August 2003 Issue:
In This Edition:
1) Coming Events NABA's MISSION STATEMENT: 1. COMING EVENTS: Directions to each location are found below. Dress defensively for mosquitoes, ticks, and chiggers. Bring water and sunscreen. We usually finish after 12 noon - lunch is always optional. Most walks and counts last about 2-1/2 hours. If a longer time is required, it will be noted. Saturday, August 2, 10:00 a.m. "Bug Day" at Babler State Park (Wildwood, MO). Sunday, August 10, 10:00 a.m. Butterfly Walk at Shaw Nature Reserve, led by Betty Walters. Meet at the Visitor's Center. Wear comfortable clothing and come prepared to hike long distances. Many butterfly species may be seen in Shaw's diverse habitats. Bring water, lunch, sunscreen and bug spray. Note: there is a $3 fee per participant for non- Missouri Botanical Garden Members. Sunday August 17, 1:00 p.m. Tom Terrific Krauska is doing a Butterfly Gardening program at the Butterfly House in Chesterfield. Sunday August 17, 3:00 p.m. Skippers & Bar B-Q at Torrey and Lee Berger's house: 1257 Takara Court, Town & Country, MO 63131. We will look for skippers and other butterflies in the garden, those who wish to bring suits may swim, and have a pot luck supper. Meat and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP to Lee for directions and to sign up for hors d' oeuvres, salad or dessert. Skippers seen last year at Bergers included: Silver Spotted, Pecks, Fiery, Sachem, Tawny-Edged and Zabulon and Hummer and Snowberry Clear Wings. Sunday, August 24. 4th of July Count at Horseshoe Lake. Meet at 9:45 a.m. at first parking lot at main entrance on Hwy. 111 side. Leaders: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer. There is a $3 fee per participant. Rustic toilets available on the 111 side but not the 203 side. When driving from 111 to 203 side, we will make a stop to use public restrooms. Limited walking. Lunch afterwards at Tienda El Ranchito on Collinsville Road. Good food, great prices. DIRECTIONS: Babler State Park: From the intersection of Hwy. 40 and I-270: Take Hwy. 40 west from I-270, 9.5 miles to the Long Road Exit. The exit goes off to the right, crosses back over Hwy. 40 and becomes Long Road. Continue straight, through the signal, on Long Road about .8 mile to Wild Horse Creek Road (Long Road dead ends here). Turn right on Wild Horse Creek Road and go about 3 miles to Hwy. 109 (there is an Amoco station on the corner). Turn left on Hwy. 109 and go about .8 mile to Hwy. BA. Turn right on Hwy. BA and go about 1.5 miles to park entrance on the right. Shaw Nature Reserve: Starting at the junction of I-270 and I-44, travel west on I-44 for approximately 23 miles to Hwy. 100/Gray Summit Exit (Exit #253). Upon exiting, turn left (cross over I-44) on Hwy. 100. Turn right (west) immediately after crossing I-44 and travel 0.1 mile and turn left into the Shaw Nature Reserve entrance. The Visitors’ Center is just inside the gate. Note: there is a modest entrance fee for no-Missouri Botanical Garden members. Torrey and Lee Berger's House: 1257 Takara Court, Town & Country, MO 63131. Please RSVP to Lee for directions and to sign up for hors d' oeuvres, salad or dessert. Horseshoe Lake: From downtown St. Louis, take I-64 (Hwy 40) across the Poplar Street Bridge and stay on I-55/70 for several miles (do not follow I-64 when it bears to the right - stay on I-55/70 and bear to left). Exit at Hwy. 111. Go north (left) on Hwy. 111 and in about 3 miles you will see the entrance sign for Horseshoe Lake State Park on your left. Turn left and you will see a parking lot on your right. Pull in and we will meet here. There are rustic toilets at the parking lot. 2. JUNE 2003 BUTTERFLY REPORT The scarcity of butterflies in June in yards, gardens and other urban/suburban places was noticed by many members. Common species like Orange Sulphur, Cabbage White and Eastern Tailed-Blues were nearly absent. Usually these butterflies can be seen anywhere on a warm, sunny day - even from your car when you’re driving around town. Pesticide spraying for mosquitoes may be a large factor. On 6/1 at Busch, Dennis Bozzay observed Dainty Sulphur, Snout, Buckeye, N. Pearly-eye, Little Wood Satyr, 2 female Monarchs laying eggs on milkweed, Silver-spotted, Least, Zabulon Skippers and Little Glassywing. At Young C.A., Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer saw 19 species on 6/1, including Little Yellow, Gray Comma, Silvery Checkerspot, Hayhurst’s Scallopwing, Hobomok, Northern Cloudywing, and Little Glassywing. On 6/4, Bob Noe spotted a Monarch caterpillar in the butterfly garden at Missouri Botanical Gardens. Carol & Charles Asbury, Karen Haller, Scott Marshall, Dianne Benjamin, Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer visited Mark Peters’ prairie on 6/7, where Ohio Horsemint, Purple Coneflower, Indian Paintbrush, and other native flowers were blooming profusely. Butterflies observed (many at close range) included Great-Spangled Fritillary, American Lady, Red Admiral, Red-spotted Purple, Spicebush Swallowtail, E. Comma, Northern Broken Dash, and a Hoary Edge seen by Scott, who found another Hoary Edge at Victoria Glade the same day along with 2 Monarchs and Little Glassywing. A Swarthy Skipper and several No. Broken Dash were found at Valley View Glade on 6/7 (YH) and Black Swallowtail, Gray Hairstreak, Northern Broken Dash, Tawny-edged Skipper, and Hayhurst’s Scallopwing were seen at Young C.A. (YH, JZ). Also on 6/7, Ron Goetz found Tawny Emperor and Hayhurst’s Scallopwing at Pere Marquette Park in IL. On 6/8, there were 2 Monarchs at Marais Temps Clair (YH) and a trip to Busch produced 1 Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail, Clouded Sulphur, Silvery Checkerspot, Question Mark, Northern Pearly-eye, Little Wood Satyr, Hobomok, Dun Skipper, and other species (JZ, YH). Dennis Bozzay visited Busch on 6/8 and saw 17 species, including American Lady, Red Admiral, Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Monarch, Hackberry, N. Pearly-eye and Little Wood Satyr. On 6/9, Belle Warden saw the first Monarch in her garden this year. Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, Snout, Painted Lady, E. Tailed-Blue, Silver-spotted Skipper and 6 Monarchs were seen at Horseshoe Lake on 6/9 by Torrey Berger. On 6/10 at Hilda Young, Silvery Checkerspot, Pearl Crescent, Question Mark, E. Comma, Red Admiral, Hackberry, and 6 species of skippers (Silver-spotted, Hayhurst’s Scallopwing, Least, Peck’s, Delaware, and Tawny-edged) were seen (DB). Torrey also saw a Tawny Emperor and Little Yellow at Horseshoe Lake on 6/12. On the Butterfly Walk on 6/14 to Shaw Nature Reserve, the group, led by Ron Goetz, observed an astounding 37 species, including Cloudless Sulphur, Banded Hairstreak, Hackberry, Monarch, Goatweed, Northern Cloudywing, Crossline Skipper, Little Glassywing, Swarthy Skipper, Northern Broken-Dash, Delaware Skipper and Dun Skipper. Jim Ziebol saw Common Checkered-Skipper, Sleepy Orange, 400+ Orange Sulphurs, and 25 Painted Ladies at Horseshoe Lake on 6/14. At Tyson that same day, Jim and Yvonne found 24 species, including Banded Hairstreak, Hickory Hairstreak, Snout, Great Spangled Fritillary, Silvery Checkerspot, Mourning Cloak, Northern Cloudywing, Southern Cloudywing, Northern Broken-Dash and Dun Skipper. On 6/15, they had 18 species at Hilda Young C.A., including 3 Dainty Sulphur, Silvery Checkerspot, Buckeye, Tawny Emperor, Hayhurst’s Scallopwing, Delaware Skipper, 4 Bell’s Roadside Skipper, and a rare Eufala Skipper (a migrant). Scott Marshall’s visit to Victoria Glade on 6/15 produced a male Juvenal’s Duskywing, Tawny Emperor, Common Wood-Nymph, American Lady, Northern Cloudywing, Silvery Checkerspot, Great Spangled Fritilllary, and Tawny-edged Skipper. On 6/17, Dennis Bozzay and Jim Ziebol found Mourning Cloak, Snout, Red-spotted Purple, Delaware Skipper, Northern Cloudywing, Byssus Skipper, and Hoary Edge at Mark Peters’ prairie. That same day, they had another Eufala Skipper at Victoria Glade To top it off, Dennis found a third Eufala Skipper on 6/19 at Washington State Park.. On 6/19, Yvonne saw a Banded Hairstreak while walking her dog in Brentwood early in the morning. Richard & Susan Day found Gray Copper on their property on 6/20 (note: we will have a Count there on 7/27). Butterflies were slow on an ideal day on 6/20 when Yvonne visited Young Conservation Area (highlights - 1 Monarch, 1 Byssus Skipper, and 1 Wild Indigo Duskywing). Jeannie Moe and Kraig Paradise visited Busch on 6/20 and observed Black Swallowtail, Monarch, Great Spangled Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, N. Pearly-eye, Hackberry and more. On 6/21, Jeannie Moe led our chapter’s first outing at the Watershed Nature Center in Edwardsville, IL. Sarah, the center’s director, Jim Moe, Barbara Elftman, Carol & Charlie Asbury, Kraig Paradise, Scott & Annie Marshall and Yvonne Homeyer participated. Wetlands is the predominant habitat, accessible by a boardwalk. The group saw a black (female) Tiger Swallowtail, Clouded & Orange Sulphurs, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Great Spangled Fritillary, Silvery Checkerspot, Pearl Crescent, Question Mark, Silver-spotted Skipper, Hayhurst’s Scallopwing, Little Glassywing, Dun Skipper, and Byssus Skipper. Afterwards, Yvonne stopped by Marais Temps Clair and found 6 additional species: Little Yellow, Variegated Fritillary, Red Admiral, Buckeye, 1 Monarch, and Common Sootywing. Ron Goetz totaled 27 species on 6/21 during visits to several places in Illinois. At Dabbs Road Access near Stump Lake above Pere Marquette, he saw a Bronze Copper and Common Sootywing. On 6/23, Torrey Berger observed Hackberry, Common Sootywing, Black Swallowtail, Buckeye, Red Admiral and 2 Checkered Whites at Horseshoe Lake. On a visit to Hilda Young C.A. on 6/25, Dennis Bozzay saw Little Yellow, Coral Hairstreak, Northern Pearly-eye, Little Glassywing, and many Great Spangled Fritillaries and Pearl Crescents. At Busch, he found a Gray Comma. On 6/27, a trip to Shaw Nature Reserve produced 16 species, including Pipevine, Zebra, and Black Swallowtails, Little Yellow, Goatweed, Wood Nymph, Wild Indigo Duskywing, and Byssus Skipper (DB). Our count on 6/28 at Busch Wildlife for the Mo. Dept. of Conservation produced 20 species, including Little Yellow, Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Viceroy, Monarch, and Clouded Skipper. Jim Ziebol, Dennis Bozzay, Torrey Berger, Dave Berry, Jeannie Moe, Linda Virga and Yvonne Homeyer participated. Later that afternoon, 3 Wood Nymphs were seen at Victoria Glade (JZ, YH). One Tawny Emperor was seen with some Hackberry Emperors at Busch on 6/29 (JZ, DB, YH). Although the numbers seen were not high, Belle Warden did observe in her garden the following species: a Pipevine Swallowtail laying eggs on Pipevine on 6/28, a few Cabbage Whites (they should be numerous), Eastern Tailed-Blues, Summer Azure, Red Admirals (she has the host plant, stinging nettle), Pearl Crescents, Snouts (Hackberry tree in her yard), a Question Mark, and a Silver Spotted-Skipper. Her milkweeds are not being eaten. Dennis Bozzay saw 2 Pipevine Swallowtails simultaneously laying eggs on the same host plant in his yard on 6/29. Butterflies in gardens and yards were generally reported to be low in numbers (Bob & Claudia Noe, Dave Berry, Jeannie Moe, Belle Warden, Jim Ziebol). General observations about butterflies seen in conservation/natural areas: Summer Azure was abundant in early June and were observed throughout the St. Louis area. Great Spangled Fritillaries were also numerous in early to mid-June. Cabbage White, a common butterfly, was not seen in large numbers as expected. Common Milkweed was in bloom by the end of the month but Monarchs were sparsely reported. Several NABA members who casually checked the leaves of Common Milkweed while out in the field commented that they did not notice any signs of larval feeding on the leaves. Please submit sightings by the last day of the month to Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net; 314 963 7750). An asterisk denotes video or photo of unusual or hard-to-find species. Bold means first report of the season. CONTRIBUTORS: Carol & Charles Asbury, Dianne Benjamin, Torrey Berger, Dave Berry, Dennis Bozzay, Barbara Elftman, Ron Goetz, Karen Haller, Yvonne Homeyer, Tom Krauska, Scott & Annie Marshall, Jeannie Moe, Kraig Paradise, Mark Peters, Belle Warden, Jim Ziebol. 3. RESOLUTION TO BAN AERIAL SPRAYING IN UNIVERSITY CITY University City is the first local gov't to ban spraying for mosquitoes. The attached resolution memorializes the University City Council's decision in June to impose a moratorium on spraying this year (i.e., discontinue previous policy of contracting with County Health Dept. to spray). The following Email of July 7, 2003 is from Shelley Welsch, Councilmember. It was addressed to Margaret Gilleo, Education Chair and Yvonne Homeyer, Conservation Chair, and others, and included the resolution: Hi, A RESOLUTION IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON THE CONTRACTED AIRBORNE SPRAYING OF PERMETHRIN TO COMBAT MOSQUITOES IN UNIVERSITY CITY WHEREAS the airborne spraying of pesticides has been contracted for in University City in recent years, in response to concerns about the mosquito population in our neighborhoods, and WHEREAS the chemical-containing Permethrin has been the main constituent of the pesticide spraying, and WHEREAS Permethrin is thought to be injurious to human health in many instances, and WHEREAS there is much evidence reported that indiscriminate airborne pesticide spraying is ineffective in killing mosquitoes but kills many predators of mosquitoes, as well as birds, insects, and fish, and WHEREAS the City Council of University City has conducted a public hearing on the advisability of airborne pesticide spraying, and WHEREAS many residents have requested that routine neighborhood spraying not be done as in the past, and WHEREAS much research has been done that shows that the first, most effective step in an integrated pest management program is the education of the citizenry regarding the part it plays in providing mosquitoes with a habitat for breeding, and WHEREAS research has shown that larvaciding is more effective than adulticiding in controlling mosquito numbers, now THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that a moratorium on the contracted airborne spraying of Permethrin-based products in University City, except under emergency conditions of proven, significant presence of the West Nile Virus, or other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of University City should continue and expand public education programs for city residents, spelling out clearly and concisely how and what they can do to limit the mosquito population, including the availability and use of mosquito larvicides, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Manager should direct the University City environmental and code inspectors to search for and cite any improper attention given to mosquito-breeding water sources on private and commercial properties within University City. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that while we recognize the position of the St. Louis County Department of Health that it believes it has the authority to do airborne spraying of Permethrin, with this moratorium it is our intention to convey to the County that we strongly discourage this last, potentially serious step of airborne spraying until an appropriate surveillance threshold has been reached that indicates a significant, actual threat that could only be dealt with through such airborne spraying. 4. SHAW NATURE RESERVE 4th of JULY BUTTERFLY SURVEY RESULTS Below is the Census for the NABA 4 July 2003 Count at Shaw Nature Reserve. OTHER COMMENTS: One female Eastern tiger swallowtail seen in black form. Two hummingbird clearwing moths seen. A special "Thank you" to participants: James Trager and Helen McCallie and the staff of SNR for giving us the opportunity and tools we needed; Ron Goetz, for all your great work before and during the event; Jeannie Moe, Kraig Paradise, Yvonne Homeyer, Anne McCormack, Jim Ziebol and Linda Virga for generously giving your time and talents to participate in the count; Carrie Tanner for keeping tally; and Bob Tanner for taking photos. Betty Species: Total #: 5. BOOK REVIEW: "FOUR WINGS AND A PRAYER: CAUGHT IN THE MYSTERY OF THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY" Author: Sue Halpern, 212 Pages, © 2001 by Sue Halpern, First Vintage Books Edition, July 2002. Vintage ISBN: 0-375-70194-X. Paperback, $12.00 Whether one defines oneself as a casual observer, butterfly gardener, artist, amateur naturalist, lepidopterist, biology field researcher, educator, or educated and trained scientist, I would highly recommend reading Sue Halpern’s Four Wings and A Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly. Part travelogue, part memoir and part meditation, Halpern quickly draws the reader into her passionate quest to answer the questions, that only beget more questions, about one of the natural world’s most recognized and perhaps, most beloved animals, the Monarch butterfly. In the first chapter, she sets the tone by writing, "All of us have experiences that could change our lives if we let them: love, offered suddenly, turning from the mantelpiece, as Delmore Schwartz put it. And that, oddly, was the way it was with me and the butterflies. Not love, exactly, offered suddenly, but a similar quickening of heart and desire – in this case a desire to know, if knowledge was not only information and understanding but experience." Using her objective dry wit, Halpern introduces us to and fleshes out her diversified cast of characters – eminent scientists, a poet laureate, university biologists, field researchers, teachers, students, amateurs and impoverished Mexican landowners - all of whom are entwined haphazardly in the fate of a unique adaptation in nature, the eastern United States’ Monarch population’s annual migration. Meticulously and in layman’s terms, she tightly weaves her prose together to narrate the historical and current knowledge about the Monarch’s biology, morphology, behavior and ecology - from the northern reaches of its range in southern Canada to its overwintering sites on the southwestern flank of central Mexico’s Transverse Neovolcanic Mountains. Of the struggle between the conservationists working to protect the five winter roosting sites in the states of Mexico and Michoacan, which were set aside by and protected under the 1986 Decree, and the peasants, who received ownership of the communal land under the 1917 constitution and subsist outside the cash system, Halpern eloquently writes, "The problem [is] not that the butterflies would face extinction if they lost this habitat; it [is] that their migration could be wiped out. Monarchs would survive in other places – on the West Coast of the United States, in Mexico and Florida, where there are resident, nonmigratory populations, in the tropics, in Hawaii, in Australia – but this phenomenal adaptation, this instance of a butterfly that behaved, in its seasonal long-distance commuting, like a bird, would be gone…. What it [comes] down to, really, [is] a matter of aesthetics…Meanwhile, there [are] people in those forested areas for whom aesthetics [are] as much a luxury as the little soaps and shampoos in the rooms at the Gran Hotel." Chapter after chapter, Halpern entices the reader’s participation in her adventure, vast and varied endeavors to unravel the mystery of the Monarch while accompanying her cast of characters. She educates, dispels myths, translates opposing findings, views and beliefs, reveals facts about the true workings of scientific study, and asks, always asks, questions. Within the last chapter, she evokes the reader to seek a greater understanding of one’s own passion by expressing the simplicity, beauty and power of a disciplined free will: "Knowledge can be passed along from person to person like a baton in a race, but the pursuit of knowledge, and love for the pursuit of knowledge, that particular passion, can only be chosen." 6. FREE BUTTERFLY BOOK from Tom Terrific Krauska If NABA members would like a Free PDF copy of my Butterfly Gardening book for their own personal use, they can download it at: http://www.tomterrific.com/temp/bgbookfree.pdf If you know of other people who might like the free download, please pass it along to them. Happy Butterflying, 7. AND MORE... NEW MEMBERS: NEWSLETTER ARTICLES WELCOME: YOUR OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS: President Ann Earley If you have questions or suggestions, e-mail Ann Earley (aee623@prodigy.net). Our webpage is: www.naba.org/chapters/nabasl/stlouis.htm MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION: If you would like to join NABA, please fill out this application. You will become a member of both NABA and the local St. Louis Chapter, if you live within the St. Louis metropolitan area or nearby Illinois area: Name ____________________________________________ Dues are $30 (regular) and $40 (family) per year. Please make check payable to NORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLY ASSOCIATION. Please mail this form with your check to: Scott Marshall, Membership, 609 West Lockwood, St. Louis, MO 63119. |
Editor: Dave Larson
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