meadow in the Inner Basin of the San
Francisco Mountains and also drove FR 418 around the north flank of the range.
I was very lucky to encounter a long break in the storm clouds, but was there
fairly late in the afternoon and early evening, so activity wasn't very high.
Despite that, I found several lifers and some nice leps, particularly on
flowering irises along FR 418.
In Lockett meadow, I saw:
1 Orange Sulphur
5 Echo Azure
8 Silvery Blue
2 Melissa Blue (lifer)
1 California Tortoiseshell
8 Mourning Cloak
4 Common Buckeye
1 Weidemeyer's Admiral
1 Northern Cloudywing
6 Mexican Cloudywing (lifer)
10 Rocky Mountain Duskywing
1 Mournful Duskywing (or perhaps Pacuvius?)
1 Russet Skipperling (lifer)
Mexican Duskywing photo:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/4753095_Ktn5J#574308218_cCsLS-A-LB
Mournful Duskywing (I think--or Pacuvius?):
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/4753095_Ktn5J#574308201_G8PvY-A-LB
On the irises along FR 418, I saw:
1 Western Tiger Swallowtail
4 Silvery Blue
7 Arctic Blue (lifer)
1 Arachne Checkerspot
2 Mourning Cloak
1 Weidemeyer's Admiral
1 Mexican Cloudywing
2 Rocky Mountain Duskywing
1 Garita Skipperling (lifer)
Arctic Blues:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/8406287_hJtnQ#574291524_xq27u-A-LB
Garita Skipperling:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/8374611_e2G6g#573455521_QEQiX-A-LB
I hiked the Humphrey's Peak Trail the next morning and made it to the top, but
the storm clouds moved in by the time I got back down to the meadows around
Snowbowl and I didn't see a single butterfly the whole time. Can't complain
about the scenery though. View from the top:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/2437054_HwTBg#575050432_2XjQ2-A-LB
This really is a stunningly beautiful area and I would love to get back there
and to look for some more leps!
Philip Kline
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: AZ: Mt. Ord and Mogollon RimFrom: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:56:19 -0700 (PDT) I took advantage of a meeting on the Hopi Reservation to visit a few spots
along the way from Tucson to look for butterflies and birds.
I started on Tuesday, June 26 at Mt. Ord in NE Maricopa County. I spent most
of the morning there and was rewarded with good numbers and diversity, plus a
lifer Deva Skipper. Here, I saw the following:
2 Two-tailed Swallowtail
3 Mexican Yellow
1 Gray Hairstreak
1 Leda Ministreak
50+ Marine Blue
75+ Echo Azure (dozens nectaring at the peak)
5 Mylitta Crescent
5 Common Buckeye
1 Red-spotted Purple
3 Arizona Sister
1 Red Satyr
4 Canyonland Satyr (pretty sure - Nabokov's don't get this far north do
they?)
13 Silver-spotted Skipper
4 Rocky Mountain Duskywing
2-3 Meridian Duskywing or Afranius? (any tips on telling these two apart?)
2 Mournful Duskywing
1 Taxiles Skipper
1 Deva Skipper
Deva Skipper photo:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/8374611_e2G6g#573457599_5CyHA-A-LB
Later, I drove FR300 along the Mogollon Rim northeast of Pine and stopped at a
couple of wet meadows and at a hilltop. I had mixed success ast storm-clouds
started building, but I saw:
2 Black Swallowtail
2 Orange Sulphur
20+ Queen Alexandra's Sulphur (good numbers of sulphurs, most of which I
think were this species)
4 Southern Dogface
3 Dainty Sulphur
5 Western Pine Elfin (these looked much paler than Guides show - perhaps
worn; photo below)
1 Reakirt's Blue
25+ Echo Azure
1 Lupine Blue
6 Northwestern Fritillary
1 Field Crescent
2 Mylitta Crescent
3 California Tortoiseshell
8 Mourning Cloak
4 Common Buckeye
3 Arizona Sister
5 Silver-spotted Skipper
1 Mournful Duskywing
1 Funereal Duskywing
Western Pine-Elfin photo:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/8406287_hJtnQ#574291432_m69VS-A-LB
Queen Alexandra's Sulphur:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/4753055_Q9qPF#574296583_mFr2b-A-LB
I also stopped at Kinder Crossing along Clear Creek. By now it was very
cloudy, but I did luck into a Western Tailed-blue and a Satyr Anglewing.
Western-tailed Blue:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/8406287_hJtnQ#574291449_HCJNZ-A-LB
I visited the San Francisco Mountains the next afternoon, but this is getting
long, so I'll post separately for that.
Philip Kline
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Fw: Kern R. Valley July 09 Butterfly CountsFrom: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:08:11 -0700 For those interested in better butterfly watching (or collecting) than what you
will find in Los Angeles and vicinity: Last year at the NABA meeting we had
over one hundred species during the week. This should be a very good year in
the southern Sierra now that the thunderstorm-monsoon activity has stopped.]
And Clodius Parnassians are common above 7000' along the Sherman Pass Rd, a
plus if you are from the eastern U. S.
Ken Davenport
Subject: Kern R. Valley July 09 Butterfly Counts
Hi,
You are invited to the following two Kern River Valley July butterfly counts..
RSVP. Thank you.
Following count days/dates with details following.
COUNTS:
Sa, 4 Jul 09 - North Fork Kern River Valley Butterfly Count
Su, 5 Jul 09 - Giant Sequoia National Monument - South Butterfly Count
NOTE: Both of the above counts have reached the top five nationally some past
years in terms of overall species diversity. Each count party usually observes
in the 30-70 species range.
DETAILS:
Sa, 4 Jul 09 - 9th North Fork Kern River Valley Butterfly Count
***6am-7:55am, Breakfast at Cheryl's Diner in downtown Kernville or on your
own...
***8am, Meet for count start at Riverside Park by the restrooms and across from
Riverside One Stop Mini-Mart located at the west end of Kernville...
***Alta Sierra, Baker Meadow, Baker Point, Black Mountain, Boulder Gulch, Camp
9, Cannell Meadow, Cedar Creek Campground, Corral Creek, Cyrus Flat, Dry
Meadow, Dunlap Meadow, East Horse Meadow, Gold Ledge, Isabella Reservoir
shoreline, Kern River Fish Hatchery, Kern Valley Golf Course, Kernville, Old
State Road, Pine Flat, Portuguese Meadow, Portuguese Pass, Rancheria Road,
Raven Meadow, Riverkern, Sawmill Road, Shirley Meadows, Sunday Peak, Tillie
Creek Campground, Tobias Peak Lookout, Wofford Heights,...
***Compilation and dinner TBA at Saturday start gathering...
Su, 5 Jul 09 - 7th Giant Sequoia National Monument - South Butterfly Count
***6am-7:55am, Breakfast at Cheryl's Diner in downtown Kernville or on your
own...
***8am, Meet for count start at Riverside Park by the restrooms and across from
Riverside One Stop Mini-Mart located at the west end of Kernville.
***Alder Creek, Bone Meadow, Burnt Ridge, Calkins Flat, Cherry Hill Road, Crane
Meadow, Doublebunk Meadow, Dome Rock, Durrwood Meadows, Fairview, Freezeout
Meadow, French Joe Meadow, Holby Meadow, Holey Meadow, Horse Meadow,
Johnsondale, Limestone, Long Meadow, Mosquito Meadow, Mule Meadow, Mule Peak
Lookout, Nobe Young Meadow, North Meadow, Onion Meadow, Parker Meadow,
Peppermint Meadows, Poison Meadow, Redwood Meadow, Roads End, Round Meadow,
Sherman Pass, Sherman Pass Road, Sherman Peak, Speas Meadow, Windy Gap,...
***Compilation and dinner TBA at Monday start gathering...
Happy & Productive Butterflying,
Bob Barnes, Kern River Valley Butterfly Counts Compiler
1009 Las Cruces Ave.
Ridgecrest, CA 93555
P: 760-382-1260
E: bbarnes AT lightspeed.net
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Seeking Recommendations For SoCal Butterfly Watching SitesFrom: "kosmokratur" <kosmokratur AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:25:38 -0000 Hi - I will be visiting SoCal (staying in LA but willing to travel) for the first half of July. Would anyone be willing to share some good butterfly watching sites so I know where to go? Thanks George Dombroske Big Flats, NYSubject: SE AZ: Black Checkerspot in Madera Canyon today From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:25:43 -0700 Hi Lepsters, Today, 6/24/09, I found Chlosyne cyneas in the portion of Madera Canyon that lies within Santa Cruz Co. This is significant for two reasons: 1) It is only the fourth record for the Santa Rita Mts.; 2) It is only the fifth record for Santa Cruz Co. Most U.S. Chlosyne cyneas records are from Cochise Co., from the Huachuca and Chiricahua Mts. There is also one anomalous record from the lower-elevation portion of Madera Canyon that lies within Pima Co., which is the only record from that county. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Re: Ceranus ovipositing From: "Bob Barber" <bbarber AT naturenm.org> Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:03:38 -0600 Medicago polymorpha does have yellow flowers and similar leaves...see link.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MEPO3&photoID=mepo3_001_ahp.tif
Bob Barber
Alamogordo, NM
Bob et al.,
That plant looks like it may be yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis),
but I wouldn't swear to it. I think the Medicago spp., like alfalfa, have
purple flowers.
This past Friday (6/19/09) I photographed Ceraunus at 12,400 ft elevation on
Tesuque Peak, above the Santa Fe Ski Area. According to my (perhaps limited)
New Mexico data, that is a record for the county, latitude (at least in NM),
and elevation.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Barber
To: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com
Sent: 6/23/2009 3:50:57 PM
Subject: [SoWestLep] Ceranus ovipositing
All,
One way I enjoy escaping the heat here in NM, is to head for high altitude.
Last week I was in a meadow next to a lake at ~9,400', and had lots of Ceraunus
ovipositing on what appears to be Medicago sp. Pictures here:
http://naturenm.org/NM/CeraunusBlue_Medicago.jpg
http://naturenm.org/NM/Ceraunus_Medicago.jpg
I don't go there to often, because there is an evil Tabanid that lurks there,
which can inflict pain right through a shirt.
Best,
Bob Barber
Alamogordo, NM
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: RE: Ceranus ovipositingFrom: "sjcary AT earthlink.net" <sjcary@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:14:31 -0600 Bob et al., That plant looks like it may be yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis), but I wouldn't swear to it. I think the Medicago spp., like alfalfa, have purple flowers. This past Friday (6/19/09) I photographed Ceraunus at 12,400 ft elevation on Tesuque Peak, above the Santa Fe Ski Area. According to my (perhaps limited) New Mexico data, that is a record for the county, latitude (at least in NM), and elevation. Steve ----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Barber To: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com Sent: 6/23/2009 3:50:57 PM Subject: [SoWestLep] Ceranus ovipositing All, One way I enjoy escaping the heat here in NM, is to head for high altitude. Last week I was in a meadow next to a lake at ~9,400', and had lots of Ceraunus ovipositing on what appears to be Medicago sp. Pictures here: http://naturenm.org/NM/CeraunusBlue_Medicago.jpg http://naturenm.org/NM/Ceraunus_Medicago.jpg I don't go there to often, because there is an evil Tabanid that lurks there, which can inflict pain right through a shirt. Best, Bob Barber Alamogordo, NM [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Ceranus ovipositing From: "Bob Barber" <bbarber AT naturenm.org> Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:49:42 -0600 All, One way I enjoy escaping the heat here in NM, is to head for high altitude. Last week I was in a meadow next to a lake at ~9,400', and had lots of Ceraunus ovipositing on what appears to be Medicago sp. Pictures here: http://naturenm.org/NM/CeraunusBlue_Medicago.jpg http://naturenm.org/NM/Ceraunus_Medicago.jpg I don't go there to often, because there is an evil Tabanid that lurks there, which can inflict pain right through a shirt. Best, Bob Barber Alamogordo, NM [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Re: June "Blues" From: agrkovich2003 AT yahoo.com Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:16:49 -0700 (PDT) Folks don't know what the June Blues are until they come to New England (or New Brunswick)...We haven't had a day without rain and chilly temps since June 6...Later this week, they SAY it's gonna become "normal"...Of course, "bog hopping season" is already pretty much croaked... Alex --- On Tue, 6/23/09, JimJoanJoy AT aol.comSubject: June "Blues" From: JimJoanJoy AT aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:59:02 EDT Greetings all, June in Tucson, Arizona is normally the hottest month of the year. Typically daytime highs are triple digits and skies are cloudless with warm westerly obnoxious winds in the afternoons. It's my least favorite time to live here and it's best to be like a snowbird and go somewhere else. Like the coast of California with it's "June gloom", I liken our weather to the "June blues". This year has been pleasantly different, however, with today being our first 100 degree in three weeks and last week we had an unheard of June high temperature of 83 preceded by a day of drizzle - .04" of rain in my gauge. With this cooler weather and a rare mid-May rain of more than a half an inch my backyard legumes have responded with a nice prolonged bloom that seems to have encouraged a nice "bloom" of Ceraunus Blues (Hemiargus ceraunus gyas). I noticed the first cerauns adult of the year for my yard in mid-May and subsequently, their numbers began to increase until I was inundated with them. No big deal really except that I only have their larvae on a few of my garden plants and noticed a number of ovipositions on plants not yet reported as hosts. So the past two weeks I have been sifting through the blossoms of my yard legumes seeking the caterpillars and with the aid of two species of ants (Crematogaster I think) I have found blue caterpillars on no less than 8 plants, some of which I suspect are new reported hostplants. Now, not all of my blue larvae will be ceraunus since Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) and Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola alce) are also present. One of the points of doing this is naturally to determine hostplants but the other reason is to determine if two species of blues are competing on the same host. In previous experience, at least in my yard, it seems that there is little competition going on. They seem to segregate out to different hosts. Below is a list of my plants currently in bloom in my yard and my results so far and from previous rearings and my comments. It's been a blast to go out every morning to see what's going on and very cheap as well. No need to drive for hours to go somewhere, it's happening right in the yard! I really have the "June blues". Acacia millefolia (Santa Rita Acacia) larvae found so far have been Marine Blue (possible new host) Acacia angustissima (Whiteball Acacia) larvae (have not emerged) suspected to be Ceraunus Blue There are dozens of adults on my plants and many caterpillars with dozens of ants. I will eventually have these photos on Butterflies of America Acacia constricta (Whitethorn Acacia) larvae found previously have been Ceraunus Blue Calliandra californica (Baja Fairy Duster) larvae previously have been Ma rine Blue, Reakirts Blue (curretn cats have not hatched Eysenhardtia orthocarpa (Kidneywood) larvae found have not hatched but suspected to be Marine Blue (Marine Blue confrimed prior) Eysenhardtia texana (Texas Kidneywood) no larvae yet, just egg shells Harvardia pallens (Tenaza) larvae found suspected to be Ceraunus Blue which is not new Dalea bicolor (Monterey Blue, an indigo bush) larva found emerged today - Reakirt's Blue (possible new host) Some of these plants aren't native to my immediate area but this demonstrates the fact that the blues will and probably do utilize them as hosts in habitat. Also, about ten days ago I had my first Fatal Metalmark yard sighting for 2009 - a female. Sure enough days ago I found what appears to be an early second instar on Virgin's Bower (Clematis) near where I saw the female. It is currently getting fed and photographed by yours truly. Keep cool amigos, Jim Brock **************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000004) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Bates Canyon, Santa Barbara County, CA. From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:50:26 -0700 Everyone: Most of the records below are from Bates Canyon, but some were from the road connecting Bates Canyon with Cottonwood canyon and a few were taken along Foothill Rd. in San Luis Obispo County while the other side of the street was in Santa Barbara County. There (SLO County side) I took three male members of either Pyrgus communis or albescens for Opler to determine genitalically. I also visited Ballinger Canyon in Santa Barbara County where Peter Jump told me two months ago that he had collected the Mojave Sootywing (Hesperopsis libya joaquina) there recently (not this year) . I have no data from him yet, but that would be a new SANTA BARBARA COUNTY record. None were seen there this morning (June 22). There have been concerns joaquina may have disappeared but Jack Levy found it a few weeks ago on or near Carrizo Plains National Monument and he got photographs. Here's the list for June 22, 2009...Bates Canyon, Santa Barbara County, CA. (1) Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis)-common (2) Propertius Duskywing (Erynnis propertius)-uncommon (3) Checkered Skipper complex (Pyrgus communis vs. albescens)-fairly common Foothill Rd., not seen in Bates Cyn.) (4) Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum) (5) Rural Skipper (Ochlodes agricola agricola) (6) Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) (7) Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon)-scarce but did find one very large fresh female. A male nectured at one spot for over two hours. (8) Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris rapae) (9) Checkered White (Pontia protodice) (10) Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) (11) Harford's Sulphur (Colias harfordi)-common (12) California Dogface (Zerene eurydice)-very abundant, both sexes (13) Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus); Two on buckwheats on road connecting Cottonwood & Bates Canyon Rd., after 5 PM. (14) Hedge Row Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium chalcis). More common and fresh lower down than higher up in Bates Canyon. Most found after 5 PM between Bates and Cottonwood Canyons. (15) Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak (Satyrium tetra)-By far the most common hairstreak in Bates Canyon. May have seen one thousand in 4 hours! (16) California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica californica) Getting worn (17) Nut Brown Gold-Hunter's Hairstreak (Satyrium auretorum spadix): Scarce, only netted four and saw only one or two others. Can be common here in early June. (18) Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)-Foothill Rd., SLO County. (19) Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis)-Foothill Rd. (20) Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon) (21) Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini-monticola group)-much less common than a month ago, few in good condition. (22) Bernardino Blue (Euphilotes bernardino bernardino): Saw about 70. (23) Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta mylitta)-common (24) Chalcedon Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona chalcedona)-still thousands and still fresh! (25) West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella)-Foothill Rd. (26) Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea) (27) California Sister (Adelpha california)-common (28) California Ringlet (Coenonympha california california) No Lindsey's Skippers, Gabb's Checkerspots, Echo Azures, Boisduval's Blues or California Tortoiseshells were seen. I may have seen a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) which appeared larger and with a different wingshape than Zerene eurydice females but could not net the individual. I also believe I may have seen some Golden Hairstreaks (Habrodais grunus) which does occur in this canyon. Ballinger Canyon looked promising for Mojave Sootywings but this locality was sampled 9-10:15 AM and almost no butterflies were seen. Private property made exploring off the road impossible but one could collect along the road or in a National Forest area, but an "Adventure Pass" was required and this took a half hour of my time. No such pass was apparently required at Bates Campground but it did not hurt to have one. Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: San Bernardino Mtns - June 15 From: "Walker, Mark" <xvermontrz AT cox.net> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:53:44 -0700 I spent two days at altitude in the San Bernardino Mountains earlier this week, and though the temperature was cooler than expected (mostly 60's F), we enjoyed a good amount of sunshine and at least a good number of butterflies - if not species. At or near 8000 ft. we enjoyed the largest flight of Euphydryas editha augustina I've seen ever. It was by far the most common butterfly on the wing. They were very fresh, and were clearly mating. For the second year in a row, absolutely no sign whatsoever of Papilio bairdii - even though there was an abundance of its foodplant everywhere. Other species were sporadic, although Plebejus saepiolus was reliable in its expected wet meadow habitats. We had to look extra hard to find wet meadow habitats, but there was sufficient habitat to produce a decent number of Greenish Blues. Another butterfly having a good flight was Hesperia colorado. Only a single Callophrys euryphon (Pine Elfin) was spotted, along with a Callophrys nelsoni (Nelson's Hairstreak). There is sporadic Incense Cedar there, but there is a predominance of 50 foot tall juniper also, and I was left wondering if any of the Callophrys group might be eating it. I half expected to find something looking more like siva, but nothing like that ever shows up. Though the Wild Horse Meadow area looks a bit dry, there were many wildflowers present and the trees were looking mostly very healthy. We need a few more years with at least as much precipitation, and maybe the high elevation areas in the San Bernardino Mountains will make a full recovery. Our list: Papilio rutulus (Western Tiger Swallowtail) Pontia protodice (Checkered White) Nathalis iole (Dainty Sulphur) - this was at 8000 ft. Callophrys nelsoni (Nelson's Hairstreak) Callophrys euryphon (Western Pine Elfin) Leptotes marina (Marine Blue) Hemiargus ceraunus (Ceraunus Blue) Plebejus lupini (Lupine Blue) Plebejus saepiolus hilda (Greenish Blue) Speyeria coronis semiramus (Coronis Fritillary) Euphydryas editha augustina (Edith's Checkerspot) Phyciodes mylittla (Mylitta Crescentspot) Polygonia gracilis (Hoary Comma) Nymphalis californica (California Tortoiseshell) Nymphalis antiopa (Mourning Cloak) Sphinx chersis (Great Ash Sphinx) Hesperia juba (Juba Skipper) Hesperia colorado leussleri (Leussler's Branded Skipper) Mark Walker "Blasting, billowing, bursting forth With the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes" Graeme Edge "If you go down to Willow Farm, to look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies Open your eyes, it's full of surprise, everyone lies, like the fox on the rocks, and the musical box. Oh, there's Mum & Dad, and good and bad, and everyone's happy to be here." Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford "If I can't sell it, I'll sit on it" Ruth Brown [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Mexico: Baja California - first Euphyes vestris harbisoni for Mexico From: "David Powell" <vireo AT vireos.com> Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:22:45 -0000 Lepsters, Kurt Radamaker and I went down to Baja California last weekend to see if we could find Hermes Copper (Lyceana hermes). We failed in our search, but found a bug that was even better. While exploring the drainages to the west of Santo Tomas, we found and photographed a Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris harbisoni). This is apparently the first record of this bug for Mexico. Full details of this find will be published elsewhere. Our searching was within about 40 KM of Ensenada, so there are lots of areas still to be checked. We had trouble with coastal clouds as well, so we may have been in appropriate habitat, but not in appropriate conditions. The most common bug was Bernardino Blue (Euphilotes b. bernardino) which was found at most sites we checked. Dave David Powell Phoenix, AZ vireo AT vireos.com http://www.vireos.com/mexico Species list (23 species): Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) 2 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 2 Harford's Sulphur (Colias harfordii) 4 Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) 8 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 10 Sylvan Hairstreak (Satyrium sylvinus dryope) 2 Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak (Satyrium tetra) 3 Hedgerow Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium chlorophora) 2 (guessing at subspecies) Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 30+ Bernardino Blue (Euphilotes b. bernardino) 50+ Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon) 2 Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis damersi) 2 Behr's Metalmark (Apodemia v. virgulti) 10 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 1 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 1 Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini ) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea) 4 Common Ringlet (Coenonympha tullia california) 3 Great Basin Wood-Nymph (Certhyonis sthenele) 1 Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis t. tristis) 1 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Northern White-Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum) 1 Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris harbisoni) - 1Subject: Fw: Satyrium saepium caliginosum From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:14:08 -0700
Bill:
S. saepium caliginosum is a subspecies described in 1998 in the Systematics
book and your virgulti at Los Osos is likely arenaria, an entity also described
in that work. I have taken both at Los Osos, caliginosum is very dark and
distinctive (as compared to chalcis, fulvescens and saepium which are similar)
and what metalmark is at Los Osos as a virgulti virgulti or arenaria was left
open in the Systematics book....chemical studies indicated arenaria from El
Segundo showed differences from virgulti, but no work to my knowledge was done
on the Los Osos virgulti....which does have at least two broods, so it is
definitely not mormo or cythera. It may have been done by now, but no such
results have been reported to me.
Ken Davenport
Hi All,
Recently I received a request from Mike Stangeland, of Butterflies Of America,
for images of Satyrium saepium caliginosum, a form (?) apparently only known
from the coastal scrub in the vicinity of Los Osos and Baywood Park, San Luis
Obispo Co., CA. (Please update me on any extension of that range of which you
are aware.) Finding butterflies near the ocean at this time of the year can be
tricky, as it is common for the marine layer (high fog) to move several miles
inland, usually accompanied by "chilly" temperatures.
It is a 10 mile drive from sunny San Luis Obispo to coastal Los Osos, but I was
lucky today, finding the marine layer to be breaking up and sunny skies
predominating. I spent about 2 hours at midday, wandering a protected (though
unexploded paint-balls lay here and there on the sand) piece of coastal shrub
environment looking for butterflies and photographing flowers.
During that time, I only encountered 4 species of butterflies:
Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio r. rutulus -- 3
Morro Blue, Plebejus icarioides moroensis -- 10
(Behr's) Mormon Metalmark, Apodemia mormo virgulti (I guess) -- 3
and
Hedgerow Hairstreak, Satyrium saepium caliginosum -- 8
The hairstreaks, except for one which was nectaring at Black Sage, Salvia
mellifera, were all found associating with Buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus var.
fasicularis.
Five images of 4 individuals can be viewed at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/72157619842185462/
Cheers,
Bill Bouton
San Luis Obispo, CA USA
bbouton AT charter.net
http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/
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Subject: RE: Satyrium saepium caliginosumFrom: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:20:15 -0600 Hi Bill, If you're interested in rearing Satyrium saepium caliginosum next year, I might recommend visiting those same Ceanothus cuneatus var. fasicularis plants next May and/or when the Ceanothus is in bloom. If you place a butterfly net or similar flat surface under the flowers and gently beat the branches of the plant, you might get late instar larvae to fall off the plant and into your net. I've had some success with Satyrium saepium provo late instar larvae falling from Ceanothus velutinus plants in bloom here in Northern Utah about three weeks before they fly in mid-July. That approach has also worked for Incisalia augustinus annettae larvae on the same Ceanothus. Thx, Todd Todd L. Stout Utah Lepidopterists' Society http://www.utahlepsociety.org/toddstout.html todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com 801-558-6302 TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" 1999 To: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com From: bbouton AT charter.net Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:19:51 -0700 Subject: [SoWestLep] Satyrium saepium caliginosum Hi All, Recently I received a request from Mike Stangeland, of Butterflies Of America, for images of Satyrium saepium caliginosum, a form (?) apparently only known from the coastal scrub in the vicinity of Los Osos and Baywood Park, San Luis Obispo Co., CA. (Please update me on any extension of that range of which you are aware.) Finding butterflies near the ocean at this time of the year can be tricky, as it is common for the marine layer (high fog) to move several miles inland, usually accompanied by "chilly" temperatures. It is a 10 mile drive from sunny San Luis Obispo to coastal Los Osos, but I was lucky today, finding the marine layer to be breaking up and sunny skies predominating. I spent about 2 hours at midday, wandering a protected (though unexploded paint-balls lay here and there on the sand) piece of coastal shrub environment looking for butterflies and photographing flowers. During that time, I only encountered 4 species of butterflies: Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio r. rutulus -- 3 Morro Blue, Plebejus icarioides moroensis -- 10 (Behr's) Mormon Metalmark, Apodemia mormo virgulti (I guess) -- 3 and Hedgerow Hairstreak, Satyrium saepium caliginosum -- 8 The hairstreaks, except for one which was nectaring at Black Sage, Salvia mellifera, were all found associating with Buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus var. fasicularis. Five images of 4 individuals can be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/72157619842185462/ Cheers, Bill Bouton San Luis Obispo, CA USA bbouton AT charter.net http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Re: Satyrium saepium caliginosum From: JimJoanJoy AT aol.com Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:33:32 EDT Bill, Nice shots! Most of the habitat where I collected the type series is now houses. I have also seen this ssp. at the type locality for P. speciosa purisima at Lompoc. Jim Brock **************Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your fingertips. (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolclassifieds/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000004) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: SW outside Yosemite National Park: From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:58:39 -0700 Everyone: I did get up to the Sierra Nevada just SW of Yosemite National Park and camp below Fresno Dome Camp along Big Creek where it had rained saturday afternoon before our arrival at nightfall. Thunderstorm Cloud buildup very early in the morning Sunday and Monday did not allow collecting at Fresno Dome Trailhead or at Fresno Dome Camp. Limited sunshine was infrequent on June 14 and 15 and results were disappointing. Places where collecting or observations made included: National Forest Rd. 10 above Sky Ranch Rd., Hwy 41 at about 4000', Sugar Pine, Miami Rd. off Hwy. 41 between Sugar Pine and Fish Camp and Summerdale Camp. No butterflies were seen 12 to 7 PM in Yosemite National Park and in Yosemite Valley June 15th, except a few California Sisters near the entrance to the park. No butterflies were seen by me in Yosemite Valley. Temperature there was 62 degrees (per my new Yosemite keychain thermometer) and it was generally very overcast. My son Kevin did catch a 16 inch Brook Trout in the Merced River by the overflow parking lot while I visited the Village Store and yes, he limited out for catching trout each day. Thirty Butterflies seen: Almost all for Sunday, June 14th: On a normal day at this time of the year with full sun, over sixty species would be expected. With a daily Thundershowers pattern developed over past three weeks, season seems very delayed. Propertius Duskywing (Erynnis propertius) Common at mud near jct. of Hwy 41 and Miami Mtn. Rd., also at Sugar Pine. Two-Banded Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus ruralis ruralis)-Lewis Creek at Sugar Pine and wet spot given under E. propertius. Large or Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum)-Sugar Pine Umber Skipper (Poanes melane melane): Two at Sugar Pine and Lewis Creek. Sol Clodius Parnassian (Parnassius clodius sol): Second MADERA COUNTY record substantiated by capture taken along road embankment at Sugar Pine. June 14th. None seen at Summerdale Camp where I have taken them before. Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus); Sugar Pine and Summerdale Camp. Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon): Seen frequently along road at Sugar Pine. Checkered White (Pontia protodice) Small Veined White (Pieris marginalis microstriata AKA castoria): Two at Sugar Pine, including a fresh male. Common here in April and early May. Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica californica) Hwy. 41 road turnout at 4000', common. Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak (Satyrium tetra): Hwy 41 turnout on buckeye below 3800' Hedge-Row Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium saepium): Found on Ceanothus with tetra. Nelson's Hairstreak (Callophrys (Mitoura) nelsoni): I had to work hard for them and lucked out on Miami Mtn. road when an unusual amount of sun on two occasions during the day allowed me to collect a series. Adults favored mud until late afternoon when they started visiting flowering trees. Some were taken at Sugar Pine and one at Summerdale Camp. These did show less of a prominent white stripe on the HW below than those nelsoni from the southern Sierra, but its regular occurrence here far north and east of siva's range argues against this trait being the result of a blend zone with either near muiri from the Coast Ranges of western Fresno County or juniperia in the Greenhorns and southern Sierra Nevada. Western Brown Elfin (Callophrys augustinus iroides) Echo Azure (Celastrina echo) Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon acmon) Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella)-Summerdale Camp Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta mylitta) Sierra Nevada Chalcedon Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona sinecat)- common on Yerba santa like species along US forest servive Rd. 10 to Fresno Dome. Zephyr Anglewing (Polygonia gracilis zephyrus)-One at Sugar Pine Green Comma (Polygonia faunus rusticus): One worn individual seen on tree trunk along Lewis Creek. California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica): The most common species out, many hundreds seen at wet spots along streams and roads. Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)-A dead individual seen at Summerdale camp Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea) Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini): Scarce at Sugar Pine. California Sister (Adelpha californica): Also very common at wet spots, even at Miami Mtn. Rd., Sugar Pine and present Summerdale Camp in dense coniferous forest with few oaks. California Ringlet (Coenonympha california california) Sylvan Satyr (Cercyonis sthenele sylvestris): One Fresh male off Hwy. 41 at 3800' Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Season Summaries, records and questions From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:05:43 -0700 Everyone: Note to Chris Kline: I received your message but my computer returned my messages back to me as undeliverable. Some of the issues discussed herein apply to your question. But most apply to other issues Chris did not ask about. I have gotten some questions lately regarding why some records of questionable value get accepted for the annual Season Summary while others submitted in earlier years elsewhere were not used. The Season Summary tends to favor NEW COUNTY, STATE or USA RECORDS. Also range extentions, strays of interest, new host plants records or to document rarities in an area. What records to publish in a given year depends on many factors including numbers of records submitted, how many have been published before, significance and so on. Sometimes in a year of great abundance of strays in Arizona, some strays into SE Arizona are a big deal, some years they may not. Other factors are who is reporting the record and their credibility. Sometimes, a person may submit a long list of records and the only one of interest may be one that is borderline. The value of records ultimately depends on who is interested in them and for what purpose. Even common duskywings in California were rare in certain counties of the Yosemite region and highly sought for use in my Yosemite publication. Records of rare species appeal to collectors and watchers. Other prefer certain pretty species. Some even like to track Painted Lady and Monarch movements which bore most observers. With regard to records in the Season Summary....the report can become very lengthy so direction is given to keep the report at a manageable length. Some species each year become "well documented" and the need for added records declines. Submitted records are not used frequently. Others become upset when a list of others may not get direct credit in a multiple names listing of observers for a rare butterfly. This may happen for "practical" reasons. There are limited alphabetical letter combinations and coordinators are asked to avoid making new contributor codes unless it is expected an observer will be making many reports over the years in the future. In such a case, I usually give the name of the one reporting the record or myself as the one accepting the record, then give the actually source of the record under comments. One other issue. Some DO NOT report their records, give specific localities or dates. If I do not have such information, it will NOT be accepted in the Season Summary. Some do this to keep localities secret from collectors, watchers or for conservation purposes. That is fine, but that means such discoveries will not be published and someone else discovering an important species will eventually get the credit. Like everything else, if you do not report it, it did not happen. Unless you write it up in an article or publication. Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Satyrium saepium caliginosum From: "Bill Bouton" <bbouton AT charter.net> Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:19:51 -0700 Hi All, Recently I received a request from Mike Stangeland, of Butterflies Of America, for images of Satyrium saepium caliginosum, a form (?) apparently only known from the coastal scrub in the vicinity of Los Osos and Baywood Park, San Luis Obispo Co., CA. (Please update me on any extension of that range of which you are aware.) Finding butterflies near the ocean at this time of the year can be tricky, as it is common for the marine layer (high fog) to move several miles inland, usually accompanied by "chilly" temperatures. It is a 10 mile drive from sunny San Luis Obispo to coastal Los Osos, but I was lucky today, finding the marine layer to be breaking up and sunny skies predominating. I spent about 2 hours at midday, wandering a protected (though unexploded paint-balls lay here and there on the sand) piece of coastal shrub environment looking for butterflies and photographing flowers. During that time, I only encountered 4 species of butterflies: Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio r. rutulus -- 3 Morro Blue, Plebejus icarioides moroensis -- 10 (Behr's) Mormon Metalmark, Apodemia mormo virgulti (I guess) -- 3 and Hedgerow Hairstreak, Satyrium saepium caliginosum -- 8 The hairstreaks, except for one which was nectaring at Black Sage, Salvia mellifera, were all found associating with Buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus var. fasicularis. Five images of 4 individuals can be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/72157619842185462/ Cheers, Bill Bouton San Luis Obispo, CA USA bbouton AT charter.net http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: AZ: Jerome area, Yavapai County From: "vireo" <vireo AT vireos.com> Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:22:38 -0700 Lepsters, Today the butterfly gods smiled upon me. After striking out on most of my attempts recently, today I hit a personal jackpot. I went searching for 3 species I had not previously seen, one which has eluded me several times and found all three: Illavia Hairstreak (Satyrium illavia), Soapberry Hairstreak (Phaeostrymon alcestis), and Viereck's Skipper (Atrytonopsis vierecki). I checked a side canyon near the famous water tank about two miles north (above) Jerome and found the Viereck's and the Illavia. It was very dry, with few nectar sources. The primary nectar source was some sort of mint with very small, white flowers. That is where I had my only Illavia. The Viereck's was in the gully itself. The Soapberry Hairstreaks were on Western Soapberry just on the south edge (down) of Jerome. This is the location mentioned in Bailowitz and Brodkin's book. The weather has been so strange here that it was nice to have a sunny day (though it did cloud up about noon). Dave David Powell Phoenix, AZ vireo AT vireos.com http://www.vireos.com/AZ Species list (16 species): Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) - 1 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) - 1 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) - 1 white female Checkered White (Pontia protodice) - 1 Illavia Hairstreak (Satyrium illavia) - 1 Soapberry Hairstreak (Phaeostrymon alcestis oslari) - 3 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) - 5 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) - 8 Southwestern Azure (Celestrina echo cinerea) - 6 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) - 2 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) - 5 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) - 2 Common/Dark Tropical Buckeye (Junonia something) - 6 Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) - 2 Canyonland Satyr (Cyllopsis pertepida) - 2 Viereck's Skipper (Atrytonopsis vierecki) - 1 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: AZ: Montosa Canyon, Santa Cruz County From: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:14:46 -0700 (PDT) I checked out Montosa Canyon on the west side of the Santa Rita Mountains this
morning with Rich Hoyer, Matt Brooks, and Scott Pipkin. Conditions were less
than ideal, but we checked several sites from about 3500' to 6000'. It was
quite breezy and our hill-topping efforts did not amount to much. The Canyon
was also very dry with several areas that are flowing with water during monsoon
season bone dry. Consequently species diversity and numbers were rather low.
Nectar attractants were mainly Fendler's Ceanothus and Kidneywood. We saw the
following:
5 Pipevine Swallowtail
4 Black Swallowtail
3 Giant Swallowtail
5 Two-tailed Swallowtail
1 Mexican Yellow
3 'Siva' Juniper Hairstreak
4 Gray Hairstreak
6 Leda Ministreak
40+ Marine Blue
8 Ceraunus Blue
6 Reakirt's Blue
3 Bordered Patch
3 Red-spotted Purple
5 Arizona Sister
1 Tropical Leafwing
1 Empress Leilia
3 Nabokov's/Canyonland Satyr
10 Red Satyr
1 Arizona Mottled-skipper
1 Golden-banded Skipper
4 Golden-headed Scallopwing
Philip Kline
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Subject: Moths in the national newsFrom: Bruce Walsh <jbwalsh AT u.arizona.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:20:21 -0700 I'm actually a bit embarrassed that this made the national news. Its simply because it was pink! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31206672/Subject: Big Pine Mountain, SBA county, CA From: "Lethaby, Nick" <nlethaby AT ti.com> Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:40:15 -0500 All: On Sunday, I was able to visit Big Pine Mountain, the highest point in Santa Barbara County, in the San Rafael Mountains. I was resuming some butterfly surveys I began about six years ago and was eager to see the effects of the Zaca fire on butterfly populations. Unfortunately, the weather was uncooperative with probably 40-50% of the day under cloud cover. The cool breezy conditions further inhibited butterfly activity when the sun was out. I experienced very disappointing results but it wasn't clear how much of this was due to the weather v. the fire effects. Almost every butterfly looked fresh, so it may be a late year up there. In terms of habitat, the north facing fir/incense cedar forest largely survived the fire and I found pines with dwarf mistletoe near the area when I have previously seen a Thicket Hairstreak. I suspect this species and Nelson's Hairstreak are still extent up there. Huge areas of chaparral and pines have been totally burnt out both at Big Pine and on the road up there. The trees on Little Pine were 99% destroyed. My results were as follows (all Big Pine unless stated otherwise): Anise Swallowtail - 1 Pale Swallowtail - 1, absurdly low even allowing for the conditions California Dogface - 1, on road up Harford's Sulphur - 1-2 Big Pine, a few on the road up California Tortoiseshell - 2 Painted Lady - 5+ Big Pine, a few on the road up Lorquin's Admiral - 1 Big Pine Variable Checkerpot - 3-4 Big Pine, perhaps 2-30 on the road up, where there would normally be hundreds Mylitta Crescent - 4+, as common or commoner than in previous visits. This species seems to be commoner in the county this year. Callippe Fritillary - 6, not that down from previous visits and proportionately commoner compared to other species. Hedgerow Hairstreak - 6+ seen on way up Brown Elfin - 1 seen on the way up. Often common at Big Pine in previous visits. Spring Azure - 2-3 Boisduval's Blue - 6, all males. Wasn't able to get meaningful photos as hoped as there were no females. Acmon/Lupine Blue - 5+ Mournful Duskywing - 2 at Bluff Camp (4500') N. White Skipper - 1 on the way up Numerous common species were missed including Gabb's Checkerspot, California Sister, California and Mountain Mohogany Hairstreaks, for example. The unfavorable weather makes it hard to comment on the fire impact. Two bird species have exploded in abundance related to the fire. I am fairly certain that a number of chaparral butterflies - Pale Swallowtails, hairstreaks, Variable Checkerspots - have been drastically reduced by the fire. However, I saw little evidence of increases in other species. I was hoping to see larger numbers of species like Silver-spotted Skipper and N. Cloudywing, whose foodplants typically increase after fires. Regards, Nick Lethaby 805 562 5106 nlethaby AT ti.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Lake Isabella-Havilah-Piutes Butterfly Count From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 19:35:34 -0700 Everyone: The final results on the count done Monday by five or six people will
be released later. My part of the count was done at Havilah, lower Breckenridge
Mtn. and Erskine Creek Canyon E of Lake Isabella.
Havilah is an interesting area and the type locality (the place from where a
butterfly was described for at least four butterflies): Verus Rural Skipper
(Ochlodes agricola verus); Harford's Sulphur (Colias harfordii), Small Blue
(Philotiella speciosa speciosa) and the Tawny Hedge-Row Hairstreak (Satyrium
saepium fulvescens).
I have NEVER found Small Blues or Harford's Sulphur at Havilah but verus was
present in small numbers and fulvescens was locally common. I was able to
collect 28 individuals to evaluate the status of fulvescens with saepium and
chalcis. Prior to today I had thought the TL of fulvescens was Lake Tahoe,
Tehachapi Pass and Havilah. But in rechecking Pelham's catalogue, I found the
reference to Austin's work which restricted fulvescens TL to just Havilah, but
only based on two males and two females from Havilah in the type series.
The other locality of interest is Erskine Creek which has been reported as
virtually pathetic this spring following last summers floods which scoured the
canyon. Jack Levy and I arrived there at about 2:30 PM, far later than desired
and heavily clouded over but there was considerable butterfly activity: We had
about 2 hours to find butterflies. Hedge-Row Hairstreaks were super abundant
here, and may not be the same variety of saepium found at Havilah a few miles
to the south.
Species seen, collected or known about from others on this count:
Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)-One on Breckenridge Mtn. by Bob Barnes.
Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus)
Two-Tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata pusillus)-two males in riparian
streambed on lower slope of Breckenridge Mt. accessible from Havilah.
No Pale Swallowtails were seen on the count, shocking because they are usually
abundant on Breckenridge Mtn.
Becker's White (Pontia beckerii): One by Jack Levy at Erskine Creek.
Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
Checkered White (Pontia protodice)
Gray Marble (Anthocharis lanceolata lanceolata)-seen by Alison Sheehey in Piute
Mts.
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)
Tailed Copper (Lycaena arota arota)
Great Copper (Lycaena xanthoides); Having a good year and apparently really
benefitted from the flood in Erskine Creek Canyon. Two phenotypes were
found...the one tending towards obsolescence and smaller in size below the
auxiliary Dam below Lake Isabella. More large and heavily spotted populations
were in Erskine Creek (just a few miles SE of the Dam population, Havilah and
lower Breckenridge Mtn.
Gorgon Copper (Lycaena gorgon gorgon)
California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica californica)
Sylvin Hairstreak (Satyrium sylvinus desertorum)
Hedge-Row Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium chalcis? and fulvescens- swarming in
Erskine Creek Canyon
Western Pigmy Blue (Brephidium exilis)
Bernardino Blue (Euphilotes bernardino bernardino)
Pacific Dotted Blue (Euphilotes enoptes tildeni)
Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon)-noted populations on both lagumes and buckwheats,
the latter single brooded in spring and early summer.
Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini near monticola)
Veined Blue (Plebejus neurona)-four individuals were taken in Erskine Creek
Canyon. Three were taken on a unofficial shooting range which made them a
protected species of sorts. Shooters made collecting there at end of day
unwise.
Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe macaria): Frequently found at Havilah.
Northern Checkerspot (Chlosyne palla) Very conspicuous by its near absence.
Levy got one worn individual.
Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta mylitta)
Chalcedon Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona chalcedona X olancha blend)
Edith's Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha augustina) I commented early in the day
that the population on Piute Mountain was close to augustinus based on the work
of Michael Singer. Singer was not participating in the count but he turned up
later in the day on Piute Mountain Vista and had taken male augustinus fide
Alison Sheehey..
California Tortoisesshell (Nymphalis californica): Several at Havilah and very
common on Breckenridge Mtn. in streambed.
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea)
Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini lorquini X powelli)
California Sister (Adelpha californica)
California Ringlet (Coenonympha california california)
Great Basin (Behr's) Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis sthenele behrii): It is subspecies
behrii here, not silvestris.
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)- three seen at Havilah.
Propertius Duskywing (Erynnis propertius)
Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis)
Checkered Skipper complex probably albescens. The only one collected was a
female.
Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum)
Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus)-a few seen on Breckenridge.
Lindsey's Skipper (Hesperia lindseyi)-one nice female at Erskine Creek in the
shooting range, another protected species?
Verus Rural Skipper (Ochlodes agricola verus)-fresh at Havilah, getting worn in
Erskine Creek Canyon, amazing the three rarest taxa in Erskine Creek were all
on the shooting range and so were nearly all of the Great Coppers!
No Vanessa species were seen. The day had heavy thunderstorm buildup but no
rain. Jack Levy and I had workable conditions nearly the entire day till 3:30
PM. The others working the Piutes and higher parts of Breckenridge had less
favorable conditions.
Ken Davenport
Best Wishes, Ken Davenport
flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org
For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org
TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Fw: [DesertLeps] State (AZ) Butterfly Sighting Record Submission - Silver-banded HairstreakFrom: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 16:53:41 -0700 Chris:
Thanks for the below record. Silver Banded Hairstreaks are always a good find,
even though it is taken in SE Arizona fairly regularly. I will likely use your
record in the annual Season Summary. In 1992, I was able to collect ten here in
Kern County, California...a lifetime highlight for me!
Ken Davenport
Subject: [DesertLeps] State (AZ) Butterfly Sighting Record Submission -
Silver-banded Hairstreak
State (AZ) Butterfly Sighting Record Submission
June 7, 2009
Location:
5494 East Edwin Road,
Tucson, Arizona 85739-1924
Conditions: 84°, sunny
Time: 8:45 AM
In attendance:MaryEllen Landen, CJ Vincent
Silver-banded Hairstreak
More photos available
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: RE: [leps-talk] Leatham Hollow; Cache County, UtahFrom: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 11:59:42 -0600
Hi Steve,
Great feedback!! I appreciate that.
I had no idea brenda and ampelos were sympatric in Cache County. My impression
was that the two taxa are separated by habitat in Utah--one montane; and the
other flies in valley floor wet meadows. I've only taken brenda in lower
Blacksmith Fork Canyon and now what appears to be ampelos at Leatham Hollow.
Another difference is that brenda is univoltine. Even under lab conditions, you
cannot force the larvae through to adult the same year. Third/Fourth instar
larvae diapause. And, as you know, ampelos go through the same year.
Whatever the parent species when the dust settles, it sounds reasonable that
Utah brenda and ampelos or 'elko' are not the same species.
Thx, Todd
Todd L. Stout
Utah Lepidopterists' Society
http://www.utahlepsociety.org/toddstout.html
todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com
801-558-6302
TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" 1999
From: stevekohler1 AT msn.com
To: todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com; tils-leps-talk AT yahoogroups.com;
desertleps AT yahoogroups.com; sowestlep AT yahoogroups.com
CC: dcnielson AT qwest.net
Subject: RE: [leps-talk] Leatham Hollow; Cache County, Utah
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 10:52:03 -0600
Todd and All:
Thanks for your interesting field trip summary. Of particular interest was the
comment on the Coenonympha, which was not an odd phenotype at all. Coenonympha
ochracea brenda and C. ampelos elko are sympatric at many localities in Cache
County, Utah. The ampelos appear to have two broods, the first beginning in
late May-June and the next in mid-July. The ochracea are flying late May and
through June, so both are flying together in basically the same areas, though
ampelos is more often at lower elevations. Pretty much the same thing occurs in
western Montana as well. In my mind, this is ample evidence that there are two
separate species involved, and it is not appropriate to lump them both into
tullia, a European species. If you get a chance to do some further sampling
in Cache County, Im sure this will become quite evident to you. Logan Canyon,
Green Canyon, Hyde Park Canyon, North Logan foothills, Smithfield foothills,
Paradise, and Avon are just some examples of where the two are sympatric.
Steve Kohler
125 Hillcrest Loop
Missoula, MT 59803
stevekohler1 AT msn.com
phone: (406) 549-2478
-----Original Message-----
From: TILS-leps-talk AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:TILS-leps-talk AT yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Todd Stout
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 11:28 AM
To: TILS; DesertLeps; Southwest Lep
Cc: Dale Nielson
Subject: [leps-talk] Leatham Hollow; Cache County, Utah
Hi everyone,
The Utah Butterfly Field Trips group had a fun time Saturday collecting indra
swallowtails at Leatham Hollow, Cache County, Utah. We had 11 people show up
for this field trip where Papilio indra indra was plentiful (but still not in
full flight.) (My wife even came. Wahoo!) We found mostly males mudpuddling.
http://api.ning.com/files/-6sZusYnNIwksTiGLuaI4XEDDk9g4Mt-IAS0aUpfXbHgIfSkUBq2ixqjh3det70xyArMpL5qGy-WR-2VNS-tOi2Ac-C6CYoN/workbug047.jpg
(Photo courtesy Tim Dalsing)
This is unique area where P. indra uses Cymopterus terebinthinus which grows
right in the canyon and along rock slides. In Utah, you normally have to do
quite a bit of hiking to get to indra indra country; but that isn't the case
near Logan.
Other butterflies on the wing include:
Papilio zelicaon nitra form "gothica" (anise swallowtail) (plentiful)
Papilio rutulus (western tiger swallowtail) (just emerging)
Papilio multicaudatus pusillus (two-tailed swallowtail) (scattered)
Anthocharis julia browningi (julia orangetip) (plentiful--3 females found)
Euchloe ausonides coloradensis (large marble) (common)
Colias philodice (yellow sulphur) (flying near host Medicago)
Coenonympha tullia (common ringlet) (just emerging--phenotype odd**)
Phyciodes pulchellus camillus (field crescent) (midflight)
Everes amyntula (western tailed blue) (just emerging)
Celastrina ladon echo (spring azure) (adults worn; just finishing up)
Plebejus icarioides ardea (boisduval's blue) (a few)
Hesperia juba (juba skipper) (common)
**C. tullia phenotype should be brenda; but at this locale, individuals seemed
closer to ampelos. I would like to collect more to see what is going on here.
Thx, Todd
Todd L. Stout
Utah Lepidopterists' Society
http://www.utahlepsociety.org/toddstout.html
todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com
801-558-6302
TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" 1999
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Subject: State (AZ) Butterfly Sighting Record Submission - Silver-banded HairstreakFrom: "CJ (Chris) Vincent" <cj AT wowaz.com> Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 10:19:35 -0700 State (AZ) Butterfly Sighting Record Submission June 7, 2009 Location: 5494 East Edwin Road, Tucson, Arizona 85739-1924 Conditions: 84°, sunny Time: 8:45 AM In attendance:MaryEllen Landen, CJ Vincent Silver-banded Hairstreak More photos available [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: AZ, Thumb Butte Trail #33, Prescott, Yavapai Co. From: "Marceline VandeWater" <marcelinevandewater AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:39:10 -0000 Yesterday June 7th, while hiking with family, I saw a small number of butterflies along the trail. I decided to post about it, since Ilavia Hairstreak is not very common. I also was happy to find Python Skipper sitting on the rocky part of the trail, as I was finally able to get a decent photo of it. Species list: 4 Two-tailed Swallowtail 4 Dainty Sulphur 2 Marine Blue 5 Reakirt's Blue 12 Spring "Echo" Azure 1 Acmon Blue 7 Juniper "Siva" Hairstreak 3 Ilavia Hairstreak 4 Gray Hairstreak 1 Common Buckeye 6 Arizona Sister 2 Python Skipper Marceline VandeWater Scottsdale, AZSubject: WOW! Powell & Opler From: Bruce Walsh <jbwalsh AT u.arizona.edu> Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 10:10:24 -0700 Just checked my Departmental mailbox this fine Saturday morning and found that my copy of Powell and Opler's Moths of Western North America has arrived! Here are a few impressions, based on just five minutes of quickly flipping through it. WOW! Its a bigger book that I thought (8 1/2 x 11, roughly 330 pages). 58 color plates of adults (the quality is that of the recent MONAs, i.e., excellent) -- Jerry's hand is evident in many pages of micros! Also 6 plates of larval photos. Much detail on many species. I keep a copy of Common's classic "Moths of Australia" in my bathroom for frequent reading. It is about to be replaced! I've yet to go through the text in detail, but it looks like Jerry and Paul have give Common a serious run for the best moth book ever written. Outstanding job! I now need to order several more copies, as I know I'll wear this copy out quickly and will also need a copy of keep with my collecting gear! cheers bruceSubject: Fw: Sat. Sequoia Bfly Ct. changed to Monday From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 21:14:59 -0700 Everyone: The Lake Isabella-Havilah-Piute Mts. butterfly count has been changed
from Saturday to Monday because of low temperatures, clouds and rainfall
forecast for Saturday.
Those who may be interested in a Monday count are invited to share with Bob
Barnes, Paul Levine and I. Bob Barnes message is given below.
Ken Davenport
Subject: Sat. Sequoia Bfly Ct. changed to Monday
Hi,
Due to a weather forecast for poor butterflying weather and an inordinate
number of scheduling conflicts for potential participants, tomorrrow's
Saturday, June 6, 2009 Sequoia National Forest South Butterfly Count has been
rescheduled for this coming Monday, June 8, 2009 when weather and participation
is all but surely to be better. All else remains the same (see original notice
below with the day/date changed)
The forecast for Lake Isabella tomorrow, Saturday, is for showers and a high of
73F. The forecast for Monday is a high of 82F and partly cloudy.
RSVP. Thank you.
Your are invited to participate in the Sequoia National Forest South Butterfly
County this coming Monday, June 8, 2009...
Mo, 8 Jun 09 - 6th Sequoia National Forest South Butterfly Count
***7:45am breakfast at Nelda's Diner in Lake Isabella
***9am count staging at Lake Isabella County Park (AKA Tank Park) on Lake
Isabella Blvd (take Bodfish/Lake Isabella exit off Hwy. 178. Go to Lake
Isabella Blvd. where the park is located at the northwest corner on the left).
***Breckenridge Mountain, Cook Peak, Erskine Creek Road, Havilah, Hopper Hill,
Keyesville Road, Lake Isabella (dam & town area), Piute Mountains, Powers'
Gateway Preserve, Squirrel Valley
***Compilation and dinner TBA at Saturday start gathering
RSVP.
Thank you,
Bob Barnes, Compiler
1009 Las Cruces Ave.
Ridgecrest, CA 93555
P: 760-382-1260
E: bbarnes AT lightspeed.net
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: AZ, Colonel Devin Trail from Washington Park Trailhead, 12 miles North of PaysonFrom: "Marceline VandeWater" <marcelinevandewater AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:34:39 -0000 Peter Derkx, a long time butterfly enthusiast visiting from the Netherlands, and I decided to scout the Colonel Devin Trail, Gila Co. on June 2nd, for the upcoming CAzBA fieldtrip planned on June 13th. With clear blue skies and temperatures a pleasant 75-83 degrees it was a welcome change from the 102 degrees in the Phoenix area. Everything was very lush and green, however some butterfly attracting plants like AZ Thistle, Mullein and Butterfly Milkweed where not blooming yet. They seem to be a little later than other years. Highlights for me where Canyonland Satyr and Alexandra's Sulphur as they where new to my Colonel Devin Trail list after visiting this area 6 times in June/early July over the past few years. Total list of 32 species seen: Tiger Swallowtail 4 Orange Sulphur 8 Queen Alexandra's Sulphur 1 Southern Dogface 6 Cloudless Sulphur 4 Mexican Yellow 1 Dainty Sulphur 5 Bramble Hairstreak 3 Gray Hairstreak 7 Marine Blue 3 Reakirt's Blue 20 Western-tailed Blue 1 Spring "Echo" Azure 10 Acmon Blue 4 Zela Metalmark 1 "Atlantis" Fritillary 14 Field Crescent 3 Mylittla Crescent 6 Mourning Cloak 2 Common Buckeye 40 Tropical Buckeye 4 Arizona Sister 4 Red-spotted Admiral 2 Canyonland Satyr 1 Silver-spotted Skipper 6 Northern Cloudywing 2 Duskywing sp. w/o white fringe 1 Com. Checkered Skipper 3 Northern White Skiper 2 Golden-headed Scallopwing 1 Morrison's Skipper 1 Cassus-roadside Skipper 1 Marceline VandeWater Scottsdale, AZ Fieldtrip Coordinator Central Arizona Butterfly Association www.CAzBA.orgSubject: Re: [DesertLeps] SEAZ Butterfly Counts From: chris kline <kline_at_pine AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009 07:31:23 -0700 (PDT) Also wanted to mention our annual Boyce Thompson Arboretum count will be Sat. Sept 12. I will be leading that one as I will be back in the state for monarch tagging for a couple weeks in Sept. Looking forward to dry weather!!! chris Chris Kline Director of Education Grange Insurance Audubon Center 692 North High Street, Suite 303 Columbus, Ohio 43215 614-224-3303 http://grange.audubon.org --- On Tue, 6/2/09, Hank BrodkinSubject: AZ: Miller Canyon, Cochise County addendum From: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 21:38:26 -0700 (PDT) Sorry, I forgot Pacuvius Duskywing, just one.
Philip Kline
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: AZ: Miller Canyon, Cochise CountyFrom: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 21:35:23 -0700 (PDT) Butterflies, other than Arizona Sisters, were rather sparse in Miller Canyon
today. Water is only flowing in two short sections and the canyon is quite dry
with very little blooming; just a few yellow composites, some bee bush, and one
patch of fleabane. I was leading a birding trip, which also hampered my
ability to focus on butterflies. Despite this, I was thrilled to find a couple
of reasonably-cooperative Orange-edged Roadside-skippers, which were a lifer
for me. Here's what I observed:
1 Pipevine Swallowtail
3 Two-tailed Swallowtail
50+ Marine Blue
3+ Reakirt's Blue
2 Texan Crescent
1 Mylitta Crescent
20+ Arizona Sister
4 Nabokov's Satyr
5 Silver-spotted Skipper
3 Northern Cloudywing
2 Orange-edged Roadside-skipper
Philip Kline
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: SEAZ Butterfly CountsFrom: "Hank Brodkin" <hbrodkin AT cox.net> Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 12:43:43 -0700 Here are the SEAZ Butterfly Count Contacts for 2009: July 18 - Santa Catalina Mountains Count, Karen Nickey - no e-mail - 520-326-2070 July 25 - Portal Count, August 31 Portal Census - P.D. Hulce, dhulce AT amnh.org ; 520 558 2396 August 1 - Ramsey Count, Hank Brodkin, hbrodkin AT cox.net - 520-803-9700 August 8 - Patagonia Count; Rich Bailowitz, raberg2 AT q.com 520- 520-544-0602 Please contact the individual Compiler if you want to attend any of these.. Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31Ί 26' 59.8", W110Ί 16' 02.8" hbrodkin AT cox.net "Butterflies of Arizona - a Photographic Guide" "Finding Butterflies in Arizona - a Guide to the Best Sites" http://members.cox.net/hbrodkin/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Leatham Hollow; Cache County, Utah From: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 11:28:10 -0600 Hi everyone, The Utah Butterfly Field Trips group had a fun time Saturday collecting indra swallowtails at Leatham Hollow, Cache County, Utah. We had 11 people show up for this field trip where Papilio indra indra was plentiful (but still not in full flight.) (My wife even came. Wahoo!) We found mostly males mudpuddling. http://api.ning.com/files/-6sZusYnNIwksTiGLuaI4XEDDk9g4Mt-IAS0aUpfXbHgIfSkUBq2ixqjh3det70xyArMpL5qGy-WR-2VNS-tOi2Ac-C6CYoN/workbug047.jpg (Photo courtesy Tim Dalsing) This is unique area where P. indra uses Cymopterus terebinthinus which grows right in the canyon and along rock slides. In Utah, you normally have to do quite a bit of hiking to get to indra indra country; but that isn't the case near Logan. Other butterflies on the wing include: Papilio zelicaon nitra form "gothica" (anise swallowtail) (plentiful) Papilio rutulus (western tiger swallowtail) (just emerging) Papilio multicaudatus pusillus (two-tailed swallowtail) (scattered) Anthocharis julia browningi (julia orangetip) (plentiful--3 females found) Euchloe ausonides coloradensis (large marble) (common) Colias philodice (yellow sulphur) (flying near host Medicago) Coenonympha tullia (common ringlet) (just emerging--phenotype odd**) Phyciodes pulchellus camillus (field crescent) (midflight) Everes amyntula (western tailed blue) (just emerging) Celastrina ladon echo (spring azure) (adults worn; just finishing up) Plebejus icarioides ardea (boisduval's blue) (a few) Hesperia juba (juba skipper) (common) **C. tullia phenotype should be brenda; but at this locale, individuals seemed closer to ampelos. I would like to collect more to see what is going on here. Thx, Todd Todd L. Stout Utah Lepidopterists' Society http://www.utahlepsociety.org/toddstout.html todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com 801-558-6302 TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: SE AZ: Pima Canyon, Santa Catalina Mountains, 31 May 2009 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 22:15:27 -0000 Pima Canyon is very dry. I did, however, find one very short wet reach and many of the species listed below were found there. Highlights for me were Acacia Skipper and Red Satyr. Acacia Skipper 1 Red Satyr 1 Arizona Powdered-Skipper 2 Orange Skipperling 2 Black Swallowtail 1 Sleepy Orange 3 Mexican Yellow 2 Gray Hairstreak 1 Marine Blue ~60 Reakirt's Blue 15 Ceraunus Blue 9 Fatal Metalmark 1 Gulf Fritillary 2 Queen 2 Red-spotted Purple 4 Bordered Patch 3 Common Buckeye 3 Empress Leila 17 American Snout 5 Ken Kertell TucsonSubject: SE AZ: Florida Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains (correction) From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 19:29:46 -0000 Andy Warren reviewed a picture of the skipper I reported as a Bronze Roadside-Skipper on 29 May and came to the following conclusion: "Based on its posture, palpi, and apparent wing shape and markings, I would say it has to be a male Atrytonopsis python. Its palpi are totally wrong for Amblyscirtes."Subject: Willow Looper Please ID From: "bugonhernandez" <carol.hernandez AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 07:25:41 -0000 Hi everyone. I was going through Jacumba Ca. and netted a willow tree. What I found was a small (1/4 inch) spiked looper.Its body is green while its spikes are yellow on the bottom and pink on top. I was hoping that some one might know what this caterpillar is and what it will turn into. ThanksSubject: SE AZ: Florida Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains, 29 May 2009 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 00:24:48 -0000 I visited Florida Canyon Friday and found it wet and lush with flowering Smooth Bouvardia (Bouvardia glaberrima), Arizona Kidneywood (Eysenhardtia othocarpa), and Coral Bean (Erythrina flabelliformis). Philip Kline alerted me to a small, brown skipper, which he saw the previous day but was unable to get a good look at. I happened to take a break near a rock where it eventually landed and was able to get a photo. Several locals have had a look at the photo with little consensus, other than it being worn. I now agree with Philip, who suggested that it is a worn Bronze Roadside-Skipper (photo available on request). Desert Cloudywing 6 Arizona Skipper 3 Bronze Roadside Skipper 1 American Snout 1 Gray Hairstreak 1 Nabokov's Satyr 1 Two-tailed Swallowtail 2 Red-spotted Purple 1 Common Buckeye 3 "Dark" Common Buckeye 1 Texan Crescent 2 Marine Blue 36 Reakirt's Blue 9 Mexican Yellow 1 Boisduval's Yellow (1?) Queen 1 Ken Kertell TucsonSubject: Figueroa Mt., Santa Barbara County From: Chris Grinter <cgrinter AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 16:28:10 -0700 Everyone- Today I went up around Figueroa Mountain in Santa Barbara County. Temps in the mid-lower 70's, light breeze. 23 species P. eurymedon (6) P. rutulus (3) Colias eurytheme (2) C. harfordii (8) - much better year for this lep. Zerene eurydice - 1 very worn female seen, as Neck Lethaby previously reported, another bad year for this lep in SB County. Speyeria callippe (5) Chlosyne gabbii (2) Phyciodes mylitta (6) E. chalcedona (abundant) Nymphalis californica (10) Adelpha californica (4) Lycaena gorgon (4) Satyrium californica (3) Satyrium tetra (15) Satyrium saepium (hundreds) Euphilotes bernardino (30) Plebejus icarioides nr. atascadero (2 fresh males) Plebejus lupini nr. Monticola (15-20) Plebejus acmon (20) Erynnis tristis (4) Ochlodes agricola (4) Ochlodes sylvanoides (2) Heliopetes ericetorum (1) Cheers, Chris GrinterSubject: Two late posts from San Diego Co. locales From: "petespino8" <petespino8 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 21:59:06 -0000 Hello all. I finally have my modem fixed and some time to breathe, so I wanted to record my sightings from this past week from two different shorts trips around San Diego County. One from yesterday, May 29th, and the other one is from Monday, May 25th. I apologize for the delay. But as I stated earlier, it has been a tough and extremely hectic spring for myself and family which will no doubt extend throughout this butterfly season. Will adjust somehow but I really do miss getting outdoors more often than I currently am able. Monday, 5/25/09; Noon-3 p.m.; Mission Trails Regional Park. Visited Grassland, Riparian, Oak Canyon, and Chaparral habitats. Water at creek and most plentiful at the Dam. Good nectar sources. Sunny with afternoon temps in the low to mid 70's. 23 species including: Mournful Duskywing/ Erynnis tristis tristis (2) White Checkered Skipper/ Pyrgus albescens Orange Skipperling/ Copaeodes aurantiaca Rural Skipper/ Ochlodes agricola agricola (11) Anise Swallowtail/ Papilio zelicaon (3) Western Tiger Swallowtail/ Papilio rutulus (2) Cabbage White/ Pieris rapae rapae (3) Checkered White/ Pontia protodice (3-4) Hermes Copper/ Lycaena hermes (2 males) Golden Hairstreak/ Habrodais grunis grunis 'Desert' Sylvan Hairstreak/ Satryrium sylvinus desertorum (2) Marine Blue/ Leptotes marina Western Pygmy Blue/ Brephidium exilis exilis 'Edwards' Blue/ Hemiargus ceraunus gyas San Bernardino Blue/ Euphilotes bernardino bernardino (4) Acmon Blue/ Plebejus acmon (2-3) 'California' Fatal Metalmark/ Calephelis nemesis dammersi (2) Behr's Metalmark/ Apodemia virgulti virgulti (15+ extremely variable) 'Striated' Queen/ Danaus gilippus thersippus 'Comstock's' Fritillary/ Speyeria callippe comstocki (2-3) Mourning Cloak/ Nymphalis antiopa antiopa (3) 'Gray' Buckeye/ Junonia coenia grisea (4) Gabb's Checkerspot/ Chlosyne gabbii gabbii _________________________ Saturday, 5/29/09; Noon-2:30 p.m.; Pine Valley Creek area; Cuyamaca Mtns. With my son, visited Lupine fields, Oak and Riparian habitats, and Chaparral hillsides, and we walked the PV Creek looking for a rarely seen dragonfly. Didn't locate the Ode, but there were plenty of good butterflies. Some FOS. Weather was clear, sunny, and warm 74-76 degrees at this elevation. 20 species including: White Checkered Skipper/ Pyrgus albecens Umber Skipper/ Poenes melane melane Western Tiger Swallowtail/ Papilio rutulus (4-5) 'California' Pearly Marble/ Euchloe hyantis (one flew by and landed) Orange Sulphur/ Colias eurytheme Harford's Sulphur/ Colias harfordi (2) Gorgon Copper/ Lycaena gorgon gorgon (2 males) Great Copper/ Lycaena xanthoides xanthoides (20+) Nut-Brown Hairstreak/ Satyrium auretorum spadix (2) 'Western' Brown Elfin/ Callophrys augustinus iroides San Bernardino Blue/ Euphilotes benardino bernardino (7-8) 'Smoky' Arrowhead Blue/ Glaucopsyce piasus umbrosa (6,mostly F; late date?) 'Orange-Margined' Melissa Blue/ Plebejus melissa paradoxa (6; 4F,2M) 'Evius' Boisduval's' Blue/ Plebejus icarioides evius (2) 'Clemence's' Lupine Blue/ Plebejus lupini monticola (3-4) California Sister/ Adelpha californica/ (12) 'Semiramus' Coronis Fritillary/ Speyeria coronis semiramus (fresh; early date?) 'Gray' Buckeye/ Junonia coenia grisea (4; 1 extremely dark like SW Tropical form) Gabb's Checkerspot/ Chlosyne gabbii gabbii (15+) Mylitta Crescent/ Phyciodes mylitta mylitta (9) Pete Spino San Diego petespino8 AT yahoo.comSubject: SE AZ: Garden Canyon, 5/27/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 04:07:51 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Cochise Co., Huachuca Mts., Garden Canyon, Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 0850 - 1450, 16 species: Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) 2 Desert Cloudywing (Achalarus casica) 1 Deva Skipper (Atrytonopsis deva) 1 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 1 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 1 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 4 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 2 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 200 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 4 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 4 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 3 'Arizona' Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis arizonensis) 6 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 12 Nabokov's Satyr (Cyllopsis pyracmon) 8 Canyonland Satyr (Cyllopsis pertepida) 2 (252 individuals) Weather: Sky sunny early morning, becoming mostly cloudy before noon; intermittent light-to-moderate wind; temperature ca. 75-78 degrees. Nectar: False indigo, fleabane, milkweeds, New Mexico locust, etc. Plenty of nectar going begging. Also Blooming: Penstemon, paintbrush, crimson monkeyflower, columbine, etc Moisture: Intermittent water in stream; some small puddles and mud in road. Comments: Disappointingly low diversity and, except for L. marina, very low numbers. The weather didn't help, but numbers were low even before the clouds rolled in en masse. Lepster(s): John Saba. Ken Kertell was also in the area and had a slightly different list. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Re: NEW BOOK: The Butterflies of San Diego County From: Pete Spino <petespino8 AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 23:33:34 -0700 (PDT) All, Without sounding biased, I want to tell you that this book is a real gem of a resource and the first of it's kind for our common and rare butterflies in our little southwestern corner of the U.S.! When you see it you'll know what I mean. As I told Koji, this book should definitely find it's way onto all of your bookshelves.For even though there is not a publisher at the moment, there most certainlyshould be and will be soon. I think Comstock and Thorne would have approved. Congrats again Koji and thanks for the hard work. It was a joy to be able to help. Pete SpinoSan Diegopetespino8 AT yahoo.com --- On Thu, 5/21/09, SHIRAIWA KOJIROSubject: AZ: Florida and Madera Canyon - corrections From: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 22:43:01 -0700 (PDT) After getting home and viewing my photos in more detail, I realized I made at
least one, and maybe two misidentifications in my earlier post. I'm pretty
sure that the two Acacia Skippers I reported from Florida Canyon were actually
worn Desert Cloudywings (which makes 5-6 total). Here's the best photo I
managed:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4753095_Ktn5J/1/549035629_V8Zvj#549035612_9FWVb-A-LB
Also, in Madera Canyon, I believe the Mexican Yellow I reported may actually be
a Boisduval's Yellow. The point on the hindwing doesn't seem attenuated enough
to be Mexican Yellow and it is very lightly marked. The forewing shape looks
closer to photos I've viewed of Boisduval's too. In flight it was about as
yellow above as it was below. It kept low in the moist Canyon bottom close to
water. It's not the best photo and may not be conclusive, but I'd be happy to
get comments:
http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/4753055_Q9qPF/3/549048438_cefTc#549048438_cefTc-A-LB
A few more photos fom this morning:
Blue convention at Florida Work Center. This is a small portion of the
congregation and there were likely 150+ (I also noticed a single Ceraunus Blue
that I didn't record before):
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4753055_Q9qPF/7/549048454_Qtbnh#549048454_Qtbnh-A-LB
Short-tailed Skipper:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4753095_Ktn5J/1/549035629_V8Zvj#549035708_v6BNq-A-LB
Nabokov's Satyr:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4753082_XnEXv/6/549056884_q29pZ#549056884_q29pZ-A-LB
Silver-spotted Skipper:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4753095_Ktn5J/1/549035629_V8Zvj#549035629_V8Zvj-A-LB
Philip Kline
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: AZ: Santa Rita MountainsFrom: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 16:12:35 -0700 (PDT) I visited Florida Canyon and Madera Canyon today.
Florida Canyon had a nice selection of butterflies, although I left just as it
was heating up. I saw 2 Desert Cloudywings, 2 Arizona Skippers, and a Tropical
Leafwing. Here's a species list:
1 Giant Swallowtail
2 Pipevine Swallowtail
150 Marine Blue
5 Reakirt's Blue
2 Texan Crescent
1 Common Buckeye
1 Red-spotted Purple
1 Tropical Leafwing
2 Arizona Skipper
2 Desert Cloudywing
3 Orange Skipperling
2 Acacia Skipper
1 Sheep Skipper
In Madera Canyon, I hiked up to the mine on the Carrie Nation trail from the
upper parking lot. Butterfly watching was hampered by lots of clouds and some
light rain, but the highlight here was a fresh-looking Short-tailed Skipper,
which seems a bit late in the season. I obtained some nice photos. Along the
trail, I saw:
2 Two-tailed Swallowtail
40 Marine Blue
1 Mexican Yellow
3 Texan Crescent
6 Arizona Sister
3 Mourning Cloak
1 Nabokov's Satyr
3 Silver-spotted Skipper
1 Short-tailed Skipper
1 Nothern Cloudywing
Philip Kline
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Sierra Nevada, west of Bishop, CA.From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 21:34:33 -0700 Everyone: So by now, you have read my not so exciting report for my visit to the White Mts., but those same days I also collected up the south fork of Bishop Creek (8300-8600') on May 25th and Pine Creek Canyon near Rovana, Inyo County, California on May 26th. Both days were days of extreme weather and rain but some time of sun, especially at the base of the Sierra Nevada. No one in their right mind collects above 8000' in May. But I did, because I took my son and a friend to fish Table Mountain along the south fork of Bishop Creek and North Lake where I picked up a mating pair of sphinx moths that my son noted at 5 AM at North Lake Camp, at about 9500' when it seemed too cold for insect activity. They caught several fish (rainbow and brook trout) while I abandoned them to look for butterflies. They were rained on both days while I was gone, which made it good that they were left tents. Runoff was poor and few butterflies in general went to mud. Here's the list for the two days: Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum): Pine Creek Canyon. Persius Duskywing (Erynnis persius): Saw two, one collected at Table Mountain. Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus): Common along road in Pine Creek Canyon. Juba Skipper (Hesperia juba): Table Mtn. and Pine Creek. Sachem (Atalopedes campestris):Two in Pine Creek Canyon. Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) Several up Bishop Creek and Pine Creek, flying up to 9000'. Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon): Monster sized, no wonder the Round Valley population has so often been misidentified as Baird's Swallowtail!! Also seen above Table Mtn. at 8600'. Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra near indra). None were seen up Bishop Creek above 8300', where they normally appear sparingly from mid-June to mid-July. However, we all know collectors head to the High Sierra for indra the last week of June at Tioga Pass and elsewhere. When I left Queen Canyon at 10 AM, it was to either collect Pine Creek Canyon or Lower Rock Creek Gorge, in the hope some sun would be there. Throw out the normal rules for indra. Instead of climbing hilltops walk along roads instead, especially at the base of the Sierra at maybe 4400'. Here on a glacial morraine, there was loads of Tauschia, probably parishii growing right along the road and as I drove along, I would see several indra. Leaving my car, collecting on roadside flowers for butterflies in general was excellent. The indra remained elusive and almost always appeared when I was least prepared, putting another butterfly in a glassine envelope, sipping a coke, putting my envelopes in an ice chest. I managed two hours before the sun disappeared: 11:30 to 1:45 PM. I would see about a dozen, but only managed to capture two A1 males and a female missing most of a hind wing. Becker's White (Pontia beckerii): several in Pine Creek Checkered White (Pontia protodice) Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris rapae): Rovana area. Large Marble (Euchloe ausonides transmontana) One or two near Table Mtn. Orange Sulphur (Colas eurytheme) Gorgon Copper (Lycaena gorgon micropuntata): One male in Pine Creek Canyon. Behr's Hairstreak (Satyrium behrii behrii): Hundred in Pine Creek Canyon. Hedge-Tow Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium subaridum): One or two, Pine Canyon. Western Pigmy Blue (Brephidium exilis) Western Tailed Blue (Everes or Cupido amyntula montanorum): Common at Table Mtn. at about 8600', mostly seen at wet mud. Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) Arrowhead Blue (Glaucopsyche piasus excubitus): Several at Table Mtn. and South Fork, 8300' Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon) Several Pine Creek Lupine Blue complex (Plebejus lupini): Dozens seen Pine Creek Canyon. Not sure if these are argentata, goodpasturei or a blend zone. Males only seen. Glaucon Blue (Euphilotes glaucon australoglaucon): Seen sparingly, much less common than langstoni. Langston's Blue (Euphilotes enoptes lamgstoni): Hundreds seen. Many on Eriogonum nudum, but some wet spots had 40 langstoni on one small wet spot a net would fit over. Such spots also attracted azures, Lupine Blues and one indra which I caught. Echo Azure (Celastrina echo echo): Saw about 20. Nevada Fritillary (Speyeria callippe nevadensis): One seen at Pine Creek. Sagebrush Checkerspot (Chlosyne acastus acastus): Saw about ten in Pine Creek Canyon. Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta myltitta): One or two at Pine Creek. Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella): Orange and resembles camillus. Those at Swall Meadow and Bishop Creek are a much blacker bug. Olancha Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona olancha) Much different than wheeleri taken 2-3 hours earlier in Nevada. The subspecies complex in this group is helpful. Several olancha seen showed extra red-orange,,,maybe because both wheeleri and olancha co-occur just a few miles away. Hybridization? or Intergradation? Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea) Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: White Mts., California and Nevada From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 20:40:51 -0700 Everyone: I never made it to Hwy. 168 in the White Mts., Inyo County, California in late April or early May this year. I did make it there from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM on Monday, May 25th. Conditions were very dry and important plants were past bloom and butterflies of interest were lacking. I failed to find any members of the Apodemia mormo complex, there is lots of potential hostplant for the Desert Metalmark (Apodemia mejicanus deserti) is common there but no luck. I also tried looking in the canyons below the Narrows for the Nevada Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra near nevadensis) but none were seen. It was very overcast much of the time and few species were out. Species seen included Juba Skipper, NorthernWhite Skipper, Checkered White, Orange Sulphur, Marine Blue,Pygmy Blue, Acmon Blue. In short, wait till early July when the next round of Euphilotes blues and Small Wood-Nymphs take flight. The next day (May 26th), I was in the White Mts. again, on the north side of the range in Queen Canyon, Esmeralda County, Nevada. Cloud development was happening early and my collecting lasted from 9-9:30 AM. I found two species out early. I took five nice individuals of Wheeler's Checkerspot (Euphydryas anicia wheeleri) near paintbrush patrolling dirt roads and a single Oro Silvery Blue (G. lygdamus oro) asleep on a lupine bush. I headed back to California because it was obvious the weather would give me nothing in Nevada. Looking west to the Sierra cloud build up was major there as well. I stopped at the California check in agricultural station and explained I was search for butterflies in Queen Canyon. I pulled my Wheeler's Checkerspots to the inspector. She was thrilled for two reasons: (1) She did not know that butterfly lived in her area, and (2) she has over 15 years of experience as a butterfly collector! Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Grand Canyon area ringlets From: "Norbert Kondla" <colias AT shaw.ca> Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 08:59:52 -0600 If anyone with a net is in the range of Coenonympha (whatever) furcae this year; I could really use a few specimens for dna analysis. Wing condition is unimportant. Norbert Kondla Calgary, Alberta [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Santa Ynez Mountains, SBA Co, CA From: "Lethaby, Nick" <nlethaby AT ti.com> Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 09:02:27 -0500 All: On Sunday I spent about 1.5 hours around Knapp's Castle. There was a good range of leps but nothing unexpected: Anise Swallowtail - 1 Pale Swallowtail - 15+ Checkered White - 1 Harford's Sulphur - 1 California Dogface - None, this species has suddenly become quite rare locally the last couple of years Gabb's Checkerspot - 20+, much fresher than in Bates Canyon Variable Checkerspot - v. common California Tortoiseshell - 15+, much commoner than normal for this time of year here and many along Refugio road the previous day California Sister - 1 Callippe Fritillary - 6, a good number for the SY mountains Common Ringlet - 4 Tailed Copper - 2 Gorgon Copper - 4 California Hairstreak - 20+ Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak - 1 Hedgerow Hairstreak - 3 Goldhunter's Hairstreak - 2 Brown Elfin - 3 Spring Azure - 4+, fresh Silvery Blue - 1 Acmon Blue/Lupine Blue - 10+. I think mostly Lupines with one male showing characteristics I associate with Lupine in these mountains. However there's a 45% chance I may be wrong! Mournful Duskywing - 2 Rural Skipper - 25+ No Leanira Checkerspots but I'm not sure if I've seen them at this particular location before. Nick Lethaby 805 562 5106 nlethaby AT ti.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: SE AZ: Madera Canyon, 5/25/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 01:22:49 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Pima Co., Santa Rita Mts., Madera Canyon, Monday, 25 May 2009, 0820 - 1500, 24 species: Desert Cloudywing (Achalarus casica) 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos) 1 Arizona Powdered-Skipper (Systasea zampa) 1 'Southwestern' Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis tatius) 1 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 3 Sheep Skipper (Atrytonopsis edwardsi) 2 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 12 Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) 1 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 1 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 3 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 1 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 8 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 6 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 875 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo) 2 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 10 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 30 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 5 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 4 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 2 Texan Crescent (Anthanasa texana) 11 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 18 'Arizona' Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis arizonensis) 1 Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia) 1 (# of individuals: 875 L. marina + 125 others = 1000) Weather: Sky mostly sunny, intermittent light wind, temperature ca. 73-86 degrees. Nectar: Not many wildflowers; most nectar from trees and shrubs: mesquite, acacia, ash, honeysuckle, etc.. Moisture: Some intermittent water and mud in stream. Lepster(s): John Saba, Judy Winslow. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: SE AZ: Huachuca Mountains, 5/25/09 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 23:45:58 -0000 I'm dashing off a quick email from a B&B in Sierra Vista. Today I checked out Miller Canyon from Beatty's Guest Ranch to a point about 2 miles up-canyon. Silver-spotted Skippers were abundant. I counted 16. Other nice finds, for me, were: Northern Cloudywing 1 Orange-edged Roadside-Skipper 2 Duskywing (probably Pacuvius), but I'll give Jim a look at my pictures in a couple days Ken Kertell TucsonSubject: Hermes Coppers have started flying in San Diego From: "Michael Klein" <KEPS2 AT flite-tours.com> Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 14:11:58 -0700 FYI to those who want to get photos, I had two fresh male hermes coppers today in Alpine. It seems the season has begun a bit later than in previous seasons and based on drying habitat conditions around the Region, I suspect numbers are going to be pretty low. If any of you in the area see any, please send me GPS points and numbers since I try to maintain a database of observations and locations. Michael Klein [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: AZ: Mogollon Rim country (Gila/Coconino Counties) From: "David Powell" <vireo AT vireos.com> Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 03:44:23 -0000 Lepsters, I ventured out today now that the rain and clouds have mostly departed. I went up north of Payson, both above and below the Mogollon Rim. I checked the Highline and Colonel Devin Trails below the Rim and a couple of springs along the Rim Road above the Rim. Evidence of the rain was everywhere. I am not used to walking muddy trails in AZ :-) . Butterflies were generally in low numbers except for Western Pine Elfin (Callphrys eryphon fusca), which was in good numbers above the Rim. I also got nice photos of a fresh Satyr Anglewing (Polygonia satyrus), which was surprisingly accommodating. Surprising in their scarcity was Erynnis, with only two individuals identified and only a couple of others seen. Dave David Powell Phoenix, AZ vireo AT vireos.com http://www.vireos.com/AZ Species list (29 species): Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 10 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 4 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 15 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 8 `Siva' Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus siva) 2 Western Pine Elfin (Callphrys eryphon fusca) 50+ all above the Rim Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 6 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 1 Western Tailed-Blue (Cupido amyntula herri) 4 Southwestern Azure (Celestrina echo cinerea) 4 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 6 Melissa Blue (Plebejus melissa) 2 Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini texanus) 14 including several really tiny individuals. I tried to make them into a Euphilotes, but there aren't any flying now, particularly at 8000 feet. Zela Metalmark (Emesis zela) 6 `Arizona' Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis arizonensis) 3 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 2 Northwestern Fritillary (Speyeria hesperis nausicaa) 8 Mourning Cloak (Nympalis antiopa) 2 Satyr Anglewing (Polygonia satyrus) 1 Common/Dark Buckeye (Junonia coenia/everete nigrosuffusa) 50+ Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta arizonensis) 8 Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella) 4 Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus profugus) 13 Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) 5 Rocky Mountain Duskywing (Erynnis telemachus) 1 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis) 4 (by elevation) Northern White-Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum) 2 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1Subject: SE AZ: Molino Basin, 5/24/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 18:13:53 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Pima Co., Catalina Mts., Molino Basin, Sunday, 24 May 2009, 0800 - 1330, 22 species: Acacia Skipper (Cogia hippalus) 2 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/albescens) 2 Northern White-Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum) 1 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 3 Sheep Skipper (Atrytonopsis edwardsi) 7 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 15 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 2 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 2 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 12 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 3 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 1 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 50 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo) 3 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 2 Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis) 1 Sonoran Metalmark (Apodemia mejicanus) 1 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 1 Texan Crescent (Anthanasa texana) 11 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 12 'Arizona' Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis arizonensis) 2 Leafwing sp. (Anaea) 1 [worn, probable Tropical (aidea)] Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis) 2 (136 individuals) Weather: Sky sunny, intermittent light wind, temperature ca. 75-87 degrees. Nectar: Honsysuckle, ash, mesquite, acacia, and cacti; some fleabane, yellow composites, and mallow. Dicliptera locally common. Soapberry in bud. Moisture: A little bit of water and damp sand in streams. Comments: Species diversity was pretty low, with many common species not being seen. H. ericetorum seems to be doing better the last two years in SE AZ. In one location, a good quantity of Graptopetalum rusbyi (a LFP of Callophrys xami) was found, some in bloom. This plant is uncommon and local. Lepster(s): John Saba, Doug Mullins. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Fw: Lindsey's Skipper Story From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 04:00:05 -0700 Bill and Nick:
The two of you guys must have "the curse of Cuyama". Both of you wrote very
interesting reports. Bill seems to show up regularly when folks have flat
tires. He showed up after I had a flat repaired at Portal, Arizona back in the
summer of 2005 before the Sierra Vista meeting. Bill, you have had rotten luck
finding Lindsey's Skipper in Erskine Creek Canyon (Kern County, CA) and in SLO
County. At the same time, it appears you actually got Hesperia lindseyi on
Caliente Ridge. Get me the date and that would be a publishable record. Nick
has also had bad luck on getting the butterfly rarities in eastern Santa
Barbara County.
Both of your accounts show the frustration all of us experience all too often.
There are identification problems mentioned in both accounts:
Lindsey's Skipper or Western Branded Skipper (Hesperia comma or colorado)? In
the Coast Ranges, lindseyi flies in the late spring and early summer (May-June)
while Western Branded Skipper (Hesperia colorado tildeni and fall flying
segregate fly mid-July to early October. Lindsey's tends to have a separated
detached band on the HW below, reduced markings above and narrower black border
on the FW above, if one is present at all. The spots below do tend to be cream
colored rather than white but there are exceptions (Western Branded Skipper can
also have cream colored spotting). Genitalic confirmation may be required in
those places on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada where both species may fly
together and look alike in late spring or early summer. Lindsey's Skipper is
often in oat grass habitats where trees and chaparral are sparse, but not
always. The two I took about a mile or more above Bates Canyon Campground on
thistles were along dry roadsides bordered by heavy woodland. The two Hesperia
I took there were definite lindseyi, NOT Hesperia colorado, a species known
only from Santa Barbara and Dry Canyons in Santa Barbara County to my
knowledge, which flies there late August-September. I have not found it there
in the late summer or fall in Bates Canyon. Lindsey's Skipper has about five
subspecies so field guides may mislead anyone. The Branded Skipper complex
(Hesperia comma complex) also has many subspecies with idaho, tildeni, fall
flying segregate (unnamed) and leussleri in southern California). So again,
reliance on field guides will not work. One behavioral comment here: Lindsey's
Skipper often flutters weakly through the host Oat grasses or perches docilly
on flowers. Western Branded Skippers tend to be more rapid flying and wary.
Lindsey's Skipper can perch 4-5 individuals on a single thistle at times. A
good place to find Lindsey's Skipper at this time of the year is the dirt road
above Parkfield (Monterey County) up Parkfield Grade summit just before one
reaches the Fresno County line. They are often common at several points along
that road in Fresno County line as one descends towards Coalinga. Those records
somehow did not get to the BAMONA web site but are published in the Season
Summary and are backed by a good series in my collection. The BAMONA site will
be corrected. I have taken several dozen with most from Fresno County. There is
more habitat there along a 3-4 mile stretch of road as compared to eastern
Monterey County along that road where the habitat may be little more than 1/4
to 1/2 mile SW of the road summit.
Acmon or Lupine Blues? Both were very common in Bates Canyon. You cannot rely
on plant associations alone in Bates Canyon. Both will nectar on buckwheats and
legumes. On average, Lupine Blues were about 50-60% larger than Acmon Blues.
Lupine Blues had bolder black spotting below. The nature of the blue between
the two in males is variable with Acmons generally paler. While these lupini
are related to monticola, they lack the blue overscaling in nearly all females
of monticola. At this locality, it is actually easy to identify nearly all
individuals even without netting them if you really KNOW these bugs. One female
I took in Cottonwood Canyon had orange up the FW and resembled a Veined Blue
(Plebejus neurona), but it is not that. Acmon females can also have orange up
the FW. There are no records for neurona in Santa Barbara County yet, but it
should be there somewhere.
Other notes:
Gabb's or Northern Checkerspots? While some of my orange checkers taken in
Bates Canyon "look" like Northerns (Cholsyne palla) in terms of upperside field
marks, the pearly whites below on the HW tell me ALL I took were Chlosyne
gabbii. Ditto for Santa Barbara and Dry Canyons.
Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe). Subspecies macaria is in Dry Canyon,
subspecies comstocki occurs to the west part of the Sierra Madre Range with an
intergrade zone on McPherson Peak, backed by specimens in my collection and
others at the LACM.
Boisduval's Blue (Plebejus icarioides): The male I took in Bates Canyon appears
to be an atascadero.
Those who do look for Hesperia comma/colorado in Bates Canyon (where there are
no records yet) will find an interesting population of Golden Hairstreak
(Habrodais grunus) with a very light washed out underside in late August and
September. But because of terrain, they are hard to photograph or collect
there. Gold-Hunter's Hairstreak (Satyrium auretorum) should be there from about
now into much of June. Both can be common there.
Ken Davenport
Subject: [SoWestLep] Lindsey's Skipper Story
Hi All,
A rather odd set of happenings around plans to look for Hesperia lindseyi
occurred yesterday.
My attention had been captured by Ken Davenport's May 18 post regarding his
recently finding of Lindsey's in Bates Canyon, northern Santa Barbara Co., CA.
I had tried to photograph that species without luck in the past. Or so I
thought. Images from Erskine Cr. Cyn in Kern Co a couple of years previously
had turned out, upon examination, to be H. colorado. H. lindseyi is apparently
scarce/local in San Luis Obispo County, mainly having been found in the Temblor
Range where habitat access is difficult.
So I made plans to go to Bates Canyon, even though I would have preferred
finding the bug in "my own" county of San Luis Obispo. I made plans to go with
my 20 year-old stepson, whose interest in biology has recently been reignited
by a class project involving making an insect collection. Moments before he was
to arrive at my condo I decided to go on-line to see if there were any images
on the Butterflies of America site that would refamiliarize me with linsdeyi
and help me avoid making the misidentification mistake again. Imagine my
surprise to find only one image of a live bug, and to find that it was an image
I had made in 2005 on Caliente Ridge along the south edge of the Carrizo Plain
National Monument in SLO County! I was briefly befuddled that this linsdeyi
image had been credited to me, then realized that, when vetting the image that
I had submitted to BOA, Andy or someone had renamed my image from (once again)
"H. colorado" to "lindseyi". And I had not noticed this (significant to me)
change until that moment.
So, I thought that, instead of Bates, I'd go back to Caliente Ridge, since the
day's date was within a couple of days of the date on the old 2005
sighting/photo. As it turned out, Caliente Ridge was very dry and nectar was
apparently scarce. Other than a few California Buckwheats, some Horehounds, and
some Mariposa Lilies, the only obvious flower was Golden Yarrow, Eryophyllum
confertiflorum. Interestingly, the yarrow was a flower that had, a few days
earlier on nearby Black Mountain, been swarmed upon by butterflies. This day,
however, I saw no butterfly nectaring on Golden Yarrow. In my linsdeyi image,
the butterfly is upon what looks like a larkspur, but none were in bloom
yesterday. Though butterflying was slow, we had great looks at a couple of
California Kingsnakes and two Gopher Snakes.
So...off we went to Bates Canyon, arriving around 14:00. At the bottom of the
canyon a guy was changing a flat tire on his pickup truck (possible
significance to come). I drove on up to the campground and began to see
blooming thistles and (what I think is) White Sage. Butterflies were abundant
along the road at these flowers, but not skippers. The road had been recently
graded, I suspect since Ken Davenport's recent visit, and many thistles had
been pushed over the hillside. There was still a lot of nectar however and
butterflying was great fun (if frustrating because of scarcity of my goal
insect).
After less than a half mile of good habitat we encountered a vehicle slowly
approaching downslope toward us. The driver emerged, looked at one of his rear
tires, which was flat (actually, mangled). It turned out that this was Nick
Lethaby, who was limping down with his second flat. He warned us that something
upslope was destroying tires, alluding to the flat tired pickup truck
downslope. He also told us that we had already passed through habitat where he
had seen five lindseyi earlier that day!
Nick continued on down and we said we'd watch for him on our return. We walked
and drove and walked and drove alongside and among the flowers, which swarmed
with butterflies. We saw a couple of Rural and a couple of Northern
White-Skippers, one Propertius Duskywing, but no other skippers. Nick had
mentioned that his Lindsey's came in a rush, as I remember him describing it,
after not seeing any, suddenly every 5 minutes another would appear. Then none.
I'm hoping they just weren't around by the time we arrived, not that I'm not
incapable of finding this bug.
After giving up on lindseyi, we drove down to find Nick near the campground. A
local guy with a big pickup and lots of tools and a compressor and who knows
what else, had plugged his leaks in one tire (the other was destroyed). Nick
had called for a new tire to be delivered. We followed him down to CA-166 where
he would wait for the tire delivery, then headed on home with images of snakes
and Mariposa Lilies, but no Hesperia lindseyi.
Butterflies of the 2.5 hours in Bates included (I find it interesting to note
the changes since Ken's visit 4 days previous):
Pale Swallowtail, Papilio eurymedon - 20
(No P. rutulus noted, though Ken had 8)
Checkered White, Pontia protodice - 1
Orange Sulphur, Colias eurytheme - 5
Harford's Sulphur, Colias harfordii - 5
California Dogface, Zerene eurydice - 10
California Hairstreak, Satyrium c. californica - 3
Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak, Satyrium tetra - 6, fresh (not noted by Ken)
Hedgerow Hairstreak, Satyrium saepium chalcis - 4
Bernardino Blue, Euphilotes b. bernardino - abundant wherever Eriogonum
fasiculatum was in bloom
Silvery Blue, Glaucopsyche lygdamus - 2
Acmon Blue, Plebejus a. acmon - abundant, no count; no effort expended to
distinguish from lupinus
Gabb's Checkerspot, Chlosyne g. gabbii - 1
Variable Checkerspot, Euphydryas c. chalcedona - hundreds
California Tortoiseshell, Nymphalis c. californica - 100+
Ken reported only two of these. During our short visit we saw hundreds, all
streaming downslope along the roadway.
Mourning Cloak, Nymphalis a. antiopa - 1 worn
Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui - 1 worn
Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia grisea - 1
Lorquin's Admiral, Limenitis l. lorquini - 2
California Sister, Adelpha californica - 4
Common Ringlet, Coenonympha tullia california - 2
Monarch, Danaus plexippus
Propertius Duskywing, Erynnis propertius -1 (worn)
Common/White Checkered-Skipper, Pyrgus communis/albescens - 1
Northern White-Skipper, Heliopetes ericetorum - 3
Rural Skipper, Ochlodes a. agricola - 3
Cheers,
Bill Bouton
San Luis Obispo, CA USA
bbouton AT charter.net
http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Bates/Cottonwood Cyn SBA Co, CAFrom: "Lethaby, Nick" <nlethaby AT ti.com> Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 20:09:43 -0500 All: On Friday, I spent several hours in Cottonwood and Bates Canyons. I successfully saw the Great Coppers (great to have a stake out down to five flowers - Ken!) and Lindsey's Skippers. Thinking I had successfully beaten the 'Curse of Cuyama', I then headed up towards McPhearson Peak to try for Sleepy Duskywing. In less than 3 miles, the 'curse' struck with not more but two flat tires. With a lot of help from one of the grading crew, I patched up one of the flats (I only had one spare) and made it back to the main road where I was towed to Taft for new tires. The whole episode cost me $400! The preoccupation with the flat tire prevented from helping Bill Bouton get to see the skippers, so I guess I had a 'two for one' coupon on the curse that day. I checked the stream bed where the road crosses Cottonwood creek to see if there were any Great Coppers there but had no luck. As Ken mentioned, Bates Canyon was pretty good for leps. I saw the following: W. Tiger Swallowtail - 3+ Pale Swallowtail - 15+ Checkered White - 4 Orange Sulphur - 2+ Harford's Sulphur - 5+ California Dogface - 2 Gabb's Checkerspot - 2-3 Mylitta Crescent - 3 Variable Checkerspot - v. common California Tortoiseshell - common, especially higher up Painted Lady - 2 Common Buckeye - 1 Lorquin's Admiral - 2 California Sister - 4 Common Ringlet - 1 Great Copper - 2 California Hairstreak - 40 all on one bush Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak - 4 Hedgerow Hairstreak - 20 Bernadino Dotted-Blue - v. common Silvery Blue - 2, different to ones in Santa Barbara Canyon! Acmon Blue/Lupine Blue - common and perhaps both present as ones seen on buckwheats and deerweed Propertius Duskywing - 1 worn Northern White Skipper - 5 Lindsey's Skipper - 5, seen from just before the campground entrance to about Ύ mile further on. Rural Skipper - 3 Nick Lethaby 805 562 5106 nlethaby AT ti.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Lindsey's Skipper Story From: "Bill Bouton" <bbouton AT charter.net> Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 11:22:54 -0700 Hi All, A rather odd set of happenings around plans to look for Hesperia lindseyi occurred yesterday. My attention had been captured by Ken Davenport's May 18 post regarding his recently finding of Lindsey's in Bates Canyon, northern Santa Barbara Co., CA. I had tried to photograph that species without luck in the past. Or so I thought. Images from Erskine Cr. Cyn in Kern Co a couple of years previously had turned out, upon examination, to be H. colorado. H. lindseyi is apparently scarce/local in San Luis Obispo County, mainly having been found in the Temblor Range where habitat access is difficult. So I made plans to go to Bates Canyon, even though I would have preferred finding the bug in "my own" county of San Luis Obispo. I made plans to go with my 20 year-old stepson, whose interest in biology has recently been reignited by a class project involving making an insect collection. Moments before he was to arrive at my condo I decided to go on-line to see if there were any images on the Butterflies of America site that would refamiliarize me with linsdeyi and help me avoid making the misidentification mistake again. Imagine my surprise to find only one image of a live bug, and to find that it was an image I had made in 2005 on Caliente Ridge along the south edge of the Carrizo Plain National Monument in SLO County! I was briefly befuddled that this linsdeyi image had been credited to me, then realized that, when vetting the image that I had submitted to BOA, Andy or someone had renamed my image from (once again) "H. colorado" to "lindseyi". And I had not noticed this (significant to me) change until that moment. So, I thought that, instead of Bates, I'd go back to Caliente Ridge, since the day's date was within a couple of days of the date on the old 2005 sighting/photo. As it turned out, Caliente Ridge was very dry and nectar was apparently scarce. Other than a few California Buckwheats, some Horehounds, and some Mariposa Lilies, the only obvious flower was Golden Yarrow, Eryophyllum confertiflorum. Interestingly, the yarrow was a flower that had, a few days earlier on nearby Black Mountain, been swarmed upon by butterflies. This day, however, I saw no butterfly nectaring on Golden Yarrow. In my linsdeyi image, the butterfly is upon what looks like a larkspur, but none were in bloom yesterday. Though butterflying was slow, we had great looks at a couple of California Kingsnakes and two Gopher Snakes. So...off we went to Bates Canyon, arriving around 14:00. At the bottom of the canyon a guy was changing a flat tire on his pickup truck (possible significance to come). I drove on up to the campground and began to see blooming thistles and (what I think is) White Sage. Butterflies were abundant along the road at these flowers, but not skippers. The road had been recently graded, I suspect since Ken Davenport's recent visit, and many thistles had been pushed over the hillside. There was still a lot of nectar however and butterflying was great fun (if frustrating because of scarcity of my goal insect). After less than a half mile of good habitat we encountered a vehicle slowly approaching downslope toward us. The driver emerged, looked at one of his rear tires, which was flat (actually, mangled). It turned out that this was Nick Lethaby, who was limping down with his second flat. He warned us that something upslope was destroying tires, alluding to the flat tired pickup truck downslope. He also told us that we had already passed through habitat where he had seen five lindseyi earlier that day! Nick continued on down and we said we'd watch for him on our return. We walked and drove and walked and drove alongside and among the flowers, which swarmed with butterflies. We saw a couple of Rural and a couple of Northern White-Skippers, one Propertius Duskywing, but no other skippers. Nick had mentioned that his Lindsey's came in a rush, as I remember him describing it, after not seeing any, suddenly every 5 minutes another would appear. Then none. I'm hoping they just weren't around by the time we arrived, not that I'm not incapable of finding this bug. After giving up on lindseyi, we drove down to find Nick near the campground. A local guy with a big pickup and lots of tools and a compressor and who knows what else, had plugged his leaks in one tire (the other was destroyed). Nick had called for a new tire to be delivered. We followed him down to CA-166 where he would wait for the tire delivery, then headed on home with images of snakes and Mariposa Lilies, but no Hesperia lindseyi. Butterflies of the 2.5 hours in Bates included (I find it interesting to note the changes since Ken's visit 4 days previous): Pale Swallowtail, Papilio eurymedon - 20 (No P. rutulus noted, though Ken had 8) Checkered White, Pontia protodice - 1 Orange Sulphur, Colias eurytheme - 5 Harford's Sulphur, Colias harfordii - 5 California Dogface, Zerene eurydice - 10 California Hairstreak, Satyrium c. californica - 3 Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak, Satyrium tetra - 6, fresh (not noted by Ken) Hedgerow Hairstreak, Satyrium saepium chalcis - 4 Bernardino Blue, Euphilotes b. bernardino - abundant wherever Eriogonum fasiculatum was in bloom Silvery Blue, Glaucopsyche lygdamus - 2 Acmon Blue, Plebejus a. acmon - abundant, no count; no effort expended to distinguish from lupinus Gabb's Checkerspot, Chlosyne g. gabbii - 1 Variable Checkerspot, Euphydryas c. chalcedona - hundreds California Tortoiseshell, Nymphalis c. californica - 100+ Ken reported only two of these. During our short visit we saw hundreds, all streaming downslope along the roadway. Mourning Cloak, Nymphalis a. antiopa - 1 worn Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui - 1 worn Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia grisea - 1 Lorquin's Admiral, Limenitis l. lorquini - 2 California Sister, Adelpha californica - 4 Common Ringlet, Coenonympha tullia california - 2 Monarch, Danaus plexippus Propertius Duskywing, Erynnis propertius -1 (worn) Common/White Checkered-Skipper, Pyrgus communis/albescens - 1 Northern White-Skipper, Heliopetes ericetorum - 3 Rural Skipper, Ochlodes a. agricola - 3 Cheers, Bill Bouton San Luis Obispo, CA USA bbouton AT charter.net http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: NEW BOOK: The Butterflies of San Diego County From: SHIRAIWA KOJIRO <whiterock AT bekkoame.ne.jp> Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 17:15:50 -0700 Hello all, I would like to announce that my book on San Diego butterflies is now available. Unfortunately, I have not found a publisher. So as a start, I am using lulu.com (on-demand publishing). There are no inventory. Lulu.com will print the books as they receive the orders. The drawback is, it's bit expensive, and it is only available from lulu.com. Some day I hope I can find a publisher so the book will be available in bookstores at much cheaper price. Until then, this is what I can offer. Title: The Butterflies of San Diego County - Introduction and Identification Guide Author: Kojiro Shiraiwa Book: 74 pages, 8.5" x 11", perfect binding (paperback), full-color. Price: $29.99 Available at: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-butterflies-of-san-diego-county/7152266 Contents: Endemic butterflies of San Diego County Table of Contents How to use this book Butterfly Life Cycle Butterfly Body Butterfly Families San Diego County The Butterflies of San Diego County (main part) Checklist & Flight Season Index References & AcknowledgementsSubject: AZ: White Mountains From: "David Powell" <vireo AT vireos.com> Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 04:35:37 -0000 Lepsters, Jim Hully and I just returned from 4 days in the White Mountains of Arizona. We were looking for bugs and birds, mostly birds. With the exception of Green's Peak Road, not much was flying, except for Alberta Arctics. It is clearly too early for the high mountain species, though a few things were flying. Highlights included Rhesus Skipper on Green's Peak Road and Strecker's Giant-Skipper in Whiteriver. Areas covered included Green's Peak Road (5/15 and 5/17), Terry Flat (5/16), Sheep's Crossing (5/17), Sunrise Campground (5/17), and Whiteriver (5/18). Only on 5/15 did we spend much time butterflying (about 5 hours). Dave David Powell Phoenix, AZ vireo AT vireos.com http://www.vireos.com/AZ Species list (39 species): Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius) 2 (Green's Peak Road (GP)) Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 2 (GP) Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 4 (GP), 5 (Sheep's Crossing (SC)) Margined White (Pieris marginalis mogollon) 2 (Terry Flat (TF)), 5 (SC) White Checkered-Skipper 2 (South Fork of Little Colorado River) "Siva" Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus siva) 2 (GP) Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 4 (GP) Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 1 (SC) Western Tailed-Blue (Cupido amyntula herri) 4 (GP) Southwestern Azure (Celestrina echo cinerea) 1 (SC) Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus gyas) 1 (SC) Melissa Blue (Plebejus melissa) 50+ (GP) Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini texanus) 6 (GP), 1 (SC) Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo autumnalis) 5 (GP) Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 1 (GP) Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 2 (GP), 1(SC) American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 4 (GP) Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 1 (SC) West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) 2 (TF) Milibert's Tortiseshell (Nymphalis m. milberti) 8 (TF), 4 (SC) Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) 4 (GP), 1 (TF), 6 (SC) "Zephyr" Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis zephyrus) 1 (GP), 8 (TF), 6 (SC) Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) all sites, with at least a couple approaching nigrosuffusa Anicia Checkerspot (Euphydryas anicia hermosa) 12 (GP) Fulvia Checkerspot (Chlosyne fulvia coronado) 5 (GP) Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta arizonensis) 14 (GP), 2 (SC) Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella) 10 (GP), 3 (SC), 1 (Sunrise) Alberta Arctic (Oeneis alberta daura) 70+ (GP), 40+ (TF), 12 (SC), 3 (Sunrise) Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) 4 (GP) Mexican Cloudywing (Thorybes mexicana dobra) 1 (GP), 2 (SC) Common Sootywing (Philisora catullus) 2 (GP) Afranius Duskywing (Erynnis afranius) 10 (GP), 2 (SC) Pacuvius Duskywing (Erynnis pacuvius) 1 (GP) Mountain Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus xanthus) 12 (GP), 1 (TF), 1 (SC), 1 (Sunrise) Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis) 8 (GP) Northern White-Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum) 8 (GP) Strecker's Giant-Skipper (Megathymus streckeri) 3 (Whiteriver) Rhesus Skipper (Polites rhesus) 4 (5/15), 8 (5/17) (GP) Morrison's Skipper (Stinga morrisoni) 200 (GP)Subject: RE: [DesertLeps] Butterbredt Peak, Kern County, CA. From: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 21:05:08 -0600 Thoroughly enjoyable post, Ken!! You had both an "indra" experience and a "Twister" experience. I'm not jealous; I'm just in denial. Todd Todd L. Stout Utah Lepidopterists' Society http://www.utahlepsociety.org/toddstout.html todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com 801-558-6302 TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" 1999 To: DesertLeps AT yahoogroups.com; TILS-leps-talk AT yahoogroups.com; SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com From: flutterflies93306 AT att.net Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 19:18:03 -0700 Subject: [DesertLeps] Butterbredt Peak, Kern County, CA. Everyone: I decided to leave the Sageland area at 11:50 AM (May 18th) after an hour. The reasons were I needed to collect Saltbush Sootywings and if conditions were possible, I might climb to the top of Butterbredt Peak, the type locality for Phyllis' Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra phyllisae). I also needed to collect herbarium samples of Tauschia parishii, the hostplant of both the Indra Swallowtail there and the Desert Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes coloro). Being two hours behind schedule was very unfortunate and in the future....I will not wait should my grown son be late very often in the future.. In addition I still had another 30 minute drive to the canyon 1.5 miles south of Butterbredt Peak where a trail goes to the peak. The trail takes an hour and a half to get to the top of the peak, other routes from Jawbone Canyon Summit are more direct, but higher risk for rattlesnakes in the rocky terrain and not as good for other butterflies. The canyon route has lots of Atriplex canescens, the host plant for Saltbush Sootywings (Hesperopsis alpheus oricus). By the time I arrived, conditions were highly overcast with some occasional sun. In addition, I had to carry water and a container to put the Tauschia parishii plant specimens in. Then I started the ascent. Bad observations right at the beginning. Nearly no butterfly activity and conditions were very dry. Only Western Pygmy Blues and fortunately, one very nice female Saltbush Sootywing landed by the trail and I put my net over it, now it is on my mounting board. My original plan was to collect the plants at a rocky outcrop along the trail. It was there three weeks earlier, but was now gone. Try another spot at Jawbone Canyon summit? Or keep going another 45 minutes and ascend the peak? Looking around, it appeared possible I might benefit from a break in the clouds. It was warm enough for butterfly flight with temperatures in the mid-seventies. It would be 2 PM before I could reach the peak. And I know those rare swallowtails will often fly when other things do not. Winds then were not bad. Swallowtails benefit from light rock and sand and high solar radiation and tend to fly when other butterflies do not. But there were also wicked thunderheads to the north, south, west and east. And winds were beginning to pick up. I had climbed this peak three weeks earlier and taken five indra and one P. polyxenes coloro, all showing wear. Too late for fresh individuals? Based on past experience in this area, not too late at all. Emergences are staggered over two months. I decided to press on for the summit, even though rattlesnake risk seems higher on warm overcast days. As I neared the summit at about 2 PM it was overcast and no butterflies had been seen in 45 minutes. But I noted the relative warmth, light colored sand and flowers still present in good shape. As I neared the lower of the two rocky outcrops near the summit, I observed a very large black form with a yellow band. Indra Swallowtail!!! It flew over some boulders and I lost it. At that moment the sun came out for much of the next 40 minutes. I walked to the bottom of a steep sandy slope and a huge female indra was patrolling there. I netted it on a wingshot as it glided by. Looking at the very top of the peak two other swallowtails were now visible, but these were Desert Black Swallowtails (P. polyxenes coloro) of the yellow, not black variety. These would get priority and I would net three of these in the next 40 minutes. These are similar looking to the Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon zelicaon) but differ in spotting along the FW edge and the different shape of the yellow spots on the FW band. The abdomen and thorax of the body were notably different in these swallowtails...they were very black, one had no yellow stripe at all on the body, the other two had very narrow yellow stripes, less wide than in the Anise Swallowtail. The sun was intermittent, but other Indra Swallowtails were present. They favored sandy flats between the rocks and sandy slopes between the sagebrush. Unlike three weeks ago when everything I saw were worn indra, these were in freshly emerged condition except for a couple. Indra phyllisae differs from nominate indra by having wider yellow bands and longer swallowtails. Females are rarely collected, but on this day I would take two in perfect condition and two males in perfect condition. The two females went to the top of the peak, apparently to look for males. In one case, it was cloudy and cold and nothing flew. I looked a few feet over from where I was standing and observed a apparently torpid (I doubt it really was) male sunning itself with wings fully exposed on the sand. I just put my net over the resting adult four feet away. The only other butterflies seen at the summit was a Checkered White (Pontia protodice) or two. Conditions were quickly deteriorating after 2:40 PM. Winds were picking up with all butterfly activity now limited the the windward side of the hill and as the winds and clouds increased, the indra became much more rapid flying and wary. I did not try to net the individuals I saw that showed wing wear, although neither of those looked too damaged. After 3 PM, it became apparent those nasty thunderheads were bound for Butterbredt Peak. A male and female flying about a 150 feet below the summit became very agitated, upset (in my opinion) and began flying very rapidly from patrolling the lower slopes and repeately flew up to the summit, interacted (not in a combatative way) and then returned to the slopes below. At this time the winds on the other side of the peak were now about 40 mph and I believe the indra recognized a downpour was imminient. The two indra seemed to be communicating with each other and both descended to a sheltered spot together at the base of a rocky outcrop on the windward side of the peak with lots of brush. I could not safely get to them...high snake risk and one could not see in this dense growth of brush what might be lurking, but I did scare both indra up, only to return to this spot a few minutes later. Now I knew I was not in a safe place. Winds were now at about 60 mph on the opposite side of the peak. Lighting was a possibility and rain was highly likely as I could observe lightning and rains to the north in Kelso Valley and on the peaks to the north. And my mission was not completed. I had the indra hostplant to harvest. The plants were common on the upper 300 feet on the east side of the mountain. which is pyramid shaped. And yes, I think I could have collected indra in 60 mph winds hitting the peak if it were sunny and warm as it was. In truth, I have taken it on these peaks and ridges in 30 mph winds. I pulled my plants but had difficulties getting it in my tupperware container. Collecting was over and my hat blew off long ago. I put everything (including my hat) in my net and it was time to hike the 1/ 1/2 to 2 miles down back to the car. Progress was difficult. I had to watch for snakes. The wind was blowing my net hard against my chest. I was fearful my collected specimens in glassine envelopes in my pocket would blow out of my pocket and my seven prize swallowtails would be blown away in this "Twister"-like experience, now real, not a movie. I also started to get pelted by rainndrops and it was blowing so hard those raindrops hurt, especially when they struck my eyes. Was I upset? No!!! I felt like I had received a very special one hour among two of my favorite desert swallowtails. And I had caught four very nice Phyllis' Swallowtails, none of the five I netted three weeks earlier were in mint condition, though two are good enough to go in a museum collection. The others I let go. I was also mindful of my recent posts on how these indra smell like their host plants. No time to smell these or the Desert Blacks because of the brief critical time I was given. I was also excited about observing these indra just prior to the big storm hitting. Maybe I cannot prove it, but I am convinced four of those indra knew what weather was coming and communicated that and made plans with other indra individuals that it was time to find a safe roosting spot. Two left for one destination together, the other two did the same. Both pairs were male and female pairs. Somehow, I made it back to the car in 35 minutes based on the it's easier to go down than up law. Then I started driving north up Kelso Valley surround by lighning and rain. There was wind too, but those heavy winds dropped to maybe 20 mph by the time I got to the car. But I'll bet it was still much more windy at the summit of Butterbredt Peak. I drove with my window partially down to enjoy the rain. I thought too of my first collection of an Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra nr. indra) at a rocky outcrop on the west side of Saddlebag Lake on August 13, 1970 while with Larry Howie, a friend who sometime after that moved to New York. He was not a butterfly collector or watcher, but he named that rocky outcrop "Butterfly Rock" and the next day carved that name into the rock. My plans now were to go to McDonald's at Lake Isabella to get something to eat. I had seen no rattlesnakes and was grateful for that. After eating at McDonald's, then I would take food to my son, pick him up and return to Bakersfield. I made it to McDonald's at Lake Isabella and placed my order. Then suddenly, I heard a woman's voice. Is that you Ken? I turned around and who was it? Larry Howies wife! Moments later, Larry Howie also approached me and handed me a drawing and message on a napkin. The picture was of a rocky outcrop and was labelled "Butterfly Rock!" Larry now lives in Lake Isabella! That with my first indra experience happened nearly 39 years ago and we still talk about it on rare occasions when we see each other. By the way that first indra is a worn female and is still in my collection. We visited for an hour. It seems the Howie's went to see the fire being fought on Hooper Hill caused by a lightning strike, the hill above where my son was fishing. It also appeared that he got soaked from the rains that hit there as well. The Howie's had wanted me to take them to see Giant Yucca Skippers that fly 60 mph and I have not been able to meet that expectation. None had been seen on this day, though I am sure they are still around. No Ken Davenport story can end without rattlesnakes. The camp host told me he is sure he has 12 rattlesnakes in his campground and he is not allowed under forest service policy to harm them. He also shared that he once lived in Yorba Linda where he had to bulldoze a couple of acres in an area otherwise surrounded by the city. When he did, he found 7 rattlesnakes where logic said there were none. When I went to work in the Children's Center for Children we received word that a 6 1/2 foot rattlesnake had been found in our park the previous night and our park would have to be closed down until further notice. The rattlesnake squad charges $300-$600 to look for rattlesnakes. Like Yorba Linda, a rattlesnake within the city of Bakersfield in this area seem highly improbable. My bet, those Security Guards need to work on perfecting their field guide skills for species of snakes. The indra host plant collections went out priority mail to Wayne Whaley this afternoon after work. Subspecies phyllisae sometimes has a second brood after spring rains. Will yesterdays rain trigger a second emergence this year? It did in 1978, at least to a limited degree near Butterbredt Peak and on Piute Mtn. Vista 25 air miles to the northwest. Those were seen or captured in July! Best Wishes, Ken Davenport flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Butterbredt Peak, Kern County, CA. From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 19:18:03 -0700 Everyone:
I decided to leave the Sageland area at 11:50 AM (May 18th) after an hour. The
reasons were I needed to collect Saltbush Sootywings and if conditions were
possible, I might climb to the top of Butterbredt Peak, the type locality for
Phyllis' Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra phyllisae). I also needed to collect
herbarium samples of Tauschia parishii, the hostplant of both the Indra
Swallowtail there and the Desert Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes coloro).
Being two hours behind schedule was very unfortunate and in the future....I
will not wait should my grown son be late very often in the future..
In addition I still had another 30 minute drive to the canyon 1.5 miles south
of Butterbredt Peak where a trail goes to the peak. The trail takes an hour and
a half to get to the top of the peak, other routes from Jawbone Canyon Summit
are more direct, but higher risk for rattlesnakes in the rocky terrain and not
as good for other butterflies. The canyon route has lots of Atriplex canescens,
the host plant for Saltbush Sootywings (Hesperopsis alpheus oricus). By the
time I arrived, conditions were highly overcast with some occasional sun.
In addition, I had to carry water and a container to put the Tauschia parishii
plant specimens in. Then I started the ascent. Bad observations right at the
beginning. Nearly no butterfly activity and conditions were very dry. Only
Western Pygmy Blues and fortunately, one very nice female Saltbush Sootywing
landed by the trail and I put my net over it, now it is on my mounting board.
My original plan was to collect the plants at a rocky outcrop along the trail.
It was there three weeks earlier, but was now gone. Try another spot at Jawbone
Canyon summit? Or keep going another 45 minutes and ascend the peak? Looking
around, it appeared possible I might benefit from a break in the clouds. It was
warm enough for butterfly flight with temperatures in the mid-seventies. It
would be 2 PM before I could reach the peak. And I know those rare swallowtails
will often fly when other things do not. Winds then were not bad. Swallowtails
benefit from light rock and sand and high solar radiation and tend to fly when
other butterflies do not. But there were also wicked thunderheads to the north,
south, west and east. And winds were beginning to pick up. I had climbed this
peak three weeks earlier and taken five indra and one P. polyxenes coloro, all
showing wear. Too late for fresh individuals? Based on past experience in this
area, not too late at all. Emergences are staggered over two months. I decided
to press on for the summit, even though rattlesnake risk seems higher on warm
overcast days.
As I neared the summit at about 2 PM it was overcast and no butterflies had
been seen in 45 minutes. But I noted the relative warmth, light colored sand
and flowers still present in good shape. As I neared the lower of the two rocky
outcrops near the summit, I observed a very large black form with a yellow
band. Indra Swallowtail!!! It flew over some boulders and I lost it. At that
moment the sun came out for much of the next 40 minutes. I walked to the bottom
of a steep sandy slope and a huge female indra was patrolling there. I netted
it on a wingshot as it glided by. Looking at the very top of the peak two other
swallowtails were now visible, but these were Desert Black Swallowtails (P.
polyxenes coloro) of the yellow, not black variety. These would get priority
and I would net three of these in the next 40 minutes. These are similar
looking to the Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon zelicaon) but differ in
spotting along the FW edge and the different shape of the yellow spots on the
FW band. The abdomen and thorax of the body were notably different in these
swallowtails...they were very black, one had no yellow stripe at all on the
body, the other two had very narrow yellow stripes, less wide than in the Anise
Swallowtail.
The sun was intermittent, but other Indra Swallowtails were present. They
favored sandy flats between the rocks and sandy slopes between the sagebrush.
Unlike three weeks ago when everything I saw were worn indra, these were in
freshly emerged condition except for a couple. Indra phyllisae differs from
nominate indra by having wider yellow bands and longer swallowtails. Females
are rarely collected, but on this day I would take two in perfect condition and
two males in perfect condition. The two females went to the top of the peak,
apparently to look for males. In one case, it was cloudy and cold and nothing
flew. I looked a few feet over from where I was standing and observed a
apparently torpid (I doubt it really was) male sunning itself with wings fully
exposed on the sand. I just put my net over the resting adult four feet away.
The only other butterflies seen at the summit was a Checkered White (Pontia
protodice) or two. Conditions were quickly deteriorating after 2:40 PM. Winds
were picking up with all butterfly activity now limited the the windward side
of the hill and as the winds and clouds increased, the indra became much more
rapid flying and wary. I did not try to net the individuals I saw that showed
wing wear, although neither of those looked too damaged. After 3 PM, it became
apparent those nasty thunderheads were bound for Butterbredt Peak. A male and
female flying about a 150 feet below the summit became very agitated, upset (in
my opinion) and began flying very rapidly from patrolling the lower slopes and
repeately flew up to the summit, interacted (not in a combatative way) and then
returned to the slopes below. At this time the winds on the other side of the
peak were now about 40 mph and I believe the indra recognized a downpour was
imminient. The two indra seemed to be communicating with each other and both
descended to a sheltered spot together at the base of a rocky outcrop on the
windward side of the peak with lots of brush. I could not safely get to
them...high snake risk and one could not see in this dense growth of brush what
might be lurking, but I did scare both indra up, only to return to this spot a
few minutes later.
Now I knew I was not in a safe place. Winds were now at about 60 mph on the
opposite side of the peak. Lighting was a possibility and rain was highly
likely as I could observe lightning and rains to the north in Kelso Valley and
on the peaks to the north. And my mission was not completed. I had the indra
hostplant to harvest. The plants were common on the upper 300 feet on the east
side of the mountain. which is pyramid shaped. And yes, I think I could have
collected indra in 60 mph winds hitting the peak if it were sunny and warm as
it was. In truth, I have taken it on these peaks and ridges in 30 mph winds. I
pulled my plants but had difficulties getting it in my tupperware container.
Collecting was over and my hat blew off long ago. I put everything (including
my hat) in my net and it was time to hike the 1/ 1/2 to 2 miles down back to
the car.
Progress was difficult. I had to watch for snakes. The wind was blowing my net
hard against my chest. I was fearful my collected specimens in glassine
envelopes in my pocket would blow out of my pocket and my seven prize
swallowtails would be blown away in this "Twister"-like experience, now real,
not a movie. I also started to get pelted by rainndrops and it was blowing so
hard those raindrops hurt, especially when they struck my eyes.
Was I upset? No!!! I felt like I had received a very special one hour among
two of my favorite desert swallowtails. And I had caught four very nice
Phyllis' Swallowtails, none of the five I netted three weeks earlier were in
mint condition, though two are good enough to go in a museum collection. The
others I let go. I was also mindful of my recent posts on how these indra smell
like their host plants. No time to smell these or the Desert Blacks because of
the brief critical time I was given. I was also excited about observing these
indra just prior to the big storm hitting. Maybe I cannot prove it, but I am
convinced four of those indra knew what weather was coming and communicated
that and made plans with other indra individuals that it was time to find a
safe roosting spot. Two left for one destination together, the other two did
the same. Both pairs were male and female pairs.
Somehow, I made it back to the car in 35 minutes based on the it's easier to
go down than up law. Then I started driving north up Kelso Valley surround by
lighning and rain. There was wind too, but those heavy winds dropped to maybe
20 mph by the time I got to the car. But I'll bet it was still much more windy
at the summit of Butterbredt Peak. I drove with my window partially down to
enjoy the rain. I thought too of my first collection of an Indra Swallowtail
(Papilio indra nr. indra) at a rocky outcrop on the west side of Saddlebag Lake
on August 13, 1970 while with Larry Howie, a friend who sometime after that
moved to New York. He was not a butterfly collector or watcher, but he named
that rocky outcrop "Butterfly Rock" and the next day carved that name into the
rock.
My plans now were to go to McDonald's at Lake Isabella to get something to
eat. I had seen no rattlesnakes and was grateful for that. After eating at
McDonald's, then I would take food to my son, pick him up and return to
Bakersfield. I made it to McDonald's at Lake Isabella and placed my order. Then
suddenly, I heard a woman's voice. Is that you Ken? I turned around and who was
it? Larry Howies wife! Moments later, Larry Howie also approached me and handed
me a drawing and message on a napkin. The picture was of a rocky outcrop and
was labelled "Butterfly Rock!" Larry now lives in Lake Isabella! That with my
first indra experience happened nearly 39 years ago and we still talk about it
on rare occasions when we see each other. By the way that first indra is a worn
female and is still in my collection. We visited for an hour. It seems the
Howie's went to see the fire being fought on Hooper Hill caused by a lightning
strike, the hill above where my son was fishing. It also appeared that he got
soaked from the rains that hit there as well. The Howie's had wanted me to take
them to see Giant Yucca Skippers that fly 60 mph and I have not been able to
meet that expectation. None had been seen on this day, though I am sure they
are still around.
No Ken Davenport story can end without rattlesnakes. The camp host told me he
is sure he has 12 rattlesnakes in his campground and he is not allowed under
forest service policy to harm them. He also shared that he once lived in Yorba
Linda where he had to bulldoze a couple of acres in an area otherwise
surrounded by the city. When he did, he found 7 rattlesnakes where logic said
there were none. When I went to work in the Children's Center for Children we
received word that a 6 1/2 foot rattlesnake had been found in our park the
previous night and our park would have to be closed down until further notice.
The rattlesnake squad charges $300-$600 to look for rattlesnakes. Like Yorba
Linda, a rattlesnake within the city of Bakersfield in this area seem highly
improbable. My bet, those Security Guards need to work on perfecting their
field guide skills for species of snakes.
The indra host plant collections went out priority mail to Wayne Whaley this
afternoon after work. Subspecies phyllisae sometimes has a second brood after
spring rains. Will yesterdays rain trigger a second emergence this year? It did
in 1978, at least to a limited degree near Butterbredt Peak and on Piute Mtn.
Vista 25 air miles to the northwest. Those were seen or captured in July!
Best Wishes, Ken Davenport
flutterflies93306 AT att.net or kdavenport AT tils-ttr.org
For more information: http://www.tils-ttr.org
TILS Motto: "We can not protect that which we do not know" © 1999
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Sageland, Kelso Valley, Kern County, CA.From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 17:23:04 -0700 Everyone: (Sageland-Kelso Valley, Kern Co., CA.) May 18, 2009
As I left Miracle Hot Springs, it was about a 45 minute drive to the Sageland
area and Kelso Creek and the nearby spring. It was past 11 AM before I got
there and I was a good two hours behind schedule. On the positive side, the
clouds would break for me at Sageland and butterfly activity would be close to
normal. Actually better than normal. Good rains had left plant life in good
leaf condition and flowers were everywhere. And so were the butterflies. May
too late for the Mojave Desert butterflies? Not here. Not this year.
Butterflies were active in the dry washes and they were also active at the
spring a block up the road. Boggy plants were in flower and so were the
Baccharis bushes, which were swarming with butterflies. Because of overcast
conditions, few butterflies were going to mud.
Here is what I observed in an hour:
Large White or Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum)-15
Chusca Sandhill Skipper (Polites sabuleti near chusca)-10
Checkered White (Pontia protodice)-4
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)-10
Behr's Hairstreak (Satyrium behrii behrii)-150
Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis)-20
Silvery Blue (G. lygdamus ssp)-5
Bernardino Blue (Euphilotes bernardino inyomontanus)-60
Langston's Blue (Euphilotes enoptes langstoni)-4
Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon)-60
Lupine Blue complex (undescribed Plebejus lupini, unsure which group or
host....females are iridescent blue, not brown-10
Melissa Blue (Plebejus melissa near inyoensis-200
Boisduval's Blue (Plebejus icarioides eosierra)-150
Arrowhead Blue (G. piasus excubitus)-3 or 4, totally worn.
West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella)-1
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta rubria)-1
Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea)-2
Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis milberti subpallida)- one female in very
good shape sitting up a steep embankment above nettles. Really strange to see
this usually high Sierran butterfly at a desert oasis! I could not get to it to
net it.
California Ringlet (Coenonympha california california)-2
Ken Davenport
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: Black Mtn, SLO Co., CA 18May09From: "Bill Bouton" <bbouton AT charter.net> Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 10:28:46 -0700 Ken and others, Yes, it was an interesting trip up Black Mountain; many individuals of only a few species. The S. callippe comstocki (early?) were flying in large numbers. All that I photographed, or otherwise achieved good views of, were very fresh. I watched for leanira and metalmarks. None of the blues I saw matched my sparse knowledge base of what should look like our local lupinus. I'm very interested in your finding of H. lindseyi. Not only have I not photographed that species anywhere, but I'd love to find suitable and accessible habitat for them in SLO County. Bill Bouton San Luis Obispo, CA bbouton AT charter.net http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/sets/ Bill: The S. callippe comstocki record for so early on Black Mtn.is of interest. So are the lack of members of the Mormon Metalmark complex. I would also expect a member of the Lupine Blue complex and maybe a Leanira Checkerspot on that mountain based on past reports. If I recall, Lupine Blues were first noted from SLO County at or near Navajo Camp, real close to Black Mtn. Ken Davenport [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] |