Birdingonthe.Net Recent Postings from SouthWest Leps > Home > Mail > Alerts Updated on Tuesday, November 17 at 04:49 PM ET The most recently received Mail is at the top.	Kingfisher

17 Nov LRGV Butterflies [and a few moths] 10/28/09 through 11/02/09 [] 15 Nov New Texas records [Ray Stanford ] 15 Nov Fw: [DesertLeps] Phyciodes pallescens in TX [Alex Grkovich ] 14 Nov Fw: A new grass skipper for the U.S. - rather belatedly... [Alex Grkovich ] 14 Nov Re: Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) [Ray Stanford ] 13 Nov Raising Arizona Sisters [Todd Stout ] 13 Nov Re: [DesertLeps] RE: New Butterfly Finding Guide for New Mexico - A Short Review [Alex Grkovich ] 13 Nov RE: New Butterfly Finding Guide for New Mexico - A Short Review ["Hank Brodkin" ] 12 Nov RE: Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) ["Hank Brodkin" ] 12 Nov Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) ["JOAN POWELL" ] 12 Nov CAzBA Nov. meeting DBG Phoenix and "Mystery Monarch Tag" ["marcelinevandewater" ] 12 Nov SE AZ: Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona ["teleost07" ] 11 Nov Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) [Ray Stanford ] 11 Nov SE AZ: Harshaw Rd., 11/10/2009 ["John Saba" ] 9 Nov Smyrna blomfildia -What does it look like? ["John Saba" ] 9 Nov SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) ["John Saba" ] 9 Nov Blomfild's Beauty Found in Huachuca City, AZ ["Hank Brodkin" ] 4 Nov Neophasia terlooii [] 2 Nov Euphydryas editha Northern California [Todd Stout ] 2 Nov SE AZ: Harshaw Rd., 11/2/2009 ["John Saba" ] 1 Nov Gaviota, SBA Co, CA ["Lethaby, Nick" ] 1 Nov Harshaw Creek (Sta Cruz County, AZ) ["Hank Brodkin" ] 29 Oct collection manager position at the McGuire Center [Bruce Webb ] 27 Oct AZ: Aravaipa Canyon East, Pinal & Graham Counties [Philip Kline ] 27 Oct SE AZ: Harshaw Rd., 10/26/2009 ["John Saba" ] 24 Oct SE AZ: Garden and Sawmill Canyons, Huachuca Mountains ["teleost07" ] 21 Oct Kern River Valley, October 21. [] 21 Oct Species ["zapjammer" ] 21 Oct SE AZ: Harshaw Rd., 10/19/2009 ["John Saba" ] 18 Oct Fw: [DesertLeps] Noctua pronuba in SE Arizona [] 13 Oct SE AZ: Molino Basin & Gordon Hirabayashi Rec. Area, 10/13/2009 ["John Saba" ] 12 Oct AZ: Sunflower, Sycamore Creek, Maricopa Co. ["vireo" ] 11 Oct SE AZ: Pena Blanca Lake, 10/11/2009 ["John Saba" ] 12 Oct Re: AZ: Sycamore Canyon ["Kimberly" ] 11 Oct Re: AZ: Molino Basin Agathymus polingi - 10 Oct. 2009 ["Kimberly" ] 11 Oct Re: AZ: Molino Basin Agathymus polingi - 10 Oct. 2009 ["Kimberly" ] 11 Oct AZ: Sycamore Canyon ["djpvireo" ] 11 Oct Hammock Skipper (Polygonus leo), Dragoon Mts foothills, Cochise County, AZ ["zzyzyva46" ] 10 Oct AZ: Molino Basin Agathymus polingi - 10 Oct. 2009 ["teleost07" ] 10 Oct AZ: Pena Blanca Lake - 9 Oct. 2009 ["teleost07" ] 8 Oct SE AZ: Garden & Sawmill Canyons, 10/8/2009 ["John Saba" ] 04 Oct SE AZ: Sycamore Canyon - 2 Oct. 2009 ["teleost07" ] 03 Oct SE AZ: Sycamore Canyon - 2 Oct. 2009 ["teleost07" ] 3 Oct SE AZ: Pena Blanca Lake, 10/2/2009 ["John Saba" ] 2 Oct Big Green Caterpillar [ted hagstrom ] 1 Oct E slope Piutes and Sageland revisited [] 29 Sep Joshua Tree Ods? [] 28 Sep Flying in CA: San Benito Co. [Paul Johnson ] 27 Sep Sabuleti ["Nancy Hansen" ] 25 Sep Sageland and E side of Piute Mts., Kern Co., CA. [] 24 Sep CAzBA fieldtrip Sycamore Canyon October 10th ["marcelinevandewater" ] 21 Sep SE AZ: Pena Blanca Lake, 9/21/09 ["John Saba" ] 20 Sep Re: SE Arizona August 2-10 [Bruce Walsh ] 20 Sep SE Arizona August 2-10 [] 19 Sep RE: Consensus on spelling? [Todd Stout ] 19 Sep Re: Consensus on spelling? [Ray Stanford ] 19 Sep Consensus on spelling? [Todd Stout ] 19 Sep Re: [DesertLeps] RE: Lange's Metalmark "blend" with Mormon Metalmark? [] 19 Sep RE: Lange's Metalmark "blend" with Mormon Metalmark? [Andrew Warren ] 18 Sep Lange's Metalmark "blend" with Mormon Metalmark? [] 17 Sep SE AZ: Garden and Sawmill Canyons, Sept. 16-17 ["teleost07" ] 15 Sep Boyce Thompson Arboretum/CAZBA count [chris kline ] 12 Sep colon observations ["Nancy Hansen" ] 12 Sep Checkerspots-continued-part2 ["zapjammer" ] 11 Sep RE: California Giant Skipper - Agathymus stephensi ["Walker, Mark" ] 11 Sep California Giant Skipper - Agathymus stephensi [Carl Swafford ] 12 Sep Checkerspots-continued ["zapjammer" ] 11 Sep SE AZ: Arivaca Cienega, 9/10/2009 ["John Saba" ] 10 Sep Great Basin, Mono County, CA. [] 10 Sep Tioga Pass, Mono County, CA [] 9 Sep Apache Nokomis Fritillary, unexpected adventure [] 9 Sep California LATE records get Later [] 9 Sep Fwd: [leps-talk] RIP Gaden Robinson [Bruce Walsh ] 8 Sep Re: [DesertLeps] Seeing nude species in the field. 9/5. (quite long) [Pete Spino ] 8 Sep Seeing nude species in the field. 9/5. (quite long) [Pete Spino ] 7 Sep Fwd: Moths of North America: Pre-publication Offer Until October 15 [Bruce Walsh ] Subject: LRGV Butterflies [and a few moths] 10/28/09 through 11/02/09 From: fsmodel AT aol.com Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:48:17 EST Greetings, everyone! I am done working over my photos from my recent trip to South Texas. They can be found at: _http://www.flickr.com/photos/fsmodel/sets/72157622825106796/_ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fsmodel/sets/72157622825106796/) The pictures are organized alphabetically by common name. Double click any thumbnail to bring up a larger image; then click on "all sizes" to fill your screen. Noteworthy: A [new for me in the LRGV]: definite patch [Bentsen], Walker's metalmark [Resaca de la Palma] B [new - or nearly new - for me in the LRGV but not as noteworthy as A]: Boisduval's yellow, obscure skipper, yellow angled-sulphur C [not rare, but spectacular colors and great photo-ops]: Mexican bluewing, blue metalmark, silver-banded hairstreak D [others that make me smile]: brown-banded skipper, Reakirt's blue [dorsal/ventral of both male and female], Texas wasp moth, metalmarks [nice ventral shots of rounded and red-bordered]. ID errors / omissions: I make lots of ID errors, particularly with the easily confused species like clouded / fawn-spotted skipper. I would be grateful for any corrections. I also haven't IDed all the moths [as usual]. It helps to travel with sharp-eyed butterfliers. Altogether, our small group booked 106 species - not bad for this drought-impeded year. [We had a crummy year in Massachusetts, too, because of too much [rather than too little] rain in June - want some?] Thanks to Steve Moore, Barbara Volkle, Tom Gagnon and Bruce Callahan for spotting / locating most of the butterflies. Cheers, Frank [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: New Texas records From: Ray Stanford <ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:03:08 -0800 Alex, Thanks for sharing both of these new Texas records, You will recall that I caught the first US specimen, also a female, in Cochise County, Arizona, in 1958, and finally published it 50 years later! There is also a specimen from lower elevations of Hidalgo County, NM, which remains controversial. I believe it is also Phyciodes pallescens, but am in the minority . . . . Cheers, Ray On Nov 15, 2009, at 10:48 AM, Alex Grkovich wrote: > Here's yet another first (for Texas and 2nd US Record)... >   > Alex > > --- On Fri, 11/13/09, James McDermott wrote: > > From: James McDermott > Subject: [DesertLeps] Phyciodes pallescens in TX > To: "DesertLeps" , > TX-BUTTERFLY AT listserv.uh.edu > Date: Friday, November 13, 2009, 2:07 PM > > On 11/03/09, I collected a rather fresh female of Phyciodes pallescens > south of Mission, Hidalgo County, TX. This is evidently the first > record for > Texas and 2nd US record. Thanks to Andy Warren, Ed Knudson, and > Charles > Bordelon for confirming the species. > > It can be viewed here (with phaon below for comparison). > http://www.lepworld.com/tls/images/phyciodes2.jpg > > James McDermott > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > ------------------------------------ > > Keywords: DesertLeps , Desert Leps , Desert Lepidoptera , Desert > Butterflies , Desert MothsYahoo! Groups Links > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoWestLep/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoWestLep/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: SoWestLep-digest AT yahoogroups.com SoWestLep-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SoWestLep-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: Fw: [DesertLeps] Phyciodes pallescens in TX From: Alex Grkovich <agrkovich2003 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:48:49 -0800 (PST) Here's yet another first (for Texas and 2nd US Record)...   Alex --- On Fri, 11/13/09, James McDermott wrote: From: James McDermott Subject: [DesertLeps] Phyciodes pallescens in TX To: "DesertLeps" , TX-BUTTERFLY AT listserv.uh.edu Date: Friday, November 13, 2009, 2:07 PM On 11/03/09, I collected a rather fresh female of Phyciodes pallescens south of Mission, Hidalgo County, TX. This is evidently the first record for Texas and 2nd US record. Thanks to Andy Warren, Ed Knudson, and Charles Bordelon for confirming the species. It can be viewed here (with phaon below for comparison). http://www.lepworld.com/tls/images/phyciodes2.jpg James McDermott [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Keywords: DesertLeps , Desert Leps , Desert Lepidoptera , Desert Butterflies , Desert MothsYahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Fw: A new grass skipper for the U.S. - rather belatedly... From: Alex Grkovich <agrkovich2003 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:04:28 -0800 (PST) FYI...a new U.S. Skipper record for the U.S.   Alex --- On Sat, 11/14/09, Martin Reid wrote: From: Martin Reid Subject: A new grass skipper for the U.S. - rather belatedly... To: TX-BUTTERFLY AT LISTSERV.UH.EDU Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009, 5:25 PM Dear All, Today I sent DR Andrew Warren some pics of a skipper I photographed at NABA, south Texas just over one year ago, and it has just been IDed as Butler's Skipper, Mnasilus allubita, a new taxon (and genus) for the United States. Please visit my web page listed below - it explains everything: http://www.martinreid.com/Butterfly%20website/leps216.html Regards, Martin --- Martin Reid www.martinreid.com ====================================== To unsubscribe, send the message SIGNOFF TX-BUTTERFLY to LISTSERV AT LISTSERV.UH.EDU To change to the daily digest, send the message SET TX-BUTTERFLY DIGEST to LISTSERV AT LISTSERV.UH.EDU TX-BUTTERFLY archives: [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) From: Ray Stanford <ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:49:46 -0800 Dear Joan, Thanks for the new info on Blomfeld's Beauty from Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. Jim Brock recently posted some records from there several years earlier; perhaps you know of these. Best wishes, Ray Stanford On Nov 12, 2009, at 3:25 PM, JOAN POWELL wrote: > Hello, > > I am usually just a lurker here, since I don't even know 1/10th of > what you all know. Howver, regarding the presence of Blomfild's Beauty > in Sonora, unless I am very much mistaken with my ID, there are some > here in Alamos, Sonora right now. I have some photos on Flickr (here's > a link to one; the others are next to it in my photostream: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/8038353 AT N03/4099459512/ ) of several in > my yard. Apparently what you need is rotting Guayaba fruit on the > ground. I can't say anything about their presence other years, since > the guayaba fruit has not been at this stage of ripeness other years > when I have been here at the same time in Oct/Nov. > > -- Joan Powell > (Whittier, California, & Alamos, Sonora, Mexico) > > 1a. > Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) > Posted by: "Ray Stanford" ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org ray_stanford > Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:24 am (PST) > > Hi fellow SE Arizona fans, > > John Saba wrote "Will wonders never cease!" I believe that Santa Cruz > County is the most likely Arizona county for Smyrna blomfildia to be > found NOW, as it is historically the most rich in stray species from > Mexico. But the species seems to be absent from Sonora, Chihuahua, and > Sinaloa, so I wonder where the Pima and Cochise county individuals > came > from? In any case, someone should hang butterfly traps in riparian > habitats in 2 or 3 favorite canyons in Santa Cruz County THIS WEEK!!! > I believe one or more will pick up another Blomfild's Beauty. Wish I > could be there to help out, but it's a long way from the 45th > Parallel! > Thanks to Jim Brock for willingness to take care of the Cochise > County individual. What of the Pima County one? Not that I need to > know; just that it isn't lost. > > Cheers from Medford, Oregon, in the rain and 45 F. > > Ray > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoWestLep/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoWestLep/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: SoWestLep-digest AT yahoogroups.com SoWestLep-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SoWestLep-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: Raising Arizona Sisters From: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:45:01 -0700 If anyone can add helpful field experience content to this page on how to raise Adelpha eulalia, please share. I'm very slowly populating the 'Techniques by Taxa' section of the raising butterflies website. http://www.raisingbutterflies.org/adelpha-eulalia/ 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: Re: [DesertLeps] RE: New Butterfly Finding Guide for New Mexico - A Short Review From: Alex Grkovich <agrkovich2003 AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:38:02 -0800 (PST) Gee whiz, Hank..."Obsession", you sez??? Heck, I'm not "obsessed" with them, as my Assistant also claims...I just think about them all day long, and then in my sleep... Meanwhile, besides the LRGV, folks should also visit the Texas Hill Country and the South Texas Brushlands (especially westward of San Antonio), sometimes...Lot of good stuff there, too, and probably often overlooked as folks dash down to the Valley...Reminds me of how Ron Gatrelle used to say the same about South Florida...run down there and pass up a lot of stuff to find along the way in the Carolinas... Meanwhile, in Arizona along the Colorado River south of Lake Havasu, the time is coming to look up the array of Buckeyes (including grisea,coenia, "nigrosuffusa" and the array of integrades between all of them... Alex --- On Fri, 11/13/09, Hank Brodkin wrote: > From: Hank Brodkin > Subject: [DesertLeps] RE: New Butterfly Finding Guide for New Mexico - A Short Review > To: "Fred Heath" , "Elaine Halbedel" > Cc: "Steve Cary" , SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com, DesertLeps AT yahoogroups.com, NABA-CHAT AT PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Date: Friday, November 13, 2009, 3:28 PM > Sorry if you have received another > copy of this.  I had an image of the > cover attached that was too large for most addresses and I > got a string of > bounces.  If anyone wants a smaller file of the cover > – let me know. > > > > Hank Brodkin > Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ > N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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/ > >   _____  > > From: Hank Brodkin [mailto:hbrodkin AT cox.net] > > Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 1:18 PM > To: Elaine Halbedel (Inannaqoh AT aol.com); > 'Fred Heath' > Cc: Steve Cary (sjcary AT earthlink.net); > 'SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com'; > 'DesertLeps AT yahoogroups.com'; > NABA-CHAT AT PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: New Butterfly Finding Guide for New Mexico - A > Short Review > > > > Most people with an interest in butterflies go to either > the Rio Grande > Valley of Texas or southeastern Arizona to feed their > obsession.   Even > though there are only slightly fewer species in New Mexico > than in Arizona, > New Mexico is usually treated as an afterthought.  > There are butterfly > finding guides for both Texas and Arizona.  Now Steve > Cary “Mr. New Mexico > Butterfly”, has created a guide for finding the > butterflies of that state. > Steve has been the natural resource manager and chief > naturalist for New > Mexico State parks since 1999.  His just released > BUTTERFLY LANDSCAPES OF > NEW MEXICO, published by New Mexico Magazine > (www.nmmagazine.com), will, in > a very useful and easy to use format, provide much useful > information for > lepsters of any stripe. > > > > The basic meat of the book is divided into two main > portions “Vertical > Parade” locating species by going to the different > altitudinal Life Zones > and “Regional Specialties” which locates species in the > state’s five > biogeographical sections.  Maps are numerous as are > color photographs of > many species and the habitats they live in. Interspersed > are notes on plant > life, short biographies of some of the main early > entomologists of the > state, and other short essays of interest, as well as a > checklist of all of > the state’s butterflies.  Believe me, if you read a > copy of this book, you > will want to go and seek out the butterflies of the Land of > Enchantment as > soon as possible! > > > > Hank Brodkin > Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ > N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Keywords: DesertLeps , Desert Leps , Desert Lepidoptera , > Desert Butterflies , Desert MothsYahoo! Groups Links > > >     DesertLeps-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com > > > Subject: RE: New Butterfly Finding Guide for New Mexico - A Short Review From: "Hank Brodkin" <hbrodkin AT cox.net> Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:28:01 -0700 Sorry if you have received another copy of this. I had an image of the cover attached that was too large for most addresses and I got a string of bounces. If anyone wants a smaller file of the cover – let me know. Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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/ _____ From: Hank Brodkin [mailto:hbrodkin AT cox.net] Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 1:18 PM To: Elaine Halbedel (Inannaqoh AT aol.com); 'Fred Heath' Cc: Steve Cary (sjcary AT earthlink.net); 'SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com'; 'DesertLeps AT yahoogroups.com'; NABA-CHAT AT PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: New Butterfly Finding Guide for New Mexico - A Short Review Most people with an interest in butterflies go to either the Rio Grande Valley of Texas or southeastern Arizona to feed their obsession. Even though there are only slightly fewer species in New Mexico than in Arizona, New Mexico is usually treated as an afterthought. There are butterfly finding guides for both Texas and Arizona. Now Steve Cary “Mr. New Mexico Butterfly”, has created a guide for finding the butterflies of that state. Steve has been the natural resource manager and chief naturalist for New Mexico State parks since 1999. His just released BUTTERFLY LANDSCAPES OF NEW MEXICO, published by New Mexico Magazine (www.nmmagazine.com), will, in a very useful and easy to use format, provide much useful information for lepsters of any stripe. The basic meat of the book is divided into two main portions “Vertical Parade” locating species by going to the different altitudinal Life Zones and “Regional Specialties” which locates species in the state’s five biogeographical sections. Maps are numerous as are color photographs of many species and the habitats they live in. Interspersed are notes on plant life, short biographies of some of the main early entomologists of the state, and other short essays of interest, as well as a checklist of all of the state’s butterflies. Believe me, if you read a copy of this book, you will want to go and seek out the butterflies of the Land of Enchantment as soon as possible! Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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: RE: Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) From: "Hank Brodkin" <hbrodkin AT cox.net> Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:43:03 -0700 Joan: I have received or seen a couple of e-mails telling me that there has been much confusion between karwinskii and blomfildi. Someone suggested that the supposed occurrence of karwinskii in Sonora should really be attributed to blomfildi. I have also seen what I thought were blomfildi in Alamos as well as at the "fig tree canyon" on Highway 16 west of Yecora. Your great photos are clearly of blomfildi as indicated by the hind wing shape and pattern. Thanks for posting them. Karwinskii and blomfildi definitely overlap in eastern Mexico. If anyone has photos of karwinskii taken in Sonora, I really would be interested in seeing them. Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of JOAN POWELL Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 4:26 PM To: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com Subject: [SoWestLep] Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) Hello, I am usually just a lurker here, since I don't even know 1/10th of what you all know. Howver, regarding the presence of Blomfild's Beauty in Sonora, unless I am very much mistaken with my ID, there are some here in Alamos, Sonora right now. I have some photos on Flickr (here's a link to one; the others are next to it in my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8038353 AT N03/4099459512/ ) of several in my yard. Apparently what you need is rotting Guayaba fruit on the ground. I can't say anything about their presence other years, since the guayaba fruit has not been at this stage of ripeness other years when I have been here at the same time in Oct/Nov. -- Joan Powell (Whittier, California, & Alamos, Sonora, Mexico) 1a. Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) Posted by: "Ray Stanford" ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org ray_stanford Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:24 am (PST) Hi fellow SE Arizona fans, John Saba wrote "Will wonders never cease!" I believe that Santa Cruz County is the most likely Arizona county for Smyrna blomfildia to be found NOW, as it is historically the most rich in stray species from Mexico. But the species seems to be absent from Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, so I wonder where the Pima and Cochise county individuals came from? In any case, someone should hang butterfly traps in riparian habitats in 2 or 3 favorite canyons in Santa Cruz County THIS WEEK!!! I believe one or more will pick up another Blomfild's Beauty. Wish I could be there to help out, but it's a long way from the 45th Parallel! Thanks to Jim Brock for willingness to take care of the Cochise County individual. What of the Pima County one? Not that I need to know; just that it isn't lost. Cheers from Medford, Oregon, in the rain and 45 F. Ray [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.707 / Virus Database: 270.14.62/2499 - Release Date: 11/12/09 07:33:00 Subject: Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) From: "JOAN POWELL" <joan.powell AT att.net> Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:25:48 -0700 Hello, I am usually just a lurker here, since I don't even know 1/10th of what you all know. Howver, regarding the presence of Blomfild's Beauty in Sonora, unless I am very much mistaken with my ID, there are some here in Alamos, Sonora right now. I have some photos on Flickr (here's a link to one; the others are next to it in my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8038353 AT N03/4099459512/ ) of several in my yard. Apparently what you need is rotting Guayaba fruit on the ground. I can't say anything about their presence other years, since the guayaba fruit has not been at this stage of ripeness other years when I have been here at the same time in Oct/Nov. -- Joan Powell (Whittier, California, & Alamos, Sonora, Mexico) 1a. Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) Posted by: "Ray Stanford" ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org ray_stanford Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:24 am (PST) Hi fellow SE Arizona fans, John Saba wrote "Will wonders never cease!" I believe that Santa Cruz County is the most likely Arizona county for Smyrna blomfildia to be found NOW, as it is historically the most rich in stray species from Mexico. But the species seems to be absent from Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, so I wonder where the Pima and Cochise county individuals came from? In any case, someone should hang butterfly traps in riparian habitats in 2 or 3 favorite canyons in Santa Cruz County THIS WEEK!!! I believe one or more will pick up another Blomfild's Beauty. Wish I could be there to help out, but it's a long way from the 45th Parallel! Thanks to Jim Brock for willingness to take care of the Cochise County individual. What of the Pima County one? Not that I need to know; just that it isn't lost. Cheers from Medford, Oregon, in the rain and 45 F. Ray [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: CAzBA Nov. meeting DBG Phoenix and "Mystery Monarch Tag" From: "marcelinevandewater" <marcelinevandewater AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:43:00 -0000 Our End-of-the-Year Party will be held on Tuesday night November 17th, from 7-9pm at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. We will be having another butterfly photo presentation. This is always a fun event and a great time to share some of your fantastic butterfly photographic shots with all of CAzBA's members and friends! At this meeting we will have our 2010 CAzBA calendar for sale, $10 each at "The Book Table". And we will have many "raffle" items available so bring your checkbook or some loose change to join in the fun! We will also evaluate our third year of meetings and fieldtrips. With plenty of time to socialize with munchies and soft drinks provided. So please spread the word and invite a butterfly friend or two! CAzBA Board www.cazba.org PS a Monarch has been found with the tag D893. We would like to know who tagged it, where and when. Please email Chris Kline at swmonarchs AT yahoo.com if you have any info. Subject: SE AZ: Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:05:13 -0000 I took to heart the immortal words of Bailowitz and Brodkin, "Don't give up on November...", and walked Sycamore Canyon today. It was relatively quiet with the exception of 3 (possibly as many as 5) Common Mestras (Mestra amymone) at around mile 1.5. A single Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala) was in the same stretch. Ken Kertell Tucson, AZ Subject: Re: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) From: Ray Stanford <ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org> Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:21:21 -0800 Hi fellow SE Arizona fans, John Saba wrote "Will wonders never cease!" I believe that Santa Cruz County is the most likely Arizona county for Smyrna blomfildia to be found NOW, as it is historically the most rich in stray species from Mexico. But the species seems to be absent from Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, so I wonder where the Pima and Cochise county individuals came from? In any case, someone should hang butterfly traps in riparian habitats in 2 or 3 favorite canyons in Santa Cruz County THIS WEEK!!! I believe one or more will pick up another Blomfild's Beauty. Wish I could be there to help out, but it's a long way from the 45th Parallel! Thanks to Jim Brock for willingness to take care of the Cochise County individual. What of the Pima County one? Not that I need to know; just that it isn't lost. Cheers from Medford, Oregon, in the rain and 45 F. Ray On Nov 9, 2009, at 8:32 PM, John Saba wrote: > 9 Nov 2009 > > Will wonders never cease! > > In addition to Hank Brodkin's recent post of Smyrna blomfildia > photographed by Pam Mowbray-Graeme in Huachuca City on 7 Nov 2009 (a > first record for Cochise Co.), I have just received news of another, > earlier record of this species. > > On 4 Nov 2009, in the Pima Co. portion of the Santa Rita Mts., the > subject species was found in a bait trap. Actual identification of the > specimen was just made moments ago. This is the first record for Pima > Co. as well as for Arizona. > > The two locations are approximately 30 miles apart. > > --- > John Saba > Tucson, Arizona > Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! 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Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: SE AZ: Harshaw Rd., 11/10/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:24:39 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Santa Cruz Co., Harshaw Rd. ca. 6 mi SE Patagonia, Tuesday, 10 Nov 2009, 0930 - 1600, 33 species: Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes) 1 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 9 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 100 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 4 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1 Pahaska Skipper (Hesperia pahaska) 3 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 4 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 14 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 22 Lyside Sulphur (Kricogonia lyside) 4 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 15 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 6 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 14 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 35 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 10 Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak (Strymon istapa) 1 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 10 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 3 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 14 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 20 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 45 Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini texanus) 15 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 7 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 22 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 17 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 13 Texan Crescent (Anthanasa texana) 6 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 7 'Dark' Tropical Buckeye (Junonia evarete nigrosuffusa) 11 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 12 West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) 3 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 9 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 1 (458 individuals) Weather: Sky sunny, intermittent light wind, temperature ca. 70-76 degrees. Nectar: Rabbitbrush. Moisture: None. Other sightings: Western Bluebirds. 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: Smyrna blomfildia -What does it look like? From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 21:40:32 -0700 Check it out at that great resource, Butterflies of America: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/t/Smyrna_blomfildia_a.htm --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: SE AZ: Smyrna blomfildia (Blomfild's Beauty) From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 21:32:25 -0700 9 Nov 2009 Will wonders never cease! In addition to Hank Brodkin's recent post of Smyrna blomfildia photographed by Pam Mowbray-Graeme in Huachuca City on 7 Nov 2009 (a first record for Cochise Co.), I have just received news of another, earlier record of this species. On 4 Nov 2009, in the Pima Co. portion of the Santa Rita Mts., the subject species was found in a bait trap. Actual identification of the specimen was just made moments ago. This is the first record for Pima Co. as well as for Arizona. The two locations are approximately 30 miles apart. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Blomfild's Beauty Found in Huachuca City, AZ From: "Hank Brodkin" <hbrodkin AT cox.net> Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 09:00:56 -0700 On Saturday, November 7, Pam Mowbray-Graeme found and photographed a Blomfild's Beauty (Smyrna blomfildia) in her back yard in Huachuca City, Cochise County, Arizona. This is, I believe, an Arizona record. Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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: Neophasia terlooii From: JimJoanJoy AT aol.com Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 14:07:58 EST Greetings fellow lepheads, A walk up Sawmill Canyon in the Huachuca Mts. of SE AZ yesterday yielded between 40 and 50 Mexican Pine Whites (Neophasia terlooii). Having done similar walks over the years in the same place at the same time I would say these were about the same numbers of individuals that I have encountered in previous years dating back to the early 80's. There were still a few giant skippers flying about along (not identified) with a few common sulphurs. Jim Brock [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Euphydryas editha Northern California From: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2009 20:33:52 -0700 Does anyone know what ssp. of Euphydryas editha flies at Ash Creek, Siskiyou County, California? This is the spot just west of I-5; not too far from the Oregon border. I'll check BOA; actually I just checked Andy's Oregon book and he refers to them as E. editha nr. rubicunda. That seems to coincide with Hinchliff as well. I'll call them that unless anyone has further feedback. 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: Harshaw Rd., 11/2/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2009 20:29:24 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Santa Cruz Co., Harshaw Rd. ca. 6 mi SE Patagonia, Monday, 2 Nov 2009, 0940 - 1325, 33 species: Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 5 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 70 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 6 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) 1 Pahaska Skipper (Hesperia pahaska) 3 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 1 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 2 Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) 1 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 14 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 16 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 20 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 6 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 12 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 15 Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) 1 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 5 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 10 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 5 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 7 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 14 Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini texanus) 8 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 16 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 1 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 7 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 3 Texan Crescent (Anthanasa texana) 6 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 12 'Dark' Tropical Buckeye (Junonia evarete nigrosuffusa) 18 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 23 West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) 3 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 7 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 2 (321 individuals) Weather: Sky clear, intermittent light wind, temperature ca. 71-84 degrees. Nectar: Rabbitbrush. Moisture: None. Other sightings: A small, but noisy flock of Western Bluebirds. Comments: Species diversity the last two weeks: 28 - 31- 33. Numbers of individuals the last two weeks: 106 - 213 - 321. Not too bad for a drought year. 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: Gaviota, SBA Co, CA From: "Lethaby, Nick" <nlethaby AT ti.com> Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 15:43:11 -0600 All: I had a Queen today (Nov 1) among the many Monarchs at Gaviota State park. I also saw a Cabbage White and a White Checkered Skipper. Nick Lethaby nlethaby AT ti.com +1 805 562 5106 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Harshaw Creek (Sta Cruz County, AZ) From: "Hank Brodkin" <hbrodkin AT cox.net> Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 08:15:08 -0700 The SEABA field trip on 31 October was held under near perfect weather conditions with clear skies, only light breezes and temperatures that reached the mid-seventies. A highlight was a Mexican Fritillary. The following species were seen: Checkered White (P. protodice) Cabbage White (P. rapae) Orange Sulphur (C. eurytheme) Southern Dogface (Z. cesonia) Mexican Yellow (E. Mexicana) Tailed Orange (P. proterpia) Sleepy orange (A. nicippe) Dainty Sulphur (N. iole) Gray Hairstreak (S. melinus) Leda Ministreak (M. leda) Western Pygmy-Blue (B. exile) Spring Azure (C. ladon) Ceraunus Blue (H. ceraunus) Reakirt's Blue (E. isola) Acmon Blue (P. acmon) Arizona Metalmark (C. arizonensis) American Snout (L. carinenta) Queen (D. gilippus) Gulf Fritillary (A. vanillae) Variegated Fritillary (E. claudia) Mexican Fritillary (E. hegasia) Common Buckeye (J. coenia) Tropical Buckeye (J. nigrosuffusa) Painted Lady (V. cardui) West Coast Lady (V. annabella) American Lady (V. virginiensis) Arizona Sister (A. eulalia) Funereal Duskywing (E. funeralis) White/Common Checkered-Skipper (P. albescens/communis) Desert Checkered-Skipper (P. philetas) Pahaska Skipper (H. pahaska) Hank Brodkin Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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: collection manager position at the McGuire Center From: Bruce Webb <BruWebb AT surewest.net> Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:00:26 -0700 Could you please post this position on your SouthWest Lep Listserve? Thank you. Cheers! Jackie Miller COLLECTION MANAGER FOR LEPIDOPTERA McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida The Florida Museum of Natural History invites applications for a collection manager position at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. The Center has one of the world’s largest lepidopteran collections with a large staff and active research programs in systematics, evolutionary biology, ecology and biodiversity conservation. Requirements include a degree in the biological sciences, preferably M.S. or Ph,D., with appropriate experience in a museum or similar collection-based background, and a broad knowledge of lepidopteran classification. Primary responsibilities will include curation and management of collections (acquisitions, accessions, loans, public inquiries, etc.), and supervision of associated preparators and other staff. Individuals wishing to apply should visit https://jobs.ufl.edu (referencing requisition # 0803166) and submit an online application which must include a curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation and a description of your collections management experience and knowledge of Lepidoptera. The application deadline is November 16, 2009 and the anticipated start date is January 2010. -- Bruce Webb (SoWestLep moderator) Granite Bay, Placer Co. CA ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoWestLep/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoWestLep/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:SoWestLep-digest AT yahoogroups.com mailto:SoWestLep-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SoWestLep-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: AZ: Aravaipa Canyon East, Pinal & Graham Counties From: Philip Kline <pgkline_uk AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:42:04 -0700 (PDT) I hiked about 2 miles into Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness from the East entrance this morning.  About 3/4 miles in (Pinal County), I found a Tropical Least-skipper.  Photo here: http://blackbird.smugmug.com/gallery/8374611_e2G6g#695238875_aNe6c-A-LB Also, I saw a "Mormon"-type Metalmark that I assume would be mejicanus mejicanus from the location, but it was quite dark, with limited orange; so perhaps it's mormo autumnalis?  Here's a photo, if anyone has any comments on species/subspecies: http://blackbird.smugmug.com/Nature/Butterflies/Blues-Hairstreaks-and/8406287_hJtnQ#695254454_r7tMQ-A-LB There were a few other butterflies, but they were pretty sparse.  I managed to find one flowering Rabbitbrush in the Canyon and it had about 30-40 Queens swarming it.  Seepwillow was mostly finished but there were still a few blooms remaining.  I saw the following species: Sleepy Orange   10 Dainty Sulphur     6 Fatal Metalmark  3 Mexican Metalmark?   1 Gulf Fritillary        1 Painted Lady       4  American Snout   5 Empress Leilia    12 Queen              40+ Tropical Least Skipper  1 Orange Skipperling   4 Philip Kline [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: SE AZ: Harshaw Rd., 10/26/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:18:33 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Santa Cruz Co., Harshaw Rd. ca. 6 mi. SE Patagonia, Monday, 26 Oct 2009, 1040 - 1350, 31 species: Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes) 2 'Southwestern' Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis tatius) 1 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 2 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 15 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 2 Pahaska Skipper (Hesperia pahaska) 4 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 7 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 15 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 1 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 11 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 2 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 9 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 18 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 4 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 7 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 2 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 7 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 2 Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini) 1 Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis) 1 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 18 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 1 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 5 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 8 Texan Crescent (Anthanasa texana) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 8 'Dark' Tropical Buckeye (Junonia evarete nigrosuffusa) 6 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 40 West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) 5 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 7 Common Mestra (Mestra amymone) 1 (213 individuals) Weather: Sky clear, breezy, temperature ca. 70-75 degrees. Nectar: Rabbitbrush, some small yellow daisies. Moisture: None. Other sightings: A late female Hepatic Tanager. Comments: Numbers of individuals double that of one week ago. 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: Garden and Sawmill Canyons, Huachuca Mountains From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:45:25 -0000 I had the opportunity to spend some time in the Huachuca Mountains today. I wound up walking from the upper parking area to Sawmill Spring counting Chiricahua Whites (Neophasia terlooii). The final tally was males 16, females 0. Driving out in the afternoon (3:30 pmish) I happened to stop for something and noticed some medium-sized butterflies (ultimately around 4) darting around the tops of the nearby oaks, Silverleaf Oak and what I think was a Scrub Oak. They never descended during my 20 minutes watching them. They were Colorado Hairstreaks (Hypaurotis crysalus). According to Jim Brock, southern populations are able to pull off a second brood because they successfully use silverleaf oak in place of Gambel's Oak, whereas more northern populations use almost exclusive Gambel's Oak and are single brooded. Very cool. Ken Kertell Tucson Subject: Kern River Valley, October 21. From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:36:18 -0700 Everyone: I visited Weldon and the Sageland area of Kern County in the southern Sierra Nevada. These highlights and comments. Purplish Copper (Lycaena helloides) fresh and common on yellow composites near junction of Hwy. 178 and Kelso Valley Rd. Monarch (Danaus plexippus)- only three seen at Weldon. Queen (Danaus gillippus):four fresh individuals found near jct. Kelso Valley Rd. & Hwy. 178. Obviously having a late season emergence. Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui): only two observed. Both appeared to be in fresh condition. A very weak migration of this species in 2009. California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica): One fresh male observed at the Spring south of Sageland in the Kelso Valley region. Perhaps 15 species were seen, most were common species. Lots of butterflies at Weldon (some Atalopedes campestris Brian!) but nearly no butterflies in the Sageland area and the E slope of the Piutes. Euphilotes blues were not seen. No Snout Butterflies reported from Kern County yet this year. 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: Species From: "zapjammer" <zapjammer AT verizon.net> Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:32:44 -0000 All, The topic of what a species is has been, is, and will continue to be contentious. It is great to hear different people's perspectives. So, here is mine. I feel the need to make a few things clear and, possibly, elicit an argument or two counter to my own. I also think that there are some errors in definition and hope to be pardoned if I seem to preach. I will borrow (liberally) from another post from another time to enable my points. A fellow said: 'In high school over 30 years ago they told me that if 2 animals could mate and have fertile offspring the 2 parents were one species.' This is probably so at least some, maybe even most, of the time, but it is a too simplistic reduction of the facts in a biosphere so incredibly diverse. Such a definition more often confounds than clarifies. Any species concept must involve the continuation of the generations. One problem stems from the nature of the question itself. The phrases 'could mate' and 'do mate' convey very different things. If creatures do not mate in nature but do in the lab (and produce viable offspring), is that not significant? I think so, but there is room for disagreement. Then there is the question of how we ought to view accidental mismating between different species (e.g. too vigorous males mismating with any and all congeners). We need to ask questions like: What does the F1 do? Do they mate back to one or another parent with a preference? Are backcrosses sexually limited (one sex mates differentially between parent species)? How frequent is accidental mismating and what are the ramifications for each species genome? I think that there is a lot of variation in these matters between different groups of organisms. This may be based on many factors, e.g. how closely related two species are historically, whether chemical signals are involved, whether the organisms are sessile or mobile...etc. More questions than answers I think, and all of them beg for experiment. Then there is the issue of viability itself. How many studies have been undertaken to examine inter- versus intraspecies fertility? It is sometimes easy to overlook the fact that there is a level of infertility within a given species as well as between species. This may be rather higher than one would suspect (e.g. humans). Add to that the fact that there may be regional variation in fertility between various, more or less adjacent, populations considered belonging to the same species. We should expect that any characteristic that can vary, will vary. Also, is it possible that hybridization between two (or more) species might be an operational norm for some taxa? After all, occasional hybridization is one way to increase genomic variability and, consequently, increase a species capacity to adapt to novel circumstances (e.g. new foodplants). No single definition seems to cover all possible manifestations of what a species might be, but the key factor is: Whatever a species is, it provides generational continuity. It is the functional unit of evolution. Here is another matter. There are theoretical models of what species are and practical ones. A theoretical model (e.g. the biological species concept) can be elegant but often difficult or impossible to test. A practical model (e.g. the typological species concept) may be quiet functional, at least at the local level, but virtually useless in a broader geographical context. I have noted that these functional models fall into disfavor until one needs to classify/identify multitudes of species! In fact, where one concept is strong the other is weak and vice versa. For me, the biological species concept seems a little more gratifying, even if it is more a mental plaything than a real tool. Which brings us back to topic. This same fellow followed his first statement with: 'I imagine that the line between 2 closely related species (or subspecies or varieties) is somewhat arbitrary.' Well, more on subspecies below. We delude ourselves if we think that the 'line' between species is somewhat arbitrary. We may fail to distinguish species, but they do not. We humans routinely apply vocabulary to complex situations, often without much understanding of them at all, e.g. the atom. Words represent convention and even a single word can have shades of meaning dependent on custom, context, or intent. So, the line WE draw can certainly be arbitrary, but we are not making the decisions when it comes to what a species is. Creatures that must procreate are severely penalized for making arbitrary decisions. Selection quickly settles that issue! The topic of subspecies nearly always emerges in any conversation about species. Probably, at least subconsciously, that is because there is the perception that every extant species was once a subspecies of another. Whether that is true is a whole 'nuther matter! However, one can safely eliminate subspecies from the conversation and the question about species remains the same. On the other hand, one cannot remove the species concept from biology as that science would collapse ingloriously! If there is anything like a fundamental concept in biology, it is the species. Perhaps that is why it is so hard to confine/define. Another fellow (and many others over time) said: 'Species are constructs of the human mind.' As demonstrated above, this is ridiculous! The WORD 'species' is a construct, as are many other words representing concepts consequent to the acceptance of that word. However, in biology the species is one concept that is not a construct. Our inability to define it (specifically or generally) is our limitation, not the biosphere's. The species is THE unit of reproduction and continuation of the generations. It defines the keyhole through which life must pass from past to future. It is not an individual (except in weird exceptional cases), but a community of individuals with relationship sufficient to allow reproductive success. Please examine closely the notion of 'sufficient relationship.' This implies a) an historical aspect relating to a genealogy/lineage; and b) a mechanical (or genetic) restriction, which, if not satisfied, is insufficient to support the continuation of the generations. One species stands juxtaposed another in that they do not share this sufficient relationship. Oh, yes, there certainly are real gray areas between some extant species, but these situations are transient and rare. Why would this be so? Because surviving is tough business and there is little latitude for dilly and dally and virtually no time for it. So, when we see one of these we should not be inclined to make it the template for what a species is...it will soon pass and we will see either submergence/re-integration or speciation. It is a simple matter for a creature: You are like me or you are like them. We make the next generation...or we do not. A frequent follow up statement is: 'Because we have multiple human minds we also have multiple constructs of what a species is.' This is a tautology. Of course! The sky is blue because we have given that name to the color of the sky! Just because the objective nature of the species is not always obvious to us does not mean that it does not exist! We humans certainly recognize our own species and choose to mate on that basis first and foremost. We do not date Chimpanzees no matter how genetically similar we are. I think it acceptable to assume that species we observe do the same, at least most of the time. If they did not, if creatures were not able to recognize as potential mates those individuals most likely to enable the continuation of the generations, life as we know it collapses into a single species. The fact that we are frequently unaware of what enables each distinct species to recognize its own does not bear on the fact that they do. There is pure functionality to the species and THAT is what we should be interested in. Another sentiment: 'What I see in the large laboratory known as planet earth, is individual organisms interacting with each other and interacting with their environment. Genetic exchange among these organisms changes through space and time and in response to stochastic events.' To this I say: What you see is incredibly diverse collection of organisms, each streamlined by selection to enable their survival. These organisms are organized into discrete units, the species, that allows them to survive through time. Genetic exchange between two species is limited by the degree to which it hinders the continuation of generations. This is not random; it is strictly regulated by the objective razor of survival. Do it right or be extinguished! J.P.Pelham Subject: SE AZ: Harshaw Rd., 10/19/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:27:11 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Santa Cruz Co., Harshaw Rd. ca. 6 mi. SE Patagonia, Monday, 19 Oct 2009, 1405 - 1605, 28 species: Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 4 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 1 Pahaska Skipper (Hesperia pahaska) 2 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 1 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 1 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 8 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 1 Large Orange Sulphur (Phoebis agarithe) 1 Barred Yellow (Eurema daira) 1 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 1 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 1 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 10 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 1 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 3 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 1 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 1 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 6 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 1 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 7 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 3 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 1 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 17 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 4 'Dark' Tropical Buckeye (Junonia evarete nigrosuffusa) 6 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 14 West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) 1 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 7 (106 individuals) Weather: Sky partly cloudy, intermittent light wind, temperature ca. 82 degrees. Nectar: Rabbitbrush; some small yellow daisies. Moisture: None. 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: Fw: [DesertLeps] Noctua pronuba in SE Arizona From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:08:37 -0700 Bruce: Good information and finds! I forwarded this to Kelly Richers for consideration for the moths section of the annual Season Summary. A new species in any state is a major record! Ken Davenport Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 11:28 AM Subject: [DesertLeps] Noctua pronuba in SE Arizona Its finally here. Took two fresh Noctua pronuba (large yellow underwing) in Brown Canyon, Baboq. Mts (Pima Co, AZ) on Friday. Recall that this European species first appeared in 1979 in Nova Scotia and has been sweeping North American since (figured on Plate 58 of Powell and Opler). Got very excited, as this was the first AZ record I knew about. However, Jennifer Bundy quickly informed me its been in Yuma for the last two years and a quick call to Ray Nagle revealed that he took a male a few weeks ago in Pinery Canyon in the Chirichahua Mts, as well as seeing it in Sonora in Mexico. Any other records from SE Arizona? Cheers bruce [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: SE AZ: Molino Basin & Gordon Hirabayashi Rec. Area, 10/13/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:57:05 -0700 Arizona, Pima Co., Catalina Mts., Molino Basin, Tuesday, 13 Oct 2009, 11 species: sennae 1 nicippe 1 halesus 1 melinus 1 isola 1 carinenta 11 plexippus 1 annabella 1 eulalia 1 pyracmon 1 polingi 11 Arizona, Pima Co., Catalina Mts., Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area, Tuesday, 13 Oct 2009, 7 species: nicippe 1 iole 5 melinus 1 ceraunus 1 lupini 1 carinenta 3 patrobas 1 --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: AZ: Sunflower, Sycamore Creek, Maricopa Co. From: "vireo" <vireo AT vireos.com> Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:11:03 -0700 Reading about Poling's Giant-Skippers (Agathymus polingi) down south inspired me to head out to Sunflower here in Maricopa Co. I visited a known place with lots of shindagger, Poling's hostplant. There is also Bauer's Giant-Skipper (Agathymus baueri) host plant here. I ended up seeing both Giant-Skippers, which reinforced how small Poling's is. I saw a pair of Bauer's, as well as two Poling's, one of which was somewhat cooperative for photos. The only other butterflies seen were 1 Variegated Fritiallary (Euptoieta claudia) and a few Western Pygmy-Blues (Brephidium exilis). As these were my first Poling's, I considered the day to be a great success :-). Dave David Powell Phoenix, AZ vireo AT vireos.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: SE AZ: Pena Blanca Lake, 10/11/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:50:32 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Santa Cruz Co., Pena Blanca Lake, Sunday, 11 Oct 2009, 0830 - 1600, 36 species: Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 30 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 10 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 3 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) 2 Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala) 1 Arizona Giant-Skipper (Agathymus aryxna) 2 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 15 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 1 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 18 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 30 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 17 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 16 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 35 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 35 Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) 1 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 3 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 3 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 5 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo cinerea) 1 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 30 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 4 Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini texanus) 2 Arizona Metalmark (Calephelis arizonensis) 3 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 8 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 1 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 6 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 20 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 1 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 7 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 19 Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada) 10 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 1 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 8 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 3 Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia) 1 (353 individuals) Weather: Sky partly cloudy, intermittent light-to-moderate wind, temperature ca. 63-84 degrees. Nectar: Still a lot of yellow composites, but many others have gone by; some desert broom; various other blooming plants. Moisture: Some water and mud in lake bottom; some isolated mud, pools, and tinajas elsewhere. 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: Re: AZ: Sycamore Canyon From: "Kimberly" <kim AT kimandmikeontheroad.com> Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:22:03 -0000 It was a great pleasure to meet and spend a few hours with David Powell, Marceline VandeWater and the other CAzBA members that were on the field trip Saturday. Even though the day was cloudy the canyon was beautiful and the company we shared was a lot of fun! Thanks to David's sharp eyes, Mike and I saw our first Orange-barred Sulphur (Phoebis philea) for Arizona! Thanks for inviting us to participate in your group's field trip, we hope to do it again sometime! David, thanks for mentioning the Butterflies of America website. We have a new addition to the website some of you may not have tried yet. It's the thumbnails pages and they are really helpful for comparing similar butterfly taxa to help you figure out what you have. Go to the Interactive List page: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/list.htm and choose the highlighted scientific name of a family, subfamily, genus or species (far left column) and you will be taken to a page of thumbnails of all the photos we have for the group you have chosen. Warning! Those with dial-up may want to avoid choosing the thumbnails link for an entire family (Papilionidae for instance) because we have a LOT of photos up on BOA and the thumbnails for an entire family may take a very long time for a dial-up connection to load. The thumbnails pages are becoming one of the most popular portions of the Butterflies of America website. Kim Davis & Mike Stangeland http://butterfliesofamerica.com/ http://kimandmikeontheroad.com/ --- In SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com, "djpvireo" wrote: > > Ten people joined me on the CAzBA trip to Sycamore Canyon on 10/10/09. We were privileged to have Mike Stangeland and Kim Davis join us on the trip. Kim and Mike are doing a wonderful job with the Butterflies of America website. If you have not visited this site, I highly recommend it (http://butterfliesofamerica.com). Subject: Re: AZ: Molino Basin Agathymus polingi - 10 Oct. 2009 From: "Kimberly" <kim AT kimandmikeontheroad.com> Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:27:23 -0000 Thanks to Ken Kertell's excellent directions, Mike and I found 3 Poling's Giant-Skippers (Agathymus polingi) today. We got several photos; this was a lifer for us! The field reports posted to this group are very valuable and much appreciated! Thanks Ken! Kim Davis & Mike Stangeland http://butterfliesofamerica.com/ http://kimandmikeontheroad.com/ --- In SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com, "teleost07" wrote: > > I found 2 Poling's Giant-Skippers (Agathymus polingi) today, both on the opposite side of the highway from the Molino Basin parking area. Subject: Re: AZ: Molino Basin Agathymus polingi - 10 Oct. 2009 From: "Kimberly" <kim AT kimandmikeontheroad.com> Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:25:28 -0000 Thanks to Ken Kertell's excellent directions, Mike and I found 3 Poling's Giant-Skippers (Agathymus polingi) today. We got several photos; this was a lifer for us! The field reports posted to this group are very valuable and much appreciated! Thanks Ken! Kim Davis & Mike Stangeland http://butterfliesofamerica.com/ http://kimandmikeontheroad.com/ --- In SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com, "teleost07" wrote: > > I found 2 Poling's Giant-Skippers (Agathymus polingi) today, both on the opposite side of the highway from the Molino Basin parking area. Subject: AZ: Sycamore Canyon From: "djpvireo" <vireo AT vireos.com> Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:14:33 -0000 Ten people joined me on the CAzBA trip to Sycamore Canyon on 10/10/09. We were privileged to have Mike Stangeland and Kim Davis join us on the trip. Kim and Mike are doing a wonderful job with the Butterflies of America website. If you have not visited this site, I highly recommend it (https://butterfliesofamerica.com). Despite mostly cloudy weather we managed to find 36 species in the canyon, including a couple of rarer species. Highlights of the trip were Orange-barred Sulphur, Common Mestra, and Mexican Fritillary. Arizona Metalmark was remarkably common. The trip lasted from 9:00 to 2:00 and we covered about the upper two miles of the canyon The full trip list follows. Dave David Powell Phoenix, AZ http://www.vireos.com/AZ Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 1 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 6 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 4 Southern Dogface (Zerene eurydice) 20 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 10 Orange-barred Sulphur (Phoebis philea) 1 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 20 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 10 Tailed Orange (Eurema proterpia) 50+ Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 10 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 1 winter form Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 1 (Pena Blanca Lake) Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) Reakirt's Blue (Hemiargus isola) Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) Echo Azure (Celestrina echo cineria)1 Arizona Metalmark Calephelis arizonensis) 30 Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis) 4 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 50+ Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 40+ Mexican Fritillary (Euptoieta hegesia) 1 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 1 (Pena Blanca Lake) Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 50+ American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 2 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 2 Tropical Buckeye (Junonia genoveva nigrosuffusa) 2 Common Mestra (Mestra amymone) 2 Arizona Sister (Adelpha bredowii) 1 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 2 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 10 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 2 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 10 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 1 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 2 Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius) 1 Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala) 1 Violet-clouded Skipper (Lerodea arabus) 1 Arizona Giant-Skipper (Agathymus aryxna) 1 (along road out) Subject: Hammock Skipper (Polygonus leo), Dragoon Mts foothills, Cochise County, AZ From: "zzyzyva46" <zzyzyva46 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:25:28 -0000 10/11/09 After the winds subsided this afternoon, I noticed a "different" looking skipper nectaring on Lantana. It turned out to be a new one for my yard, Hammock Skipper, Polygonus leo. It showed some wear but all of the necessary field marks were present. Photos taken. I also re-visited the recently discovered Agathymus polingi (Poling's Giant-Skipper) colony near here yesterday and found 6 individuals being buffeted by the wind. Lots of host plant growing there (Agave schottii). Arlene Ripley Dragoon Mountains foothills, west Cochise County, AZ The Nest Box http://nestbox.com Curious Naturalist http://nestbox.com/blog/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: AZ: Molino Basin Agathymus polingi - 10 Oct. 2009 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:21:37 -0000 I found 2 Poling's Giant-Skippers (Agathymus polingi) today, both on the opposite side of the highway from the Molino Basin parking area. To reach the best Agave schottii stands I found, and the location of the Giant-Skippers, park, cross the highway, and follow the trail paralleling the wash for 1/2 mile or so until it crosses the wash and begins to climb. The agaves begin a couple hundred feet up the trail. Ken Kertell Tucson Subject: AZ: Pena Blanca Lake - 9 Oct. 2009 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:23:41 -0000 34 species yesterday at the lake. Nectar sources are dwindling rapidly. Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) 3 Sheep Skipper (Atrytonopsis edwardsii) 1 Funeral Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/albescens) 9 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 6 Erichson's Checkered-Skipper (Heliopyrgus domicella) 1 Arizona Powdered-Skipper (Systasea zampa) 2 Arizona Giant-Skipper (Agathymus aryxna) 3 Sonoran Metalmark (Apodemia mejicanus) 1 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 35 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exile) 1 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 10 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 7 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo cinerea) 1 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 6 Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) 1 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 13 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 29 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 3 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 1 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 11 Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) 1 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 7 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 2 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 3 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 6 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 11 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 19 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 25 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 27 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 16 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 12 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 1 Ken Kertell Tucson Subject: SE AZ: Garden & Sawmill Canyons, 10/8/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 23:03:13 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Cochise Co., Huachuca Mts., Garden & Sawmill Canyons, Thursday, 8 Oct 2009, 0950 - 1600, 24 species: Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes) 1 'Southwestern' Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis tatius) 1 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1 Arizona Giant-Skipper (Agathymus aryxna) 4 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 2 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 4 Chiricahua White (Neophasia terlooii) 1 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 3 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 8 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 11 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 6 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 1 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo cinerea) 4 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 3 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 1 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 2 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 2 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 7 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 3 'Arizona' Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis arizonensis) 8 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 60 Red-bordered Satyr (Gyrocheilus patrobas) 10 (145 individuals) Weather: Sky partly to mostly cloudy, intermittent light wind, temperature ca. 58-65 degrees. Nectar: Relatively good quantity, considering the paucity of rain, but spottily distributed. Yellow composites, fleabane, centaurea, thistle, and others. Moisture: Some water in stream; damp ground from recent rain. Other sightings: Red-faced Warbler (few, if any, records after about the third week in September). Comments: We could have found more leps if the weather were better and if I hadn't been looking at birds also. 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: Sycamore Canyon - 2 Oct. 2009 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:30:16 -0000 Sorry. Forgot to sign my post. Ken Kertell Tucson Subject: SE AZ: Sycamore Canyon - 2 Oct. 2009 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:42:26 -0000 I managed 36 species in Sycamore Canyon yesterday. Nice variety but nothing unusual. Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala) 2 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 5 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/albescens) 8 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 5 Dull Firetip (Apyrrothrix araxes) 1 Funeral Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 2 Arizona Giant-Skipper (Agathymus aryxna) 2 Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis) 7 Palmer's Metalmark (Apodemia palmerii) 2 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 96 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 3 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 29 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 5 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo cinerea) 1 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 7 Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) 2 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 2 `Siva' Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) 1 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 73 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 3 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 2 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 5 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 1 Empress Leila (Asterocampa leilia) 2 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 16 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 3 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 23 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 7 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 1 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 11 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 21 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 8 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 7 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 16 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 2 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 1 Subject: SE AZ: Pena Blanca Lake, 10/2/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 09:24:17 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Santa Cruz Co., Pena Blanca Lake, Friday, 2 Oct 2009, 0825 - 1625, 40 species: Acacia Skipper (Cogia hippalus) 1 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 9 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 10 Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius) 1 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 2 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) 1 Violet-clouded Skipper (Lerodea arabus) 1 Arizona Giant-Skipper (Agathymus aryxna) 1 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 70 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 1 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 1 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 1 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 25 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 35 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 17 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 20 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 30 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 25 Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) 1 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 3 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 1 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 13 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 1 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 80 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 14 Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini texanus) 1 Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis) 1 Sonoran Metalmark (Apodemia mejicanus) 3 Palmer's Metalmark (Apodemia palmerii) 1 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 25 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 14 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 30 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 6 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 30 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 120 Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada) 6 Painted Crescent (Phyciodes picta) 1 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 2 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 10 Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia) 1 (615 individuals) Weather: Sky mostly sunny in AM, partly cloudy to cloudy in PM; intermittent light wind; temperature ca. 64-85 degrees. Nectar: A great quantity and diversity of nectar, though fewer sunflowers than 11 days ago. Desert broom is starting to bloom. Moisture: Some water and mud in lake bed. Lepster(s): John Saba, Judy Winslow. Late in the afternoon, we ran into Ken Kertell, who helped us add to our list. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Big Green Caterpillar From: ted hagstrom <ted_hagstrom AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009 08:33:11 -0700 (PDT) Anyone know what a 4 inch green larva with black and blue strips on its back is? My gardener found it on our Orange Bell tree? Its about a 1/2 inch thick, maybe thicker? Its bright green. Its about twice as big as the tomato caterpillars I have seen.  If you look up the attached website you will see a green Caterpillar that is roughly the same size. My larva found in Anthem AZ is larger and its markings are lines of blue along its body diagonally. It head is not visible in that it is o the same material.. It appears to have large eyes just above its mouth. Thanks Ted Hagstrom Anthem AZ Subject: E slope Piutes and Sageland revisited From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2009 23:34:11 -0700 Everyone: Jerry Ridgman and I returned to the spring about 1 mi. south of Sageland and the east slope of the Piutes today October 1st. These notes to add to our visit last September 25th. Euphilotes enoptes tildeni (Tilden's Dotted Blue): only four taken. I was able to find lots of Eriogonum nudum, just not in bloom where these were flying. Another buckwheat growing along the roads is used by Mojave Blues (Euphilotes mojave) on the desert side of the Tehachapi Mts. Euphilotes pallescens elvirae (Elvira's Pale Blue): only one female taken. This species can be intensely local. Phyciodes mylitta mylitta (Mylitta Crescent): one fresh male taken in desert wash just south of the spring in Kelso Creek Wash. This species strays into desert habitats in the Kelso Valley area with some regularity. Adelpha californica (California Sister): Several seen on the desert east slope of the Piute Mts. and most if not all seemed to be females. A female in fairly good shape was taken at rabbitbrush at the spring in Kelso Creek in Mojave Desert habitat. I noted oaks growing in the creekbeds and canyons draining the Piutes. It has also gotten cooler in the region with temperatures dropping into the 30's at night. When this happens, this species often seeks warmer areas where it does not normally occur. Danaus plexippus (Monarch): common along Kelso Creek and at the spring. Several seen E slope Piute Mts. on dry slopes with buckwheats in pinyon-juniper woodland. Butterfly activity appears to be very much reduced since last week. There were several Cythera Metalmarks seen 3-5 mi. W Sageland. One Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) was seen. No signs of other strays from the eastern Mojave Desert or Arizona. 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: Joshua Tree Ods? From: JRivera528 AT aol.com Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:04:52 EDT Does anyone have a recent list of dragonfly and damselflies in the Joshua Tree National Park? Thanks, Joanna JoannaStark Director Natural Science Collaborative (http://www.californiadesertnaturefestival.com/) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Flying in CA: San Benito Co. From: Paul Johnson <pjpolliwog AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:48:04 -0700 (PDT) Hello all,   On Sunday, 9/27 I spent a few hours watching butterflies in Pinnacles National Monument, San Benito Co., CA.  Even though we don't have a monsoon here, I call this season our "Second Spring" because the flowers and butterflies have a resurgence over their low summer numbers.  From 8 am to 1 pm I covered about 1/4 mile focusing on a dry area with lots of Senecio flaccidus var. douglasii, and two large seeps.  I could have added more species by covering more area, but the butterflies here were so cooperative that I couldn't leave.   I'm hoping that someone out there can confirm the ID of the acmon(?) blues and the buckwheat that they were ovipositing on.  Eriogonum fasciculatum (California buckwheat) was also present, but these females were only interested in a much smaller fall-blooming buckwheat (maybe E. elegans?)   Also, one common buckeye was brightly colored below, in contrast with the nearly solid brown of all the others.   Images are at (for best viewing, slide speed selector to slowest setting and click on "Full Screen"):   http://www.photoworks.com/photo-sharing/shareSignin.jsp?shareCode=AE54DA2C936&cp=ems_shr_alb_pml&cb=PW   Observations: Calm, clear, temp 75-105.   Dry area (Senecio): -orange sulphur - 4 (1m, 3f (one white female)) -acmon blue - 4 (2m, 2f) -western pygmy blue - 1 -gray hairstreak - 1 -Mormon metalmark - ~50 -common buckeye - 1 -coronis fritillary - 1 -woodland skipper - ~20     Seeps: -orange sulphur - 2 -Mormon metalmark - ~20 -mylitta crescent - 1 -common buckeye - 2 -painted (?) lady - 1 -California sister - 2 -woodland skipper - ~30   Thanks for any information on the acmon/buckwheat or the bright coloration of the buckeye.   Paul [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Sabuleti From: "Nancy Hansen" <kenplum AT humboldt1.com> Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:05:12 -0700 To the group P. Sabuleti, vic. Big Lagoon, Humboldt Co. CA. in association with Distichlis Spicata, salt grass, Sept. 21, 09. There was an old Lep Soc. season summary post, South of Orick, Humboldt Co. CA. These are the first that I have seen, about as easy to net as a speeding bullet. Ken Hansen [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Sageland and E side of Piute Mts., Kern Co., CA. From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:13:55 -0700 Everyone: Today, Jerry Ridgman and I decided to investigate the butterflies of the Sageland area N of Kelso Valley in the elevated southern Sierra Nevada in a desert environment and the Piute Mtn. Rd. west of Sageland (Kern County, California) up the east side of the Sierra Nevada where one goal was to evaluate the fire damage on the butterfly fauna of that mountain range which had a major forest fire in late June and July, 2008 This was an area I explored heavily last year in the Fall but lack of summer rains in the summer of 2009 seemed to have affected the flow of migrants from the Mojave Desert. The spring 0.8 mi. N of Sageland had changed immensely from last April and May. Small trees fed by the spring were now 20 feet tall and impassible. Muddy swamp was now mostly tall grassland and the short grass prairie was now tall grassland. Few butterflies were here when checked in the morning and few butterflies were seen in desert washes. Our plan was to recheck wet spots later in the afternoon but important finds late in the afternoon would end those plans. This would be a day when some rare Sierra Nevada or Mojave Desert species would make an appearance in this dry 2009 Season. The reason? The eastern Piutes and the Kelso Valley region had fairly good winter and spring rainfall. We would also find that collecting within the area of the Piutes burned last year was amazingly productive, despite the lateness of the year. The trees were often black and appeared dead but many that appeared dead last spring recovered and are green again. Here, this fire was not as hot and damaging as the 2002 McNally fire at Sherman Pass. Lower understory vegetation, grasslands and sagebrush habitats were up and running with LOTS of nectar sources. And on Papilio indra hilltops, there was still green and healthy Tauschia parishii, the larval host. No indra or Papilio polyxenes coloro would be seen today, though the latter is likely flying in the Butterbredt Peak area or elsewhere in the Piutes right now. Here is an annotated listing of what was found. Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum)- super abundant E side of Piutes 3-5 miles W of Sageland on flowers. Juba Skipper (Hesperia juba)- common foothill woodland E side of Piutes Sierra Nevada Branded Skipper (Hesperia colorado (Fall flying segregate)- these were flying 4-5 miles W of Sageland in the same localities where subspecies idaho flies in June and July. I collected a number of these for chemical studies for Guppy & Kondla. Chusca Sandhill Skipper (Polites sabuleti near chusca)-several at Spring 0.8 mi. SE Sageland. Harford's Sulphur (Colias harfordii): A female showed up 4 mi. W of Sageland on the E side of the Piutes. There are very few records of this California Coast Range species in the Sierra Nevada. The female flew past me but paused at some flowers downslope where I was able to net it. It appears freshly emerged with a nick out of one hindwing. Until recently, few knew this species can be triple brooded. The species is occasionally seen in the Kelso Valley region and this was only the second Piute Mts. record I know of! No one has captured it in Kelso Valley so far as I know. Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus pudica): seen sparingly in the Piutes. Marine Blue (Leptotes marina): taken at the Spring 0.8 mi. S Sageland. Western Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis)-Kelso Valley-Sageland Dotted Blue (Euphilotes enoptes tildeni?): this ID is tentative as they were taken along the Piute Mtn. Rd. 3 mi. W of Sageland where the usual Eriogonum nudum host was not observed. Tildeni has been taken in this region here in the spring, but Mojave Blues (Euphilotes mojave) and Langston's Blue (Euphilotes "enoptes" langstoni) occurs at lower levels in the Valley below. I cannot rule out the possibility an unknown member of the battoides complex might occur here and has not yet been recognized. These blues were common, about a dozen taken 2-3:30 with the day shutting down quickly after 3 PM. Sympatric with the following: Elvira's Pale Blue (Euphilotes pallescens elvirae): Treated as a Rita Blue by some. I was higher in the Piutes at 2 PM when I abruptly remembered that the lower slopes of the Piutes should be checked out for this species since the potential host Eriogonum wrightii grew not only on the higher slopes where Jerry and I were, but even more profusely lower down on more arid slopes along the Piute Mtn. Road. An important record for the SE Piute Mts. is Harris Grade SE side of Piute Range September 5, 1979 by John F. Emmel. I thought it likely pallescens might occur here W of Sageland. I stopped the car about 3 mi. W of Sageland at the base of a hill where E. wrightii (Wright's Buckwheat) was common. I no sooner got out my car door when a Small Blue (P. speciosa) sized Euphilotes flew in the ravine along the side of the road. Recent searches for pallescens in more traditional desert localities have been negative but I would take eight E. pallescens elvirae of both sexes here in an hour. They were flying in the same ravines as the other Euphilotes species, elvirae is recognized by the much heavier black spotting below. Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus gyas): taken with the Euphilotes above. Melissa Blue (Plebejus melissa near inyoensis): common in desert washes near the Spring S Sageland. Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon)-general Cythera Metalmark (Apodemia cythera)-taken sparingly 4 mi. W of Sageland E side of Piutes. Only one seen flying in the Euphilotes habitat though the E. wrightii host was abundant. The very orange coloration of the four I took suggest these may be of the E. umbellatum segregate of cythera, which umbellatum was present nearby. West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella)-seen 5 mi. W Sageland and at Spring S Sageland. Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea): seen Kelso Valley and E slope Piutes, but uncommon California Sister (Adelpha californica): several seen in burn zone in the Piutes, where many oaks appeared to have been damaged by the fire, but are mostly healthy looking trees. California Ringlet (Coenonympha "tullia" california california-not uncommon in the burn zone. Grasses in the burn zone were often 2-3 feet deep! Monarch (Danaus plexippus): common at Spring 0.8 miles SE Sageland. 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: CAzBA fieldtrip Sycamore Canyon October 10th From: "marcelinevandewater" <marcelinevandewater AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:04:18 -0000 Saturday October 10th, fieldtrip op Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz Co., starting at the trailhead at 9am. Come and visit an off the beaten path place in Arizona, where birds and butterflies abound. Sycamore Canyon is well known in birding and butterflying circles as an excellent place to see a wide variety of species. This is a canyon which extends for 6 miles to the Mexican border, which provides a pathway for Mexican butterflies to make their way into the US. Assuming sufficient rain in Mexico, the canyon can be full of butterflies, particularly Sulphurs. It is also a place where a rare vagrant is always possible. We will meet at 9:00 at the parking area at the top of the canyon. There will be no well defined trail so we will follow the broad stream bed a ways into the canyon. Recommended is to stay overnight in Nogales on Friday night. Please email or call leader for reservations or more information: David Powell at vireo AT vireos.com or 602-441-5508 The CazBA Calendar is at the printer. A BIG thank you for everyone who contributed photographs. It will turn out beautifully again this year! Did you know they make great gifts? We'll keep you posted on price and date available. Please check out our website for butterfly news, photos, fieldtrip reports, book reviews and more: www.CAzBA.org Subject: SE AZ: Pena Blanca Lake, 9/21/09 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:38:47 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Santa Cruz Co., Pena Blanca Lake, Monday, 21 Sep 2009, 0820 - 1620, 40 species: Arizona Skipper (Codatractus arizonensis) 1 Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) 2 Arizona Powdered-Skipper (Systasea zampa) 1 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 2 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 2 Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) 1 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1 Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala) 2 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 55 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 2 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 8 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 1 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 25 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 60 Lyside Sulphur (Kricogonia lyside) 1 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 2 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 30 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 45 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 27 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 1 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 1 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 32 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 1 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 100 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 60 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 20 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 2 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 20 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 15 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 4 Mexican Fritillary (Euptoieta hegesia) 1 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 2 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 11 Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada) 25 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 1 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 13 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 4 Viceroy (Limenitis archippus obsoleta) 1 Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis) 1 Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia) 1 (584 individuals) Weather: Sky clear in AM, cloudy in early PM, then sunny; intermittent light wind; temperature ca. 67-95 degrees. Nectar: Lots of nectar, including sunflowers, morning glory, cudweed, scarlet creeper. Desert broom is in bud. Moisture: Some water and mud in lake bed. Some mud in a very few places in stream bed. Other sightings: I saw a Peregine Falcon overhead take a bird on the wing. Comments: The deepest part of the lake bed, by the dam, now has enough water for puddle ducks. 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: SE Arizona August 2-10 From: Bruce Walsh <jbwalsh AT u.arizona.edu> Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:19:56 -0700 Frank: moth sp 20090806 1008323 patagonia az = male Dicogaster coronada [ MONA 7692 ], family Lasiocampidae cheers bruce Subject: SE Arizona August 2-10 From: fsmodel AT aol.com Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:04:56 EDT Hello everyone. I finally finished working over my photos from the subject trip. I'm sorry they are so late. I could invoke my son's wedding - in California on September 6 - as an excuse, but the truth is I am just get less efficient at "processing" my photos. Anyhow, the butterfly collection [along with a couple of moths] may be found at: _http://www.flickr.com/photos/fsmodel/sets/72157622296286963/_ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fsmodel/sets/72157622296286963/) I owe at least a couple of votes of thanks - to Jim Brock for leading the central part of the trip, as well as providing a great deal of help with the IDs [particularly sexing the ares and zela metalmarks] and to Steve Moore for setting up the trip. I suppose a vote of thanks is also due the other participants for putting up with a photo phanatic. There remain some unanswered questions. If anyone can help with these, I would appreciate it: [1] The duskywings seen on Mt. Graham remain to be identified as to species. [This may be impossible.] [2] The two moths remain to be identified. [3] There is one duskywing with the fringes worn completely off, which could be either a northern or a Drusius. [4] One of the "Arizona" metalmarks is a little dark in the median area and could be a fatal. [5] What other ID mistakes did I make? [Well, I didn't send all 249 photos to Jim!] On a more positive note, the collection includes: [1] Ten of the eleven species of roadside skipper seen on the trip, missing only the Oslar's. [For the record. bronze, Cassus, dotted, Elissa, large, Nysa, orange-edged, slaty, Texas, Toltec.] [2] Valeriana skipper!!! [3] Ares and Zela metalmarks, male and female. [4] Decent views of the dorsal surface of cloudless sulphur [female] and Mexican yellow [male], as well as a backlit shot of a southern dogface which shows the "dogface" very nicely. Happy gawking. Cheers, Frank [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: RE: Consensus on spelling? From: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:51:21 -0600 Thank you Ray, Andy, Gary, Adam, Neal and everyone: It looks like asterius is the correct spelling as I had the 'as' and 'us' mixed up with BOA/Pelham catalog. They had it correct as asterius. Thanks for the heads up everyone. 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 CC: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com To: todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com From: ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:24:09 -0700 Subject: Re: [SoWestLep] Consensus on spelling? Hi Todd, The correct spelling of the eastern USA/Canada subspecies of Papilio polyxenes is asterius, according to most of my books and the recent Pelham Catalog, which includes most published misspellings. The spelling "asterias" is as phony as "asterrixyz"! Cheers, Ray On Sep 19, 2009, at 8:58 AM, Todd Stout wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > Is there a consensus on the correct spelling of latin name of the > eastern black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes asterias? > > Some refer to it as Papilio polyxenes asterias > > Others, Papilio polyxenes asterius (Is the last vowel 'a' or 'u'?) > > If you google either trinomial, both get significant hits. BOA refers > to it as asterias. I would assume BOA reflects the Pelham catalog. > > Any feedback is appreciated. > > 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] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: Consensus on spelling? From: Ray Stanford <ray.stanford AT stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:24:09 -0700 Hi Todd, The correct spelling of the eastern USA/Canada subspecies of Papilio polyxenes is asterius, according to most of my books and the recent Pelham Catalog, which includes most published misspellings. The spelling "asterias" is as phony as "asterrixyz"! Cheers, Ray On Sep 19, 2009, at 8:58 AM, Todd Stout wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > Is there a consensus on the correct spelling of latin name of the > eastern black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes asterias? > > Some refer to it as Papilio polyxenes asterias > > Others, Papilio polyxenes asterius (Is the last vowel 'a' or 'u'?) > > If you google either trinomial, both get significant hits. BOA refers > to it as asterias. I would assume BOA reflects the Pelham catalog. > > Any feedback is appreciated. > > 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] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Consensus on spelling? From: Todd Stout <todd_stout29 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:58:28 -0600 Hi everyone, Is there a consensus on the correct spelling of latin name of the eastern black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes asterias? Some refer to it as Papilio polyxenes asterias Others, Papilio polyxenes asterius (Is the last vowel 'a' or 'u'?) If you google either trinomial, both get significant hits. BOA refers to it as asterias. I would assume BOA reflects the Pelham catalog. Any feedback is appreciated. 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: Re: [DesertLeps] RE: Lange's Metalmark "blend" with Mormon Metalmark? From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:49:01 -0700 Andy: Thanks for posting those pictures of Apodemia mormo langei and the look alike that is very similar, but lacks the orange on the hindwing that the real langei has. In series, the look alike langei has some very blackish females similar to some of the males in your photos. The Cottonwood Pass population was long known before I went there and Jim Brock has a series of mixed metalmarks from Palonio Pass on Hwy. 46, SLO County in the same region. Look alikes struck twice yesterday. Appearances can be very misleading. I took a very atypical Plebejus blue female yesterday off the Annette Road in Kern County. The underside is a very washed out pale white with a large yellow-orange aurora on the hindwings and orange going up the forewing. The individual looks very much like a Veined Blue (Plebejus neurona) and Jack Levy noticed the presence of Eriogonum wrighti at the site. It might even be a neurona and if so, that species may occur in SLO County only 1 air mile away. But more likely, the individual is in the Acmon Blue complex. Acmon Blues in my region sometimes have orange up the FW. Some possible reasons may include past hybridization with neurona, maybe this is normal variation within acmon or possibly, this may represent and as yet unrecognized sibling species. I have at least one other San Luis Obispo County Plebejus acmon with orange up the FW, taken on Black Mountain far from any known colonies of P. neurona. In my personal collection, I have perhaps twenty of these unusual "orange veined" Acmon Blues, most from the Old Ridge Route, Los Angeles County and from Mt. Pinos in Kern and Ventura Counties where these unusual "acmon" co-occur with members of the Lupine Blue complex and the actual Veined Blue. They differ from neurona by lacking the orange veins and have more diffuse and paler orange going up the forewing. Both P. lupini monticola and P. lupini chlorina females can also have orange going up the forewings. Both Lupine Blues occur in the Frazier Park-Mt. Pinos area and probably neither are really the same species as the real Lupine Blue of northern California nor the same species as each other. The examples above highlight the perils of making correct identifications from either a photograph or even from an actual specimen. Ken Davenport [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: RE: Lange's Metalmark "blend" with Mormon Metalmark? From: Andrew Warren <hesperioidea AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:58:36 -0700 (PDT) All, This is apparently the Apodemia Ken is writing about (the langei look-alike; it has apparently not been figured anywhere else): http://butterfliesofamerica.com/t/Apodemia_mormo_cottonwood_seg_a.htm Here is real langei: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/t/Apodemia_mormo_langei_a.htm And here are all of the described, and various undescribed populations of Apodemia north of Panama: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/t/Apodemia_a.htm Cheers, Andy [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Lange's Metalmark "blend" with Mormon Metalmark? From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:01:02 -0700 Everyone: In Howe's North American Butterfly book of 1975 and in other scientific papers of the Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo) complex, it has been mentioned that there is a coastal subspecies named "langei" from Antioch which is an "endangered species" and cannot be legally collected and a blend zone population from the California Coast Ranges which can resemble "langei" and can be legally collected. Both mormo mormo from the California Coast Ranges are considered conspecific and langei particularly has a very distinctive pattern. Howe mentioned a complex blend zone of langei and mormo mormo and I have found both phenotypes in this "blend zone" in western Kern, eastern SLO, eastern Monterey and western Fresno Counties in California. Recent posts or messages from individuals who have looked for the Lange's Metal-Mark "form" of Apodemia mormo mormo have failed to find either mormo mormo or the langei phenotype south of Cholame, SLO County where I found this metalmark including the langei phenotype (NOT the endangered subspecies, rather a look-alike form which is similar to, but more black than the real langei). It has been my plan to look for the langei phenotype again this year which I collected along the Davis Rd. SE of Cholame and also also on Annette Rd. Ortega Grade was an outstanding locality in September 1992 Ortega Grade is in both SLO and Kern Counties and the Annette Rd. is in extreme western Kern County about 1-2 air miles from Ortega Grade. Jack Levy asked me about helping him to find the langei phenotype to write about and illustrate in photographs in his book last April at Taft during the Pacific Slope meeting and called me last week to ask me to show him the localities where this distinctive metalmark could be seen. I agreed to do so and accompanied Jack to the region today (Friday, September 18th) where I found this butterfly commonly 17 years before. The long drought has taken a toll on the plant communities and the hills where the buckwheat hosts grow have been disked extensively recently. We would find no metalmarks enroute via Bitter Valley Rd. or Choice Valley Roads. Searches of extensive stands of buckwheats from the south were negative. When we arrived at Annette Rd. we would find a very small number of the Lange's Metalmark phenotype (not the endangered subspecies) and some Euphilotes (E. enoptes tildeni). Later we went to Ortega Grade. Mindful of Mark Walker's experience with the rancher (Mr. Twisselman's employee), neither Jack nor I went through the fence to try to find the "langei" on the hill where the buckwheat hosts were abundant. We would work the road cuts in both Kern and Tulare Counties at Ortega Grade and several metalmarks were collected in San Luis Obispo County there. An interesting trend was becoming evident. Of the dozen or so metalmarks we had encountered, ALL appeared similar to Lange's Metalmarks and none appeared to be Mormon Metalmarks (Apodemia mormo mormo). I took both phenotypes at this location and at Annette Rd. in 1992. At this point Mr. Lonnie Twisselman the rancher arrived and I explained why we were there and talked to him about his Great Uncle's (Ernest Twisselman) contributions to Botany Science in his Flora of Kern County book. Jack had scouted out Davis Rd. and an adjacent road named either Bittercreek or Bitterwater Rd. My SLO County map shows a Palo Prieto Canyon which this road follows and it meets State Hwy. 46 near Cholame. Jack says this road looked promising. I agreed though I had never collected in this canyon in the fall months for metalmarks, but I knew its potential from collecting there in the spring months. He had been there a month or so earlier and had found no metalmarks. It was there we went after visiting Ortega Grade. It was 12:15 PM and we were looking for better places. We would not do well in the southern portion of this Bittercreek or Bitterwater Rd. Metalmarks were there but few and far between. As we went north the metalmarks became more frequent, though still not abundant. But as Eriogonum indictum and other buckwheats gave way to Eriogonum fasciculatum as we moved north through Palo Prieto Canyon, metalmarks became very abundant, especially on lightly colored west facing hillsides facing the sun. Several conclusions here. Many buckwheats appear to be used in this region as larval hosts. Palo Prieto Canyon is much better habitat for butterflies than Davis Rd. is and there was not much of a problem with barbed wire fences and private land as is the rule along Davis & Annette Rds. And the most shocking conclusion of all. Jack and I collected or netted about 80 metalmarks during the day....and ALL of them were of the Lange's Metalmark phenotype. NONE appeared to be Apodemia mormo mormo. This was also true in the California Buckwheat habitats in Palo Prieto Canyon. E. fasciculatum is also used by Apodemia mormo mormo in the Coast Ranges, Apodemia virgulti virgulti in southern California and Apodemia cythera in interior eastern SLO County. So exactly what is the relationship between mormo and langei? On the Parkfield Grade in western Fresno County mormo is on fasciculatum and other buckwheats while the "langei" phenotype prefers E. indictum. One variable population with two phenotypes? Or two species hidden as a blend zone entity? I do not know what rearing has been done with these Coast Range metalmarks in this region. Both have one brood in the Fall. And I do not know what rearing studies have been done with the Antioch langei. Probably the Emmels and Gordon Pratt know. Jack and I did not have time to visit Cottonwood Pass or Parkfield Grade to check the situations there. 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: SE AZ: Garden and Sawmill Canyons, Sept. 16-17 From: "teleost07" <teleost07 AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:41:58 -0000 It appears to be a good fall for Agathymus evansi. I found the majority perched on or near their host plant in Sawmill Canyon, but also found them at wet spots in Garden. Impressive size difference between evansi and aryxna at one wet spot where they occurred together. A single Zestusa dorus was a surprise this time of year, though Brock notes an uncommon second brood in the south. Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 6 Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 2 Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) 1 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 2 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 4 Tailed Orange (Pyrisitia proterpia) 2 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 3 `Siva' Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) 3 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 9 Echo Azure (Celastrina echo cinerea) 13 Ares Metalmark (Emesis ares) 1 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 2 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 30 Theona Checkerspot (Chlosyne theona) 3 Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) 1 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 3 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardua) 2 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 41 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 2 Nabokov's Satyr (Cyllopsis pyracmon) 5 Red-bordered Satyr (Gyrocheilus patrobas) 17 Dull Firetip (Apyrrothrix araxes) 2 'Southwestern' Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis tatius) 3 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 1 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 1 Short-tailed Skipper (Zestusa dorus) 1 Huachuca Giant-Skipper (Agathymus evansi) 13 Arizona Giant-Skipper (Agathymus aryxna) 1, maybe 2 28 species Ken Kertell Tucson Subject: Boyce Thompson Arboretum/CAZBA count From: chris kline <kline_at_pine AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:54:06 -0700 (PDT) Good morning,   Saturday Sept. 12 CAZBA (www.cazba.org) met at BTA for their annual butterfly count.  This was our third annual.  AMong the sites visited included BTA, Picketpost Trailhead, town of Superior, Apache Tear Road water crossing, Oak FLats, Devil's Canyon, and Haunted Canyon.   Here are the results compiled.  If anyone would like to have results for a particular site, let me know.   9AM - Noon.  Mostly sunny, light breeze, temp in the 90's.   Pipevine Swallowtail  30 Two-tailed Swallowtail  5 Orange Sulphur  1 Southern Dogface  2 Cloudless Sulphur  14 Ceraunus Blue  1 Western Pygmy Blue  1 Fatal Metalmark  2 Mormon Metalmark  4 Palmer's Metalmark  4 Painted Lady  2 Arizona Sister  4 Empress Leilia  4 Hackberry Emperor  1 Common Buckeye  1 Red-spotted Purple  1 Monarch  7 plus 5 cats Queen  23 Meridian Duskywing  4 Acacia Skipper  1 Common Sootywing  5 Common Streaky Skipper  1 Arizona Powdered Skipper  2 Golden-headed Scallopwing  1 Common/WHite Checkered SKipper  1 Orange Skipperling  8 *Tropical Least Skipper  3 Fiery SKipper  1 Eufala Skipper  4 Arizona Giant Skipper  6   species = 30 individuals = 144 * new species for the count   2008 totals species=45 individuals=488   2007 totals species=31 individuals=321   Most everybody in the group agreed that this year's non-exisistent monsoon season, or so I'm told, is the most likely explanation for the low numbers.  Very dry with very little nectar available.  However, there was plenty of nectar at Edwardo's Pizza in Superior and all counters had their fill!  THX to everyone who participated.   chris   Chris Kline Sugar Grove, Ohio   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: colon observations From: "Nancy Hansen" <kenplum AT humboldt1.com> Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:37:07 -0700 To the Group On Apr 28, 85 I took 8 last instar larvae of E. colon on Snowberry. CA. Siskiyou Co. West of Butte Valley and West of Hwy. 97 .3 miles on FR.3 off of Sam's neck Rd. along FR. 3 I also found 2 larvae of a chalcedona on a penstemen. On numerous occasions I have seen large chalcedona type adults in this area. The 8 Snowberry adults were smaller and colon like. My favorite colon is E. colon sperryi. It has heavy red on the ups. On numerous occasions I have taken post diaupause larvae on penstemen shastensis and Snowberry, prediaupause larvae on Snowberry. All vicinity of Bartle, Siskiyou Co. CA. Hwy. 89 . I have reared the E. colon wallalensis in the Warner Mtns. on Snowberry. Of these , three populations , all have light lemon yellow pupae, none of the grey pupae of E. chalcedona. Ken Hansen [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Checkerspots-continued-part2 From: "zapjammer" <zapjammer AT verizon.net> Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:52:51 -0000 Kris, The details of the biological differences between the Snowberry and Chalcedon Chkrspts are in their life history and associated adaptations. As we have seen, the Snowberry has regional differences in oviposition preference. So does the Chalcedon. In areas where they are sympatric, or narrowly allopatric, the Chalcedon adheres to Scrophs of several sorts, but usually not Penstemon. The Snowberry on the other hand uses Snowberry. David Bauer related to me his observations on the adult behaviors in sympatry and they include a preference for riparian galleries for the Snowberry and meadows, hillsides and even ridgetops for the Chalcedon. This is a subtle difference, but years of seeing these behaviors makes a difference. One hard to describe phenotypic distinction is the dorsal ground color. The nominotypic subspecies of the Snowberry (Euphydryas colon colon) is a handsome insect. One of the reasons is its lustrous and deep black dorsal ground color. Of course one needs to see fresh specimens for this to be clear. At the eastern edge of the Columbia Gorge in Washington and Oregon, one encounters another subspecies, E.c.wallacensis. These are a much duller black (charcoal?) dorsally because of the fine sprinkling of yellow scales over the wing surface. This distinction also holds between the Snowberry and Chalcedon populations that are sympatric in SW Oregon and N California. Another, and possibly more useful, distinction involves the coloration of the post median band on the dorsal hindwing. This is the first dark band towards the base from the first row of light spots near the outer edge of the wing. In the Snowberry, this band is frequently completely black, often the same lustrous black as the ground color. If there are indications of spots within it, they are faint and nearly always red. Sometimes the red is barely perceptible, like that seen when a piece of metal, once red hot, cools to the point that the 'glow' disappears. Sometimes it is more obvious. In Chalcedons, this band is very infrequently black like the Snowberry. Usually, it has at least a few yellow scales and often a complete spot row of yellow spots. There are subtle differences in flight period that can only be evaluated in sympatry. The Snowberry is just slightly earlier than the Chalcedon. There is work being done on the DNA of these creatures. I am certain that it will reveal a complexity that matches or exceeds the foodplant, wing pattern/color, and distributional data we have amassed so far. I suspect that we are in the initial phase of understanding these creatures. I am very interested in your data; they sound fascinating and you are situated in just the right place. JPPelham Subject: RE: California Giant Skipper - Agathymus stephensi From: "Walker, Mark" <xvermontrz AT cox.net> Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:27:37 -0700 Carl, Lots of places to find Agathymus stephensi right about now. All the places you've mentioned are great places, though you will have to be content to snap photographs in Anza Borrego State Park. All the roads leading east from the Laguna mountains and into the Colorado Desert sustain great populations of the Agave foodplant, as well as the butterfly. Virtually any of these should produce good flights of A. stephensi starting right about now. Last year, they were so common that you could find at least one male perched at virtually every visible stand of Agave. About one in five stands produced live ovipositing females. It was sick. In San Felipe wash, just north of Scissors Crossings, they were so thick they were landing on the asphalt of S2. I ventured into the understory of the riparian corridor, dark, damp, and with no Agave in sight, and the adults were congregating at mud. If seeing them is what you are principally interested in, come soon. Meanwhile, the recent desert rains might very well produce good flights of Chlosyne californica, Calephelis wrighti - and even Euphydryas chalcedona hennei. Last year even the Loki Hairstreaks had an Autumn brood. I'm pretty sure the Golden Hairstreak is done for the year, though I did find a worn individual in late August up in the Santa Rosa Mountains, north of Anza Borrego. Mark Walker Oceanside, CA ________________________________ From: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Carl Swafford Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:00 PM To: DesertLeps AT yahoogroups.com; SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com Subject: [SoWestLep] California Giant Skipper - Agathymus stephensi *I will be in and around San Diego county September 15-20. Does any one have any recent sightings for the California Giant Skipper. I know it is found around Plum Canyon, Box Canyon, and other places in Anza-Borrego. Also I need to find California Patch and Golden Hairstreak. * Carl Swafford Chattanooga, TN On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Hank Brodkin > wrote: [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: California Giant Skipper - Agathymus stephensi From: Carl Swafford <droffaws AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:00:25 -0400 *I will be in and around San Diego county September 15-20. Does any one have any recent sightings for the California Giant Skipper. I know it is found around Plum Canyon, Box Canyon, and other places in Anza-Borrego. Also I need to find California Patch and Golden Hairstreak. * Carl Swafford Chattanooga, TN On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Hank Brodkin wrote: > > > Fred: > There have already been reports of numbers P. aea over the last week or so > - > from Garden Canyon at the upper picnic area by Bob Behrstock and in, what > sounds like her description, Montezuma Canyon in the Coronado Memorial by > Pam Elias. It looks like we are having an influx into the west slope of > the Huachucas like we did a few years back. > > Hank Brodkin > Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ > N31º 26' 59.8", W110º 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: SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com [mailto: > SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf > Of Fred Heath > Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 8:55 AM > To: DesertLeps AT yahoogroups.com ; > SoWestLep AT yahoogroups.com > Subject: [SoWestLep] Garden Canyon > > Yesterday, Mary Klinkel and I went up Garden Canyon in Fort > Huachuca. We got a late start and arrived at the upper picnic area at > around 11:00 AM. It was a little drier than I expected, but there were > enough mud muddles at the picnic area to attract a good number of > butterflies. Mary quickly called my attention to a tiny skipper which > was new to her. I was surprised to find that it was a Many-spotted > Skipperling (Piruna aea). Surprised because I have never seen this > species in the Huachucas (remember though my experience is somewhat > limited) and it seemed higher than where I've regularly seen them in > places like Harshaw Creek. I was more surprised to find about a dozen of > these little guys mud puddling in the picnic area. We had several more > singleton of these skipperlings on the way up the road, including one on > the trail above where the cabin used to be at Sawmill. > > It was a pretty good day of butterflying with a little over 40 species > with a lot of the usual suspects. The two other species of note for me > were a single Slaty Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes nereus) on mud at the > Upper Picnic area and two Drusius Cloudywing (Thorybes drusius) > nectaring on a drooping milkweed with several Northern Cloudywings > (Thorybes pylades) at Sawmill. > > By the way, I must note that I am generally too lazy to look up and > write scientific names for the butterflies I've seen. However, now that > I I've taken advantage of Kurt Radamaker's kind and open offer to use > the software he developed which provides both common and scientific with > a few key strokes, I will always post using both. Hopefully, others will > also use this software to help make the communication clearer to all. > Even if they don't want to post to a list, they can still use the > software to quickly take a scientific or common name they are not > familiar with and covert to the form they know. Thank you Kurt!! > > -----Best regards, Fred > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.392 / Virus Database: 270.13.38/2274 - Release Date: 07/31/09 > 05:58:00 > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Checkerspots-continued From: "zapjammer" <zapjammer AT verizon.net> Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:02:50 -0000 Kris, Before I address the distinctions between the Snowberry and Chalcedon Checkerspots, I need to ask a few questions and make clear a few things. First, you made clear that Penstemon is the oviposition site for some populations of, presumably, Snowberry Chkrspt, from Clark and Skamania Counties. You mention a population near Lewisville Park in Clark County that only uses Plantain. I really need to know if this is an oviposition site as this would be extremely interesting. Is this what you inferred? Second, I know of several colonies of Snowberry Chkrspt in Cowlitz County that oviposit on Snowberry as do those from that point eastward to Klickitat, and north all the way to Kittitas Counties, This includes several in steppe habitats! The transition from Snowberry feeding to Penstemon feeding exists in a mosaic that I am currently documenting. I know of a few colonies that utilize both as oviposition substrate. Also of great interest is the altitudinal distribution you mention. I know that in the northern portion of the range of Snowberry Chkrspt it is essentially a montane and even high elevation butterfly, with the caveat that there are those colonies that penetrate the steppe in a few unusual circumstances. Where we have records in the SW of Washington, they are more frequently at low elevations. Your information seems to indicate a further complexity (and several new records!) and would be quite valuable to our research. I want to re-emphasize that pre- and post diapause larval feeding indicate two very different things. It seems that many plants are nutritionally adequate for Euphydryas Checkerspots as evidenced by the broad assortment recorded. I personally have reared to adult four species on Plantago lanceolata in the lab. Thus, if there were no other constraints, it would appear that a wide variety of oviposition plants could be used, with a possible consequence of a much broader distribution. Since this is not what we observe, e.g., females of these species are choosing ovipostion plants (and sites) rather carefully, it reflects adaptation to environmental and possible biogeographic influences. It is absolutely essential to discriminate between pre- and post diapuse feeding when recording foodplant use. With that, I will post something on the distinctions between Snowberry and Chalcedons later. JPPelham Subject: SE AZ: Arivaca Cienega, 9/10/2009 From: "John Saba" <sabaj AT theriver.com> Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:16:15 -0700 [ JLS Lepping reports from SE AZ ] AZ, Pima Co., Buenos Aires NWR: Arivaca Cienega, Thursday, 10 Sep 2009, 0820 - 1430, 32 species: Acacia Skipper (Cogia hippalus) 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos) 2 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 4 Common/White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis/ albescens) 1 Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus philetas) 3 Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) 7 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) 2 Dotted Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes eos) 2 >> Brazilian Skipper (Calpodes ethlius) 1 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 25 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 15 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 1 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 2 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 20 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 10 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 20 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 11 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 3 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 1 Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis) 1 Palmer's Metalmark (Apodemia palmerii) 1 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 2 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 7 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 7 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 2 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 1 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 6 Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada) 6 Painted Crescent (Phyciodes picta) 2 Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) 20 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 3 (190 individuals) Weather: Sky sunny, wind mostly still, temperature ca. 75-95 degrees, humid. Nectar: Lots of different sunflowers and other composites. Great diversity and quantity of nectar. Moisture: Water and mud over much of the cienega. Lepster(s): John Saba. --- John Saba Tucson, Arizona Nature Study Is a Grand Adventure! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Great Basin, Mono County, CA. From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:55:38 -0700 Everyone: This is the list taken on the E side of the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin including the Little Walker River, Bridgeport and the Bodie Hills, Mono County, California on September 8, 2009. Juba Skipper (Hesperia juba)-Little Walker River. Western Branded Skipper (Hesperia colorado idaho)-Bridgeport Canyon, Bodie Hills. Pale Sonora Skipper (Polites sonora longinqua)-Little Walker River, Bodie Hills Great Basin Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides omnigena)-Little Walker River Rd., Bodie Hills Checkered White (Pontia protodice)-all sites but not common Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)-Little Walker River, Bridgeport area Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice): one fresh male Hwy. 395 jct. with Little Walker River Rd. Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)-most localities visited Nevada Tailed Copper (Lycaena arota virginiensis)-one rag Little Walker River Rd. Ruddy Copper (Lycaena rubidus): singletons Little Walker River and Bridgeport Canyon Purplish Copper (Lycaena helloides)-one in dry portion of Bridgeport Canyon. Fresh female in dry chaparral! Behr's Hairstreak (Satyrium behrii behrii)-one 3 mi. W Bodie 8000' Great Basin Sylvan Hairstreak (Satyrium sylvinus megapallidum): Little Walker River, Bridgeport Canyon. Greenish Blue (Plebejus saepiolus)-Little Walker River, Bodie Hills. Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo mormo)-one seen Bridgeport Canyon. Apache Nokomis Fritillary (Speyeria nokomis apacheana) See yesterdays post. Malcolm's Zerene Fritillary (Speyeria zerene malcolmi): common Little Walker River Rd. and Bodie Hills. Great Basin or Egleis Fritillary (Speyeria egleis egleis): Little Walker River Rd. when getting into conifers W Hwy. 395 Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella vallis)-Little Walker River, 3 mi. W Bodie, Murphy Springs Zephyr Anglewing (Polygonia gracilis zephyrus)-one at Murphy Springs, Bodie Hills 8000+', also seen creek Little Walker River Rd. at Hwy. 395 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)-Little Walker River, Bodie Hills. West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella)-Bodie Hills, Murphy Springs Buckeye (Junonia coenia grisea)-Bridgeport Admiral-either Lorquin's or Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini or weidemeyerii) observed near willows from a distance, what species seen not determined. Mono Northwest Ranglet (Coenonympha ampelos mono): two along Little Walker River. Small Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis oetus oetus)-one Little Walker River at Hwy. 395; common Bodie Hills, Bridgeport Canyon. Monarch (Danaus plexippus)-one seen Little Walker River Rd. 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: Tioga Pass, Mono County, CA From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:46:13 -0700 Everyone: Here is the list of butterflies taken in the Tioga Pass region, Mono County, California just east of Yosemite National Park on September 7, 2009: Nevada Cloudywing (Thorybes mexicana nevada): below Ellery Lake at wet spot. Juba Skipper (Hesperia juba): fresh, E Saddlebag Lake on trail 10,100' Western Branded Skipper (Hesperia colorado idaho) one E Saddlebag Lake, 10,100' Sonora Skipper (Polites sonora sonora)-one E Saddlebag Lake, 10,100' Baldur Clodius Parnassian (Parnassius clodius baldur)-one E Saddlebag Lake, 10,100' Checkered White (Pontia protodice)-E Saddlebag Lake 10,100' Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)-Ellery Lake, E Saddlebag Lake Edward's Queen Alexandra Sulphur (Colias alexandra edwardsii)-seen American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas alpestris)- north facing slope near Ellery Lake Edith's Copper (Lycaena editha editha)-common E Saddlebag Lake Monache Ruddy Copper (Lycaena rubidus monachensis)-common below Ellery Lake Dam and E Saddlebag Lake Obsolescent Blue Copper (Lycaena heteronea submaculata)-Warren Creek 9000' and E Saddlebag Lake Blue Copper (Lycaena heteronea "klotsi): Warren Creek 9000' on E. umbellatum Hedge-Row Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium saepium)-two at Warren Creek 9000' Friday's Blue (Plebejus fridayi)-two fresh males E Saddlebag Lake 10,100' Greenish Blue (Plebejus saepiolus aehaja)-Warren Creek, N Tioga Pass Rd., Saddlebag Lake. Boisduval's Blue (Plebejus icarioides fulla)-Warren Creek, fresh. Shasta Blue (Plebejus shasta shasta)-E side Saddlebag Lake 10,100' Heather Blue (Plebejus cassiope cassiope)-one female N facing slope near Ellery Lake. Zerene Fritillary (Speyeria zerene malcolmi)-several Warren Creek 9000' Egleis Fritillary (Speyeria egleis egleis)-Warren Creek, E Saddlebag Lake Mormon Fritillary (Speyeria mormonia mormonia)-Warren Creek, Saddlebag Lake and roads N Tioga Pass. Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis milberti subpallida)-one fresh one E Saddlebag Lake 10,100' Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini)-Warren Creek 9000' 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: Apache Nokomis Fritillary, unexpected adventure From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 21:36:56 -0700 Everyone: Not all my collecting in Mono County, California was related to getting LATE records, some was to fill in holes in my personal collection. This was the case with the Apache Nokomis Fritillary (Speyeria nokomis apacheana), a species I took for the first time on the north shore of Mono Lake, Mono County on 2 August 1975. Over the years, I have caught LOTS of these, but not in recent years while I have donated many specimens, given them away as gifts or multiple specimen losses 2-4 years ago to carpet beetles. I needed a small number of replacement specimens for the destroyed or badly damaged specimens. After eating at Lee Vining on September 8, 2009, I pulled over at a park to prepare for the day. Yes, the same park where I first collected this butterfly 34 years ago, but seems like only 5 years ago. The park is now greatly changed and is now part State Park and part regional park. The habitat change in making it nice for humans has seriously damaged it as a butterfly place (they replaced the natural wet meadow with a lawn! in the name of protecting the habitat!)and while one can collect outside the state park boundaries, I just avoid collecting there altogether. I would then drive over an hour to the north to the Little Walker River Road W of Hwy. 395 where I found this nokomis very abundant 9 years before. This time things were different and surprisingly, the nokomis were few and far between. And those that were found were mostly well worn. But this priority kept me longer at this site than originally planned. It would take three hours to get three decent specimens and I deemed it unlikely I would find more nokomis at future stops at Bridgeport, the Bodie Hills or Bridgeport Canyon. Yes, I heard of a record for nokomis in the Bodie Hills at 8000' but considered that record questionable. I would stop W of Hwy. 395 at the jct. with Green Canyon Rd. to look for a Common Wood-Nymph species known from there. The only butterfly of note was a nokomis on blooming rabbitbrush in Great Basin Desert a block or so from a pond. Late records were my priority now and had been a priority even back at Little Walker River. Then it was on to Bodie Road about 4-5 mi. E Hwy. 395. Other than an actual capture of another Cercyonis, a worn oetus, very little in the way of butterflies. By now it was 1:40 PM. A choice loomed. Taken the dirt road to Bridgeport Canyon to try to get a LATE record for Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii) or go 5-6 mi. uproad to check that reputed nokomis spot at Murphy Springs above 8000' 3 mi. W Bodie? I knew the spot, having collected there in June and early July in past years. Too dry I thought. But there was a colony of Milbert's Tortoiseshells on nettles. Being in a hurry, I decided to just check out the rabbitbush and other yellow composites along the road. My roving eyes opened wide when I saw a beautiful cream colored female nokomis at the base of the hill. By now, I would check out the drainage where the nettles grew. No milberti today, but I would eventually see a patrolling male nokomis and I started upslope. The stream became a narrow ribbon of water and green grasses and would stretch on for maybe a quarter mile right along the road . Male and female nokomis were undeniably present at this highly unlikely looking spot listed as 8000' in a past season summary, but which much of the habitat seems likely much higher in elevation. I was satisfield with three vouchers and the experience. Adults nectured right along the road. Then it was downslope and over to Bridgeport Canyon, by now past 3 PM. It was back to finding LATE records. As I went south I caught sight of Mono Lake and there was a limited area of wet meadowland, a dry creek and flowering yellow composites. And then, there it was, another worn but beautiful Nokomis Fritillary! And then for the next mile or so, Speyeria nokomis apacheana was all over the place. New locality? I don't know. Maybe J. R. Mori found it here. I took many vouchers this time in case this is a new locality or Colorado State Museum needs the species in their collection. Or I may send CSM some of my old Mono Lake specimens and keep those from the two Bodie Hills locations. Do the Bodie Hills look like a place for nokomis? Those dry hills with dry Great Basin chaparral? Based on geographic features and general habitat, anybody that looks for nokomis there is nuts. And so is anyone collecting butterflies there in September! Or so it seemed until yesterday. 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: California LATE records get Later From: <flutterflies93306 AT att.net> Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 20:43:03 -0700 Everyone: One thing that has become obvious for sometime is that the LATE records for the California High Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin of Mono County end abruptly at the end of August. This is because summer is over and everyone that is taking a vacation in California has completed their time off for the summer. Garth & Tilden's flights ended in late August, so do Paul Opler's records for the regions. Robert Langston also gets into the latter part of August. But do the butterflies all die off abruptly with the month of September and the transition into Fall? For many years I had intended to make a trip to the Tioga Pass region of Mono County, California in an effort to extend many flight periods for California butterflies, the report by Ken Davenport, Ray Stanford and Robert Langston through 2008 available via the TILS website. Mark Walker and Bill Gendron recently posted some good results to Lone Pine and the Owens Valley. And despite the fact this is a dry year and the realization that I have done no two day trips in 7 or 8 weeks, I decided to head to Tioga Pass, the Little Walker River, Saddlebag Lake, Warren Creek 9000', Bridgeport and the Bodie Mts. to see how many LATE records I could extend for California species and subspecies. The following report covers the extended LATE flight dates: 1. Mexican Cloudywing (Thorybes mexicana nevada) The old record was 4 September 1993, Nevada County, A. M. Shapiro. The new record for the species and subspecies nevada is 7 September 2009, Below Ellery Lake E Tioga Pass, Ken Davenport. The individual was worn, visiting mud. No other Thorybes I know occurs at this locality. 2. Great Basin Sonora Skipper (Polites sonora longinqua) Old Record: 26 August 1997 Mono County, Bruce & Bret Boyd. New Record: 8 September 2009, Little Walker River Road & Bodie Hills, Mono County, Ken Davenport. Very common, not a LATE record for the species, only the subspecies. This skipper likely flies into October. 3. Queen Alexandra Sulphur (Colias alexandra edwardsii) Current capture record: 28 August 1983 Mono R. Robertson. I observed what appeared to be this species on the trail E of Saddlebag Lake 7 September 2009. It flew rapidly and I chased it several hundred yards before it disappeared. Because this male could be confused with Colias philodice or a yellow Colias eurytheme, this record will only be added as a footnote. The 28 August 1983 record is retained. Behaviorally, the Saddlebag Lake individual seem to be alexandra. 4. American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas alpestris) Old Record: 31 August 1965 Inyo, Paul Opler New Record: 7 September 2009, North facing slope at about 10,500' south SR 120 (=Tioga Pass Rd.), E Tioga Pass, Ken Davenport. Not yet spread, appears worn. I scared up this individual in a sheltered rock garden while looking for the Heather Blue. Initially I thought it was that, but saw it was not when it landed on a patch of sand amid rock adjacent to an avalanche slope and White Heather, the cassiope hostplant which was all well past bloom. 5. Ruddy Copper (Lycaena rubidus-subspecies affinities unclear) Old Record: 5 September 1993 El Dorado County, W. D. Patterson. (record for species was subspecies rubidus) New record: 8 September 2009, individuals Little Walker River Rd. and Bridgeport Canyon, Bodie Hills, Mono County, California. Note: John Emmel believed lowland rubidus at Mono Lake were monachensis while George T. Austin treated these as non-melanic sirius. Whatever the name, these were scarce on this day, but see next record, related to this one. 6. Monache Ruddy Copper (Lycaena rubidus monachensis) Old Record:1 September 1965 Mono County P. Opler (unclear if this record was based on alpine population) New Record: 7 September 2009, below Ellery Lake and trail E side Saddlebag Lake, Mono County, Ken Davenport. Notes: Not only was this a new LATE record, but Ruddy Coppers were a dominant species out and many were freshly emerged, and my initial impression (prior to spreading and comparisons) is that these differ from those taken here in June and July. Second brood? Or a late flight this year? 7. Blue Copper (Lycaena heteronea submaculata) Old Record for subspecies: 29 August 1967 Tuolumne County Paul Opler New record: 7 September 2009, Trail E side Saddlebag Lake, Mono County, Ken Davenport. Note: ID problematic and two species may be involved E of Tioga Pass. At Warren Creek L. heteronea "klotsi" and submaculata are sympatric and synchronic. "Klotsi" on Eriogonum umbellatum and submaculata on Eriogonum nudum. Both plants and Blue Coppers were at Warren Creek on this morning. It is NOT a LATE record for klotsi or the species heteronea.. E of Saddlebag Lake, only E. nudum was present. So a later flight extension for submaculata. 8. Behr's Hairstreak (Satyrium behrii behrii) Old Record: 25 August 1983 Mono Robert Langston, but found there was also a overlooked 28 Aug record in past Season Summary. New Record: 8 September 2009, Bodie Rd.., 3 mi. W of Bodie, Mono County, Ken Davenport. Amazing taken nectaring on sagebrush with Speyeria nokomis apacheana at over 8000' in a very limited habitat! 9. Great Basin Sylvan Hairstreak (Satyrium sylvinus megapallidum) Old Record for subspecies: 30 August 1997 Mono County George T. Austin New record: 8 September 2009, Little Walker River and Bridgeport Canyon, Bodie Hills, Mono County, Ken Davenport. 10. Friday's Blue (Plebejus fridayi) Old Record: 29 August 1967 Tuolumne County, Paul Opler. New Record: Two males Trail E side Saddlebag Lake, Mono Co., Ken Davenport 7 September 2009. 11. Boisduval's Blue (Plebejus icarioides) Old Record: 31 August 1965 Mono County, Paul Opler. New Record: 7 September 2009, Off Hwy. 120 (=Tioga Pass Rd.), Warren Creek 9000', two individuals, one a fresh male. Mono County, Ken Davenport. ` Note: This is a LATE record for both the species and subspecies fulla. 12. Shasta Blue (Plebejus shasta shasta) Old Record: Problematic, late by one day over previous "normal" record for LATE 6 September 1947 Fresno County C. D. McBurney. The problem is that there are two very extreme records: 25 Oct. 1995 Nevade County A. M. Shapiro and 24 Nov. 1995 Alpine County J. DeBenedictus. Freak occurrences. "New" semi-record 7 September 2009, E side Saddlebag Lake, Mono County, Ken Davenport. 13. Heather Blue (Plebejus (Agriades) cassiope cassiope) Old Record: North facing slope 10,500'S Tioga Pass Rd. 17 August 1975, Mono County, Ken Davenport. Collected a couple here 23 years before it was described. New Record: Same locality as above, 7 September 2009, Ken Davenport Notes: Taken just a few feet from where I took the American Copper. I had given up all hope of getting a LATE record of cassiope because the host was so past. But on my way downslope, I saw a small brown blue suntanning with wings open on a granite boulder. I put my net over it but the pesky mystery blue (not yet identified) refused to fly up in my net. I opted for a risky pinch low in the net over an attempted raise and sweep. It worked. Later, I nearly lost both the cassiope and Lycaena phlaeas putting the envelope in a tupperware container in the back of my Toyoto Highlander. A huge wind gust blew the envelope with the two prizes out of my hands and I could not track where it blew. Super depressed, the envelope did turn up a few minutes later, not very far from a 1500' sheer cliff. This was a LATE record for both the species and subspecies cassiope. 14. Malcolm's Zerene Fritillary (Speyeria zerene malcolmi) Old Record: 2 September 1958 Mono J. W. Tilden New Records: 7 September 2009, two fresh females and worn male Warren Creek 9000', Mono County. 8 September 2009, Little Walker River and Bodie Hills, Mono County, Ken Davenport. Very abundant Little Walker River, likely will fly into October. 15. Great Basin "Vallis" Field Crescent Old Records for subspecies: 29 August 1959 Mono J. S. Garth New Records: 8 September 2009, one taken Little Walker River, two seen Bodie Hills 8000'+ 3 mi. W Bodie flying with Speyeria nokomis apacheana. Other subspecies fly much later. 16. Northwest Ringlet (Coenonympha ampelos mono) Some treat this complex as "tullia"; others place "mono" with C. ochracea. Old Record: 29 August 1983 Mono Robert L. Langston. New Record: 8 September 2009, Little Walker River, Mono County 2009, Ken Davenport. Took two individuals. Note: This is a LATE date for both subspecies and "species" in the sense used herein. 17. Small Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis oetus oetus) Old Record: 1 September 1965 Mono Paul Opler. New Record: 8 September 2009, one seen Hwy. 395 & Walker River Rd., but common with vouchers taken Bodie Hills at many locations. Should fly another week or two. These are species hoped for but not found: Sierra Skipper or Miriam's Skipper (Hesperia miriamae miriamae): None seen N facing slope S Tioga Pass and not enough time to climb to top of a peak. Behr's or Sierra Nevada Parnassian (Parnassius behrii) Known to occur where I took the Heather Blue and American Copper. I chose the Loop Trail over SE above Saddlebag Lake because of overall diversity there and limited time. Behr's or Sierra Sulphur (Colias behrii): Lack of time to make it to point on Loop Trail around Saddlebag Lake where behrii is common in mid-summer. Those meadow grasses had already turned brown. California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica cygnus): The habitat in Bodie Hills 4 mi. E Hwy. 395 was past climax and none were found in 15 minute search. Walker River Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala walkerensis) I checked good localities for this in Bridgeport and Hwy. 395 and Green Canyon Rd. No results for walkerensis. Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limentitis weidemeyerii latifascia): I did see a Limenitis along the Little Walker River September 8th but Limenitis lorquini also occurs here. Being 75 yards away, I could not get a clear ID. I did get a lorquini at Warren Creek, not a late record. No Limenitis were seen in Bridgeport Canyon where both Limenitis species occur. 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: Fwd: [leps-talk] RIP Gaden Robinson From: Bruce Walsh <jbwalsh AT u.arizona.edu> Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 16:24:35 -0700 Sad news on the passing of a major figure in Lepidoptera systematics ----- Forwarded message from adamcot AT cscoms.com ----- Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:12:11 +0700 From: Adam Cotton Reply-To: Adam Cotton Subject: [leps-talk] RIP Gaden Robinson To: Leps-Talk Sadly Gaden Robinson passed away at 10pm UK time on 8th September. He had only recently retired after a lifetime in the Lepidoptera section of the Natural History Museum, London, where he worked mainly on moths, particularly Tineidae. He had been ill for some time, and sadly died before publication of his major work on Tineidae. He will be missed by the many people who knew him, particularly in the Microlepidoptera fraternity; and all those, like myself, who were not working on the same groups as him, but were able to benefit from his wisdom and wit. Adam Cotton. ----- End forwarded message ----- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: [DesertLeps] Seeing nude species in the field. 9/5. (quite long) From: Pete Spino <petespino8 AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 06:32:57 -0700 (PDT) Oops! Sorry for making this longer than it should have been. One earlier versionthat I had to step away from somehow got mixed in there. I Forgot to delete it.Hope it doesn't crash any of your computers! Pete. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Seeing nude species in the field. 9/5. (quite long) From: Pete Spino <petespino8 AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 06:21:04 -0700 (PDT) Hi all. Sorry for this late long cross post, but I think you will all enjoy it nonetheless. I got together with Mark Walker this past Saturday, September 5th, to try  and find our rare and elusive Pseudocopaeodes eunus wontfindmeus.  Mark, Koji and myself have been trying in vain, season after season, to find  our shy Alkali Skipper in San Diego County. It had once been obviously more  common, but now, for reasons still unknown, it is not. We visited most of it's historical habitats in those hot seas of Desert Saltgrass that pepper the desert transition and alkali sink areas of our county near Jacumba, San Felipe, and Scissor's Crossing.  We didn't find the skipper - we both felt we might be a little early - but we did spend a delightful day laughing and enjoying each other's company in spite of ourselves. We tried our very best to absorb all those simple aspects of the  wonders of natural life as we could in the time that our spouses allotted us.  After over two weeks of a lengthy heat wave here, you would think we would rather be spending the first day of the forecasted cool down with our families  near the coast on Saturday. Not these two idiots. Instead, we sought out more  of the same triple digit temperatures in the desert areas, to try and root out this  hard to find insect and satisfy all the obsessive disorders within ourselves at the same time.  Mark was at my place at 7.a.m.,and after stops for gas and numerous high cholesterol goodies,we made it down Banner Grade and into the western portions of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park sometime after 8. The weather at this time was mostly overcast and I believe the temps were not above 80 yet. This was worrisome to us but we both felt it would become clearer as it got hottter. Monsoonal afternoon showers had hit this area this week but no puddles were left. Another target species of the day for us was Euphilotes enoptes dammersi,  the late season 'Dammer's' Dotted-Blue. It's larval food plant, Eriogonum wrightii,  Knotty Buckwheat, was found to be doing extremely well at the bottom of the  grade, but after searching for an hour, we only found only two females, one of  them being very fresh, and a possible male that we couldn't get to settle for ID. Acmon Blues were the more numerous blue here, although by only a couple. 'Common' Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus pudica, made a cameo appearance. We then went to the Scissor's Crossing area and walked around the Desert Saltgrass and Mesquite habitats near Sentenac Cienega where our nemesis  P. eunus once formerly proliferated. Here we saw Western Pygmy Blue, Marine Blue, and the Hemiargus blues of Ceraunus and Reakirt's. Also observed were the Ministrymon leda in it's fall jacket and our faithful Niccipe, Sleepy Orange. The saltgrass leaves are just starting to turn dry and golden with large swaths still  mostly green. After walking around this beautiful place for a good while, it was obvious that we were not going to see the skipper and concentrated on two other targets, Apodemia palmeri and Hesperopsis libya. These we also did not see. The Palmer's Metalmark and Mojave Sootywing are probably in between broods, but we were hoping to catch a few early males that we know are around by last year's observances. P. eunus,strike one; palmeri,strike two; and libya...strike three! We really didn't mind however because we were too busy talking and cracking up. I've had numerous and similar experiences here in the saltgrass fields with Koji. There must be something about this place, for the disappointments seems less frustrating. It is both a blessed and inhospitable place at this time of year.  The only nectar sources were some Alkali Goldenbush, Heliotrope, and Aster in small pockets but another storm or two will produce the breakout bloom that is obvious from looking at these wildflower's buds. From here we had a couple of choices. We could either head down to the lower  elevations of the Colorado Desert to look for the Wright's Metalmark and the California Giant-Skipper, or, we could head over to Jacumba. Jacumba won out. The heat was already beginning it's climb to 90 and above and there was something very negative about heading to the lower desert canyon washes. After just getting into the car and going a short way, Mark's eye caught some different species of  Eriogonum in bloom that neither of us had seen before in this area. Interesting. Then,on our way over to the Jacumba area on S1, before you get to Interstate 8, we went through the Badlands and Sweeney Pass. We stopped long enough there for me to show Mark the place where I saw our extremely hard to find Small Blue, Philotiella speciosa, in March with my son. While there, we met a very nice CA State Park Ranger who surprisingly appeared to be a very bug friendly soldier. A rather large Northern Desert Iguana also showed itself for some good looks. Jacumba is an interesting place. And this trip certainly proved to be quite a bit more interesting than we previously had encountered. At 2600 feet, Jacumba is nestled right on the border in the rocky Desert Transition habitats in and around the  Jacumba Mountains. Old Highway 80 and the railroad brought people here and the local hot springs and spas kept them here. From Border Patrol Agents to artists to miners and farmers, and to people just looking for a little solitude, Jacumba seems to have what you are looking for. And perhaps a little of what you're not looking for. We went there to visit the Desert Saltgrass and Aster fields first found by Koji a couple of years ago. Pin specimens in the SDNHM drawers show that P. eunus  once thrived here and Koji feels as though it is still probably still around flying  with H. sabuleti. Last year at these fields, we had Southern Dogface, Snout, and a 'Crocale' Bordered Patch, so anything is possible this close to the border. Well, on this day, about the only thing we encountered there were some extremely  bothersome hoards of pestilence. Eye-biting Gnats, which were not unlike those deployed by God in helping Moses and Aaron free the ancient Israelites from  slavery in Egypt, have invaded the town folk and has found it's way in the news. It seems that the large organic spinach farm just west of town has brought them  and the residents are trying like hell to eradicate the gnats as well as the farmer!  I wish them the best, for this is becoming a serious problem and it seems to have only gotten worse. At one time, I looked over at Mark and he had his net completely over his head! The scene reminded me of when I lived in Alaska and would hike in the mosquito infested tundra in the Bering Land Bridge Natural Preserve on the  Seward Peninsula. Although of course this wasn't that bad, it was certainly close. However, they were bothersome enough that Mark and I decided to call it a day and  have something to eat and a couple of beers at the restaurant in town around 3:30.  There was a fountain and a large bed of ornamental flowers in front of the Jacumba  Spa Restaurant. We saw more butterflies here than we saw anywhere else all day! Lots of Skippers, mostly Fiery were here. In addition to Hylephila phylus, there were three Polites sabuleti,one of which Mark took; and a few Lerodea eufala. Also bellying up to the nectar bar were Colias eurytheme, and some very fresh  Vanessa cardui. There was also one Orange Skipperling present, which for some reason, seemed to draw out the most ire among the frenzied Fiery Skippers. Across, the street from there, I happened upon one of our target species for the day,  Mojave Sootywing, on some Aster. It then led me across a vacant lot there and right into a little oasis. It was surreal. Mark joined me by then but we didn't refind the bug. However, there were more of the same butterflies as were in front of the restaurant with a Checkered White and a possible Striated Queen thrown in. Dragonflies and tiny fish were very abundant here. As were those annoying Old Testament gnats, which ultimately led us back over and into the restaurant! The food and service is very recommended here at Jacumba Spa Restaurant.  The locals like to get to know what the wind brings into their town and the  conversation was as good as the beer and the food. Mark and I are very similar  souls, and we asked as many questions as the locals were asking of us.  One such question brought about bemusement and much amusement however.We knew that, on the the other side of Interstate 8 north of town, the saltgrass habitat is even better. We also knew that it was private property even thoughit appears that there is a campground with the railroad and a road crossing paths.We always wanted to hike and explore that area because it appears more lushthan the areas around the town of Jacumba. What we never in a million yearswould know until our inquiries were answered that this is California's largest nudistcolony and clothing optional resort!! Never thought of this and never wouldn't havebelieved it even if told. Not only that, but the person at the restaurant telling usthis knows the owners and told us that if we wanted to explore the area and lookfor butterflies over the miles of hiking trails that is owned by the resort, to call theowners over there and tell them that you knew this person and it was OK. Therewere maps of the trails that they had at the office over there and they would give us to use.  Wow. Mark and I immediately both knew that, in spite of the this knowledge of whatgoes on behind this property, that we couldn't pass up this opportunity to have freereign to explore and see just what is swinging over there. Sorry,no pun intended, butthe innuendos are certainly there so for the using so we might as well use them! Seriously, VIP access to miles of desert transition canyon habitat with water sources and a huge desert saltgrass habitat, that is all just adjacent to the southern portionof Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, is worth any uncomfortable hesitancies you mayor may not have over the the types of lifestyles practiced over there. Mark said hesaw the Alkali Skipper last month with Ken Davenport up in Owens Valley and thetime of the day he saw them was after 4 p.m. We looked at the clock and it was wellafter 4. We finished our beers and monster burgers, payed the tab, and thanked them.Then we headed over to this place as curious as all get out. Mark called the numberthey gave him and they said to come on over and that they would be expecting us.Neither one of us had ever been this type of a place so we weren't quite sure justwhat to expect. Or maybe we did, but were hoping it wouldn't be that blatantly obvious! We get over there and call the office at the large gate. The door swings right on open.Numerous signs tell you that the 5 mph limit is strictly enforced and that violatorswould be prosecuted. We didn't doubt their word. Think about it, there would be no outer clothing to protect those family jewels in the case that anybody would somehowget hit by a vehicle. And, you know, some drivers would probably be distracted by the view! We trolled around and were amazed just how huge the resort was and allthe amenities that these people enjoyed. It had everything you could think of.As we slowly trolled along, we came up to the "speeder's jail", where all violatorsof speeding were taken. The thought of a nude security force was way too much tocomprehend, for the stereotypes were rife with images from a 70's situational comedy(think "Three's Company", and the landlord character, "Mr. Roper"!). Meanwhile, as wekept following the signs to the office HQ, we saw nobody. Not a single naked soul.Just as soon as we commented on this, the first flashes of skin flashed into view.Then more and more. Arghhh!! Put some clothes on Grandma and Grandpa!! Our poor eyes were stinging with the the unsightly spectacle that was playing outbefore us. If I didn't already have poor eyesight, well I would have after this!Almost everyone we saw all fit all the stereotypes perfectly. Old, slightly overweight,lots of gaudy jewelry and lotions, and way way too much suntan! Especially on thoseparts of body that shouldn't ever be overexposed to the intense desert sun. I saw a sign saying to be comfortable with your bodies, "No matter the age, size,shape, or condition of it." From what I see, this philosophy is most certainly followed. Mark and I find the office and are almost afraid to get out of the car, but we do.The thoughts of seeing a new butterfly, especially the P. eunus are just enough to completely overtake any of our more sensible inhibitions. We both wanted to getthe heck out of there, but we came this far to turn back on our objective, even thoughthat objective was less and less important with each image that was searing the insides of our retinas. Couldn't help but wonder if this this is how some people go blind. The office was of course next to the social hall, and at that time of the day on aweekend, things were certainly hopping. Mark went to find the maps and I went to find forgiveness. We seemed like the only people with clothes on which of course drew all the more attention to us. I kept thinking that even the butterflies would have the instincts to stay away. In the office, above the counter, there is this huge colorfulpaper sculpture of a butterfly. Mark said he saw this artwork before and that it is fromIndonesia. Very beautiful and ironic, because butterflies are what had brought us overhere in the first place. Just as I was thinking that this would probably be the only darnbutterfly that I would see in this resort of unsightly flesh, I saw another one! This one was very worn and faded and moving way too fast. Unfortunately, this butterfly was an old stretched one that was tattooed on somebody's grandma's posterior!!! I almost threw up the burger and fries thinking about my old italian grandma, and what,if she were still alive, would have to say about a place like this. Well, the maps weren'ttoo good and it were difficult to copy, so we were out of there. I know Mark wanted toexit way faster than the 5 mph, but the thought of a nude Mr. Roper type writing us a ticket was way too much lose to want for speeding. What a very memorable way toend a very memorable day in the field. I can hear Koji's laugh all the way from Japan. All told, we observed 17 species of butterflies this day,and a couple of strange oneswe would just really like to pretend that we never saw. Pete SpinoSan Diego     Hi all. Sorry for this late post, but I think you will all enjoy it nonetheless. I got together with Mark Walker this past Saturday, September 5th, to try  and find our rare and elusive Pseudocopaeodes eunus wontfindmeus.  Mark, Koji and myself have been trying in vain, season after season, to find  our shy Alkali Skipper in San Diego County. It had once been obviously more  common, but now, for reasons still unknown, it is not. We visited most of it's historical habitats in those hot seas of Desert Saltgrass that pepper the desert transition and alkali sink areas of our county near Jacumba, San Felipe, and Scissor's Crossing.  We didn't find the skipper - we both felt we might be a little early - but we did spend a delightful day laughing and enjoying each other's company in spite of ourselves. We tried our very best to absorb all the simple aspects of the  wonders of natural life as we could in the time that our spouses allotted us.  After over two weeks of a lengthy heat wave here, you would think we would rather be spending the first day of the forecasted cool down with our families  near the coast on Saturday. Not these two idiots. Instead, we sought out more  of the same triple digit temperatures in the desert areas, to try and root out this  hard to find insect and satisfy all the obsessive disorders within ourselves at the same time. This was a man's trip. Complete with perspiration, beer, bugs,  burgers, candid testimonies, cussing and a little surprise at the end of the trip. Mark was at my place at 7.a.m.,and after stops for gas and numerous high cholesterol goodies,we made it down Banner Grade and into the western portions of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park sometime after 8. The weather at this time was mostly overcast and I believe the temps were not above 80 yet. This was worrisome to us but we both felt it would become clearer as it got hot. Monsoonal afternoon showers had hit this area this week but no puddles were left. Another target species of the day for us was Euphilotes enoptes dammersi,  the late season 'Dammer's' Dotted-Blue. It's larval food plant, Eriogonum wrightii,  Knotty Buckwheat, was found to be doing extremely well at the bottom of the  grade, but after searching for an hour, we only found only two females, one of  them being very fresh, and a possible male that we couldn't get to settle for ID. Acmon Blues were the more numerous blue here, although by only a couple. 'Common' Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus pudica, made a cameo appearance. We then went to the Scissor's Crossing area and walked around the Desert Saltgrass and Mesquite habitats near Sentenac Cienega where our nemesis  P. eunus once formerly proliferated. Here we saw Western Pygmy Blue, Marine Blue, and the Hemiargus blues of Ceraunus and Reakirt's. Also observed were the Ministrymon leda in it's fall jacket and our faithful Niccipe, Sleepy Orange. The saltgrass leaves are just starting to turn dry and golden with large swaths still  mostly green. After walking around this beautiful place for a good while, it was obvious that we were not going to see the skipper and concentrated on two other targets, Apodemia palmeri and Hesperopsis libya. These we also did not see. The Palmer's Metalmark and Mojave Sootywing are probably in between broods, but we were hoping to catch a few early males that we know are around by past Past observances. P. eunus,strike one; palmeri,strike two; and libya...strike three! We really didn't mind however because we were too busy talking and cracking up. I've had numerous and similar experiences here in the saltgrass fields with Koji. There must be something about this place, for the disappointments seems less frustrating. It is both a blessed and inhospitable place at this time of year.  The only nectar sources were some Alkali Goldenbush, Heliotrope, and Aster in small pockets but another storm or two will produce the breakout bloom that is obvious from looking at these wildflower's buds. From here we had a couple of choices. We could either head down to the lower  elevations of the Colorado Desert to look for the Wright's Metalmark and the California Giant-Skipper, or, we could head over to Jacumba. Jacumba won out. The heat was already beginning it's climb to 90 and above and there was something very negative about heading to the lower desert canyon washes. After just getting into the car and going a short way, Mark's eye caught some different species of  Eriogonum in bloom that neither of us had seen before in this area. Interesting. Then,on our way over to the Jacumba area on S1, before you get to Interstate 8, we went through the Badlands and Sweeney Pass. We stopped long enough there for me to show Mark the place where I saw our extremely hard to find Small Blue, Philotiella speciosa, this past March with my son. While there we met a very nice CA State Park Ranger who surprisingly appeared to be a very bug friendly soldier. A rather large Northern Desert Iguana also showed itself for some good looks. Jacumba is an interesting place. And this trip certainly proved to be quite a bit more interesting than we previously had encountered. At 2600 feet, Jacumba is nestled right on the border in the rocky Desert Transition habitats in and around the  Jacumba Mountains. Old Highway 80 and the railroad brought people here and the local hot springs and spas kept them here. From Border Patrol Agents to artists to miners and farmers, and to people just looking for a little solitude, Jacumba seems to have what you are looking for. And perhaps a little of what you're not looking for. We went there to visit the Desert Saltgrass and Aster fields first found by Koji a couple of years ago. Pin specimens in the SDNHM drawers show that P. eunus  once thrived here and Koji feels as though it is still probably still around flying  with the H. sabuleti. Last year at these fields, we had Southern Dogface, Snout, and a 'Crocale' Bordered Patch, so anything is possible this close to the border. Well, on this day, about the only thing we encountered there were the extremely  bothersome hoards of pestilence. Eye-biting Gnats, which were not unlike those deployed by God in helping Moses and Aaron free the ancient Israelites from  slavery in Egypt, have invaded the town folk and has found it's way in the news. It seems that the large organic spinach farm just west of town has brought them  and they are trying like hell to eradicate the gnats as well as the farmer!  I wish them the best, for this is becoming a serious problem and it seems to have only gotten worse. At one time, I looked over at Mark and he had his net completely over his head! The scene reminded me of when I lived in Alaska and would hike in the mosquito infested tundra in the Bering Land Bridge Natural Preserve on the  Seward Peninsula. Although of course this wasn't that bad, it was certainly close. However, it was bothersome enough that Mark and I decided to call it a day and  have something to eat and a couple of beers at the restaurant in town around 3:30.  There was a fountain and a large bed of ornamental flowers in front of the Jacumba  Spa Restaurant. We saw more butterflies here than we saw anywhere else all day! Lots of Skippers, mostly Fiery were here. In addition to Hylephila phylus, there were three Polites sabuleti,one of which Mark took; and a few Lerodea eufala. Also bellying up to the nectar bar were Colias eurytheme, and some very fresh  Vanessa cardui. There was also one Orange Skipperling present, which for some reason, seemed to draw out the most ire among the frenzied Fiery Skippers. Across, the street from there, I happened upon one of our target species for the day,  Mojave Sootywing, on some Aster. It then led me across a vacant lot there and right into a little oasis. It was surreal. Mark joined me by then but we didn't refind the bug. However, there were more of the same butterflies as were in front of the restaurant with a Checkered White and a possible Striated Queen thrown in. Dragonflies and tiny fish were very abundant here. As were those annoying Old Testament Gnats, which ultimately led us back over and into the restaurant! The food and service is very recommended here at Jacumba Spa Restaurant.  The locales like to get to know what the wind brings into their town and the  conversation was as good as the beer and the food. Mark and I are very similar  souls, and we asked as many questions as the locals were asking of us.  One such question brought about surprise and much bemusement.   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Fwd: Moths of North America: Pre-publication Offer Until October 15 From: Bruce Walsh <jbwalsh AT u.arizona.edu> Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 10:47:42 -0700 FYI: New MONA ----- Forwarded message from bugbooks AT aol.com ----- Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:07:49 -0400 From: bugbooks AT aol.com Reply-To: bugbooks AT aol.com Subject: Moths of North America: Pre-publication Offer Until October 15 To: bugbooks AT aol.com Save $10 if you pre-order this new part on the Noctuidae before October 15, 2009. Pre-publication Announcement and Discount Offer:   The Moths of North America, Fascicle 26.9 NOCTUOIDEA: Noctuidae, Xyleninae, Apameini (part: Apamea group) by Kauri Mikkola, J. Donald Lafontaine, and Jocelyn Gill. 191 pages, 8 color plates, 24 monochrome plates, 67 text figures 2009 (expected October 15, 2009). ISBN 978-0-933003-14-9 Pre-publication Price (orders RECEIVED by October 15, 2009): $70.00. U.S. Post-publication Price (orders received AFTER October 15, 2009): $80.00 U.S. In this sixth part on North American Noctuidae the authors treat 71 species (12 of them described as new to science) in 5 genera (2 of them described as new to science)?and describe 6 new subspecies. Moths in this group are often closely similar, and variable species have proven difficult to identify; for the first time in the series, molecular data are used to aid in resolving complex species issues. Superb color photographs, in the MONA tradition, depict 296 specimens of adult moths (of more than 20,000 examined), representing all 71 species. Identification keys to all genera and species, based on characters of the adults, together with illustrations of wings and genitalia and notes on variable characters, will be extremely useful in identifying specimens. Diagnostic characters for all genera and species are detailed and illustrated.  The larvae in this group feed mainly on grasses, and20the last instar larvae of 27 species are briefly characterized. A synonymic check list of the described species updates the Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico. 5 ways to order: PayPal: e-mail your purchase request to bugbooks AT aol.com and we will send you a PayPal invoice; all you need is an e-mail address and a credit card (you don?t even have to create a PayPal account); Online, securely, at our ERS storefront on Abebooks (type "Mikkola" in author field; FAX your order and credit card information (Visa or MasterCard) to: (323) 227-0595; Telephone your order to (323) 227-1285 (M-F, 9-6, PDT); Mail your order and personal check or money order to us at the address below. (sending your credit card information in an e-mail is risky and is not recommended; if you do so, send the numbers and expiration date in two or more separate e-mails) ADD Sales Tax of $6.83 per copy for orders shipped to California addresses. ADD Shipping: $5.00 per copy to the U.S., $10.00 per copy to Canada & Mexico; inquire for shipping costs to other countries. Still available: Ferguson, 2008. Moths of North America, Fasc. 17.2: Geometridae: Ennominae (part): Abraxini, Cassymini, Macariini. $115.00 Tuttle, 2007. Hawk Moths of North America: $90.00 Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico: $20.00 Cerda, 2008. Euchromiini de Guyane Française (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae, Arctiinae): approx. $106.95 (imp ort: new supply on order). More details on request. We maintain a complete stock of all MONA fascicles in print. Inquire for prices. The price of Fascicle 26.9 will rise to $80 on October 16; don't miss out on saving $10 now. Entomological Reprint Specialists 735 Rome Drive Los Angeles, CA 90065-4040, U.S.A. Visit our online bookstore at http://www.ERSBooks.com/ Book collector? Be sure to check out our "Lepidoptera (Antiquarian)" catalog. e-mail: Bugbooks AT aol.com telephone: 323-227-1285 FAX: 323-227-0595 We accept PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard.   Principal North American distributor for The Moths of North America. Pre-publication discount offers for forthcoming parts will be sent on request. ----- End forwarded message ----- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]