1) Upcoming Events
2) Butterfly Sightings in Oct and Nov
3) Webster-Kirkwood Times article
4) Brazil Program report
5) Variegated Fritillary
6) What is the Missouri State Butterfly?
7) Butterflying in Mexico
8) Kid’s Corner update
9) Butterfly Garden Plans
10) Membership Information

1. UPCOMING NABA EVENTS – Dec. 2006 and Jan. 2007:

Fri. Dec. 8. 6:30 p.m. Holiday Potluck for NABA members at Yvonne Homeyer's, 1508 Oriole Lane, Brentwood, MO 63144. Home #314.963.7750. This is a casual get-together before the holidays. Yvonne will provide beverages and light snacks. (From Brentwood and Eager, go west on Eager up the hill to High School. Left on High School, right onto North Swan, 1 block to Oriole, turn left. Yvonne's building is on the left. Park anywhere.)

Sun. Jan. 28, 2007. NABA HOLIDAY PARTY. From 1:30 to approximately 4:00 p.m. on Sun. Jan. 28, 2006,NABA-St. Louis's holiday party will be held at Washington University's Tyson Research Center. This event will be a potluck affair, so please bring your favorite food dish. A special "Powerpoint" slideshow of our members' best butterfly/outing photos will be presented, along with some good food. The butterfly Powerpoint program will begin at approx. 2:30pm.

2. OCTOBER & NOVEMBER BUTTERFLY SIGHTINGS by Yvonne Homeyer

October: On 10/1, at Horseshoe Lake, Jim Ziebol found all 6 Sulphur species, including 90 Southern Dogface, only one of which showed the fall form color pattern. Mark Peters observed a Southern Dogface at his prairie on 10/3 and 10/4, adding a new species for his Jefferson County property. On 10/7, Jim Ziebol found a Reakirt’s Blue at Young Conservation Area, along with a Gray Comma. The Reakirt’s Blue is a rare stray to the St. Louis area and there have been years when none were reported. [The only other report this year was on 8/1 at Mark Peters’ prairie.] Sherry McCowan saw an American Lady in Forest Park on 10/6. On 10/10, a Monarch on its way to Mexico was seen in Glendale by Dennis Bozzay. Mark Peters found a Common Checkered-Skipper at his prairie on 10/11.

A fresh Red Admiral was reported in Forest Park on 10/18 by Sherry McCowan. Also on 10/18, Jim saw a Monarch and 25 Southern Dogface at Horseshoe Lake. On 10/20, Jim Ziebol found 10 Orange Sulphurs, 5 Clouded Sulphurs, 2 Monarchs, 1 Common Checkered-Skipper and a Sachem at Busch, and the following day, he saw a Buckeye there. Jack Harris photographed a Painted Lady nectaring on a Ladies’ Tresses orchid on 10/20 at Valley View Glade. At Horseshoe Lake, Jim Ziebol saw 2 Checkered Whites, Orange Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Pearl Crescent and Buckeye on 10/24, and on 10/29, he reported 8 Checkered Whites, 25 Orange Sulphurs, 4 Clouded Sulphurs, 1 Little Yellow, 3 Dainty Sulphurs, 15 Buckeyes, 1 Monarch, and 12 Common Checkered-Skippers.

Oct. Garden Report: On 10/1, Mary Eileen Rufkahr saw 1 Tiger Swallowtail, 2 Monarchs, and 12 Silver-spotted Skippers in her Bridgeton garden. A Red Admiral visiting Jeannie Moe’s garden on 10/7 was a nice yard butterfly. She also saw Eastern Tailed-Blues, Cloudless Sulphurs and Monarchs in early October. In early October, Dave Berry found 2 Clouded Skippers and 2 Southern Dogfaces at his St. Peters home. Clouded Skipper is a rare stray and an exceptional yard butterfly. Dave reported a decrease in Monarchs by early October. Mary Eileen Rufkahr observed some Cloudless Sulphurs still visiting her yard in early October. At Jim Ziebol’s home in the city on 10/8, Jim observed Orange Sulphurs, Cloudless Sulphurs, Sachems and Fiery Skippers; the Cloudless Sulphurs were streaming by at an average of 1 every minute. On 10/11, Jim saw Cloudless Sulphur and Monarchs in his yard. A Painted Lady was a very good find by Kraig Paradise at his north county home on 10/15. Jim saw a Clouded Sulphur and 2 Sachems on asters in his yard on 10/20. On 10/21, one Monarch was nectaring on New England asters in Yvonne’s garden and Mary Eileen Rufkahr saw 2 Monarchs in flight near her home. On 10/29, Jim observed 2 Cloudless Sulphurs, an Orange Sulphur and a Buckeye at his home.

November: When temperatures soared into the 70s on 11/8 and 11/9, a number of butterflies were flying. At Busch Conservation Area on 11/8, Jim Ziebol saw 1 Clouded Sulphur, 10 Orange Sulphurs, 3 Cloudless Sulphurs and 1 Goatweed, and on 11/9 there, he had 6 Orange Sulphurs, 2 Buckeyes, and 2 Gray Commas. Dave Larson saw a small sulphur, probably a Little Yellow, on 11/10 at Shaw Nature Reserve. Sarah George saw 2 Cloudless Sulphurs flying in Glendale on 11/9. Rain and a plunge in temperature on 11/10 suppressed any further butterfly activity. Jim Ziebol saw 3 Orange Sulphurs and 1 Cloudless Sulphur at Busch Conservation Area on 11/25, when the temperature rose into the high 60s.

Nov. Garden Report: On 11/8, a Monarch, an Orange Sulphur and a Cloudless Sulphur were nectaring on asters in Yvonne’s garden. That same day, Jim Ziebol found 2 Clouded Sulphurs in his yard. On Thanksgiving Day, 11/23, Mary Eileen Rufkahr spotted a Cloudless Sulphur flying around her backyard (temperatures got into the 60s).

Contributors: Dave Berry, Dennis Bozzay, Sarah George, Jack Harris, Yvonne Homeyer, Dave Larson, Sherry McCowan, Kraig Paradise, Mark Peters, Mary Eileen Rufkahr, Jim Ziebol.

3. NABA-ST. LOUIS IN WEBSTER-KIRKWOOD TIMES NEWS by Dave Larson

NABA-St Louis President Jim Ziebol and Butterfly Gardening board member Dennis Bozzay were featured in the Webster-Kirkwood Newspaper on October 6, 2006 in an article entitled “Butterfly Watch.” You can view this article on our NABA-St. Louis website at: http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabasl/news1.htm

Below is a photo of Jim and Dennis, featured in the article:

4. BRAZIL PROGRAM REPORT by Mary-Eileen Rufkahr

NABA/St. Louis member Torrey Berger was the featured speaker at the October program meeting held at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center. Torrey put together a slide show of photos from his recent trip to Brazil in August. Also along on the tour were fellow NABA members Lee Berger, Dennis Bozzay and Dale and Nancy Delaney.

Torrey's slides included outstanding images of the colorful plants, birds and butterflies found in Brazil. Throughout the program, Torrey provided commentary about the photos and the trip in general; Lee, Dennis and Dale also provided their own insights and information.

Dale also gave information on the upcoming tours to Brazil he and Nancy are planning for the future.

Program chairperson Yvonne Homeyer has additional programs planned beginning again in 2007. More details will be coming.

5. VARIEGATED FRITILLARY by Jack Harris

Jack Harris writes: “I found this guy on my maypops vine on 18 September 2006. I have never seen a variegated fritillary in my yard… “

Jack’s photo shows Euptoieta claudia (variegated fritillary) larvae on a Passiflora incarnata (maypops) fruit from his yard on Green Park Road, St. Louis County, MO.

6. WHAT IS THE MISSOURI STATE BUTTERFLY? by Mary-Eileen Rufkahr

What do South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama all have in common besides being lovely southern states?

What is one thing the residents of Texas and Vermont agree on?

The answer to all of the above is the official state butterfly.

South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama all have named the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail as their official state butterfly.

Texas and Vermont (along with several other states) have declared the Monarch to be their special butterfly.

Kids' Corner is proud toannounce a new feature. . .a listing of the state butterflies of the twenty-four states which have designated one. Twenty-six states still need to declare a state butterfly and believe it or not, Missouri is one of them!

What should be the official Missouri state butterfly? That's a good question to keep all of us busy during these upcoming cold and frosty months! In the meantime, check out our new feature at: http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabasl/statebutterflies.htm.

7. BUTTERFLYING IN MEXICO by Yvonne Homeyer

On a recent trip to northeast Mexico, our group collectively saw 277 species of butterflies. This number is even more amazing because we tallied these 277 species in just two and a half days! Everywhere we went there were butterflies. Lyside Sulphurs, Large Oranges and Snouts were common. Some bushes were covered with 50 or more Snouts at a time – and the bush next to it was the same. Lysides streamed past by the hundreds.

The occasion was the El Cielo Butterfly Festival in the state of Tamaulipas. The El Cielo Biosphere Reserve is a huge tract of land in the Sierra Madre Mountains, a north/south range in eastern Mexico. The eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Mountains, facing the Gulf of Mexico, is forested and subtropical; the western slope is more arid.

The festival organizers in Mexico arranged for two vans to pick up the 14 festival participants in four cities in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Our trip organizer, Sonia Ortiz, was fluent in English and Spanish. Our trip leaders were Kim Garwood and Richard Lehman, authors and photographers of Butterfliesof Northeastern Mexico. In Mexico, we were joined by several local guides who live in the El Cielo area.

We crossed into Mexico at Brownsville and drove all the way to Ciudad Mante on the first day. Ciudad Mante, which is approximately 250 miles south of the U.S. border, was our base for three nights as we explored La Florida, Gomez Farias (a town near El Cielo), El Naranjo, and the Ocampo road. We spent the fourth night in Ciudad Victoria on the western side of the mountains. On our last day of the trip, we visited Canon El Novillo, a magnificent canyon on the outskirts of Ciudad Victoria. The day we visited the El Naranjo region was rainy so we added very few species to our cumulative trip list that day. Had we had sun instead of rain, our trip list would have probably topped 300 species. And here’s the best part: the butterflying is EASY. The walking is not strenuous and the butterflies are right in front of you. Photography opportunities abound.

On our first day of the tour, which was mainly spent traveling, we made several stops once we got past the flat, agricultural fields just south of the border. I immediately started picking up Mexican species that I had never seen, even during my numerous trips to the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas/Mexico border. Being just 200 miles south makes all the difference, and an entire new world of butterflies (and birds) opens up. At an orchard along the highway, we found Glaucous and Gray Crackers, Elf, Green-backed Ruby-eye, Barred Yellow, and Hermit Skipper. I also saw several Malachites, a large butterfly with green patches, and Red Rims, a black butterfly with a red border on the hindwing. These can be seen in the Valley but are not guaranteed on every visit. I saw so many Malachites and Red Rims on the rest of the trip that they became almost commonplace!

The second day was a constant stream of “lifers”. We left Ciudad Mante in our vans after a delicious breakfast at our hotel and spent the morning at LaFlorida, a swimming and recreational area along a stream. One of our first butterflies was the Regal Hairstreak, a bright green butterfly with a wide red stripe. Striking doesn’t begin to describe this beautiful creature. We also had good looks at a Superb Cycadian, whose small iridescent spots glint green and blue against the black wing. Orange Owlet and Lowland Owlet were perched and allowed us to approach them within inches. A Common Morpho was flashing its bright blue wings as it flew along the edge of the woods. A Clearwing species gave us good looks at this unusual butterfly which lacks color scales over most of its wings, so that you can see right through it! Other butterflies of interest were Zebra Hairstreak, Veined White, Pavon Emperor, Isabella Longwing, Ruddy Daggerwing, Many-banded Daggerwing, and Whitened Bluewing.

Kim and Richard quickly and easily called out the names of each new species as it appeared, and patiently pointed out butterflies to those of us who needed help spotting them. Everyone in the group was enthusiastic and friendly.

After a gourmet lunch at Casa de Piedra, a bed and breakfast in the small town of Gomez Farias, we spent the afternoon walking along the road leading out of town. This was my favorite spot on the whole trip. No matter where you looked, there was another new butterfly – and the butterfly landscape changed every few minutes. Butterflies were in constant motion. One of the most interesting finds on the whole trip was a Prepona laertes. Pale gray below, it is turquoise and purple above. We got a glimpse of the bright colors as it flew. It kept returning to the same tree, where it perched upside down. A fresh Purple-washed Eyemark was my favorite butterfly of the day, although it was hard to choose! Other notable finds that day were Montezuma Cattleheart, Variable Swallowtail, Andromeda Satyr, Pale-spotted Leafwing, Common Banner, Four-spotted Sailor, Anna’s 88, Karwinski’s Beauty, Huastecan Crescent, Celerio Sister, Erato Longwing, Gilbert’s Flasher, Yellow-tipped Flasher, and Jalapus Cloudywing.

It rained on the third day, which was notable for the fact that, after many missed attempts in the Valley, I finally found my life Clay-colored Robin right outside the door of our hotel in Ciudad Mante.

The fourth day dawned cloudy but quickly cleared up and we had full sun the rest of the trip.We drove along the Ocampo road (a paved highway) and at the top of the mountain, we pulled onto a gravel road that led to an ejido, land that is owned communally by a group of families. This road, like the Gomez Farias road, was a gold mine for butterflies. Here I saw my first Narrow-banded Dartwhite, Mexican M Hairstreak, Gold-bordered Hairstreak, Pointed Leafwing, Chestnut Crescent, Square-tipped Crescent, Mottled Bolla, Orange-spotted Skipper, Crystal-winged Skipper, and many more. Tropical Goatweeds and Common Morphos flew up and down the cliff on one side of the road. A Creamy Stripestreak greeted us at a brief stop further down the Ocampo highway.

On our last day, we spent the morning at Canon el Novillo on the outskirts of Ciudad Victoria. A narrow road goes up the canyon, where we saw several small farms. I counted 66 species in a four-hour period. Lyside Sulphurs and Large Oranges numbered in the thousands. One of the most unique butterflies was the Shiny Greenstreak. Small but bright, its turquoise-green color stood out against the truer green background of the leaves where it was perched. Other highlights included Torquatus Swallowtail, Clench’s Greenstreak, Mountain Greekstreak, White Scrub-Hairstreak, Tailless Scrub-Hairstreak, Curve-winged Metalmark, Mandana Metalmark, Walker’s Metalmark, Blue-eyed Sailor, Pale-spotted Leafwing, Mexican Bluewing, Common Banner, Silver Emperor, Pavon Emperor, Tropical Buckeye, Malachite, Red Rim, Tropical Duskywing, and Texas Powdered-Skipper.

By afternoon, our vans were headed towards Brownsville, and we were back in Texas by evening. This is an easy trip, and well worth it. The festival cost, which at $545 was a bargain, included all our expenses – the van, the drivers, the trip organizers, the trip leaders, the local guides, the hotels, and all meals. Sonia Ortiz and Patricia Luevano had everything planned perfectly down to the last detail, and Kim Garwood and Richard Lehman were expert butterfly guides. At five days, the trip was just the right length for me. I was able to see a lot of butterflies without spending too much time away from work. Travel to Harlingen (Southwest) and McAllen (American, United) is easy from St. Louis.

For more information about the El Cielo butterfly and bird festivals, see www.elcielofestival.com. A trip to Mexico is sometimes available in connection with the Texas Butterfly Festival in Mission, Texas, held ever year in late October (www.texasbutterfly.com). Photographs of Mexican, Central American and South American butterflies can be found at: www.neotropicalbutterfies.com. At this web site, you can also find information about ordering the Garwood & Lehman book, Butterflies of Northeastern Mexico. In addition, Jeffrey Glassberg’s field guide to the entire country of Mexico will be available in early 2007 (see www.naba.org, online store). A listserve, TXButterflies, has lots of posts about the Rio Grande Valley, and the people on this list can also be sources of information about Mexican butterflying.

8. KID’S CORNER UPDATES by Mary-Eileen Rufkahr

TEACHERS FIRST:

NABA/St. Louis' Kids' Corner has been accepted to be included on the TeachersFirst website, a collection of lessons, units and web resources selected and reviewed by a panel of experienced educators.

In her letter of acceptance, Candace Hackett Shively, Director of K-12 Initiatives for the web site stated that our NABA/St. Louis site is "…simple, yet refreshingly fun. Now we must wait through the cold winter to enjoy the REAL butterflies again!"

The TeachersFirst listing for NABA/St. Louis' Kids' Corner says: “This simple site has Everything Butterfly to go along with your study of insects and these beautiful creatures. You will find links, activities, and even butterfly quotes. Print the quotes in a large font on colored paper or with clip art, and you have an instant bulletin board! In the Classroom: Include the links to word searches and other butterfly sites on your teacher web page as you study butterflies so families can extend the fun at home. Ask your gifted students to investigate some of the links and choose the "best" butterfly information.”

What is TeachersFirst? As stated on their website: TeachersFirst is a web resource for K-12 classroom teachers who want useful resources and lesson plans to use with their students. TeachersFirst is a division of Network for Instructional TV, Inc., a not-for-profit learning technologies corporation which works with hundreds of schools throughout the United States. TeachersFirst is a free service; support is provided by corporate underwriters interested in encouraging improvements in the quality of American education.

How does TeachersFirst Work? From their website, it states: TeachersFirst is a collection of original content, Internet resources, and lesson plans drawn from around the world. Each resource is selected and reviewed by one of TeachersFirst’s reviewers, all of whom have classroom teaching experience. Reviewed resources are grouped by subject and grade level, so that teachers can find what they need quickly.

TeachersFirst concentrates on resources which can be used in teaching. Their audience is "teachers in the trenches" and they try to meet their needs wherever possible.

Keywords to find our site on TeachersFirst include: butterfly, butterflies, North American Butterfly Association. Click onto http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm to explore TeachersFirst!

KIDSKONNECT and SUE LEBEAU’S SITE:

More good news for NABA's Kids' Corner. The Kids' Corner has been selected to become part of two more well-respected children's search engines. In November, both KidsKonnect and Dr. Sue LeBeau notified us that our sites would be included because of our high quality and rich content.

KidsKonnect has been created by Jan Belzer, a Learning Center/Media Director in the Illinois school system. In choosing websites for KidsKonnect, Ms. Belzer researches the site to make sure it is educationally appropriate for school-aged children and doesn't link to any sites not suitable for youngsters. To find us at KidsKonnect, type in KidsKonnect.com, then go to the topic list and click butterflies; finally, find us under Kids' Corner: Fun Butterflies.

Dr. Sue LeBeau is an Associate Professor in Education at the Instructional Designer at Northcentral University in Arizona. She has taught both elementary students and classroom teachers how to integrate technology in the classroom. She classifies her web site as a resource for teachers, students and curious adults. Dr. LeBeau's website is featured on the DiscoverySchool website (part of the Discovery TV channel) which is accessed heavily by teachers and school librarians. NABA/St. Louis' Kids' Corner now joins NABA's own national website, which is also part of Dr. LeBeau's selections for butterfly information. To find us on Dr. LeBeau's site, type in suelebeau.com, then click on science links, next animals and insects, then just about butterflies (at the bottom of the page) and finally Kids' Corner: Fun butterfly activities.

As always, thanks to web master Dave Larson for incorporating the ideas of Kids' Corner into a reality!

9. BUTTERFLY GARDEN PLANS AT ST. JOSEPH’S ACADEMY by Mary-Eileen Rufkahr

Each month, news about NABA/St. Louis is featured in the science newsletter of the St. Louis Archdiocese school system. Every science teacher in the system receives a copy of the newsletter, which features articles about various organizations (locally and nationally) of interest to the teachers.

In November, a science teacher from St. Joseph's Academy, Katie Lodes, contacted NABA about organizing a presentation for her students. On the 21st, Tom “Terrific” Krauska visited her class and provided them with some information and advice on starting a butterfly garden.

Tom reported that about a dozen zoology students are going to plan the garden and present their plan to school administrators. From there, they hope to gain some funding to begin their project. The students have acces to a greenhouse to start some of their seeds for next spring. Tom also left them some milkweed seeds for their planned garden. Tom reported that, if the approval for the garden goes through, the students may be looking for some extra plants in the spring, which could be donated from the excess of our members' gardens.

10. NABA-ST. LOUIS MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION…

YOUR OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS, AS OF APRIL 2006: (AT = @ in Email address)

President Jim Ziebol

Vice President Yvonne Homeyer - yhomeyerATsbcglobal.net

Secretary Kathleen O'Keefe - nloeslATattg.net

Treasurer Dave Berry - currentriverATpeoplepc.com

Butterfly Gardening Dennis Bozzay - dbozzayATsbcglobal.net

Conservation Ann Earley - aee623ATprodigy.net

Education Mary-Eileen Rufkahr - merufkahrATaol.com

Membership Scott Marshall - scottmmarshllATcs.com

Newsletter Dave Larson - larsrblATearthlink.net

Public Relations Kate Boden - khbATaccessus.net

Walks & Counts Jim Ziebol

Web Master Dave Larson - larsrblATearthlink.net
View photo of board members