October 2003 Issue:
In This Edition:
In this issue: 1) Coming Events NABA's MISSION STATEMENT: 1. COMING EVENTS: Wednesday, November 5, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. NABA-St. Louis will have a display table at the 2003 Conservation Forum, St. Louis Zoo Living World. There will be displays, breakout sessions by local conservation groups, and a keynote address at 8:00 p.m. By Dr. Frank Joyce on "Conservation in Costa Rica: Working Mutualisms Between People and Nature." For more information contact Ann Earley (aee623@prodigy.net) or Dr. Patrick Osborne at 314-516-5219 or (osbornepl@msx.umsl.edu). Sunday, December 14, 2:00 p.m. This year's NABA holiday party will be held at the home of Torrey and Lee Berger. This event will be a potluck. Directions and information about what dish to bring will be provided in upcoming newsletters. 2. AUGUST 2003 BUTTERFLY & GARDEN REPORT by Yvonne Homeyer Supplement to July Report: Bronze Coppers were found at the newly-opened Columbia Bottom Conservation Area in St. Louis County on 7/17 (Jeannie Moe & Kraig Paradise) and at Busch (Jim Ziebol). August Report: Butterfly numbers picked up in August, which would be expected since August is the peak month for multi-brooded species. This year, Viceroy, Red-spotted Purple and Orange Sulphur have remained scarce. Migrating Monarchs were reported regularly throughout the month on every walk and count, as well as in gardens. Jeanne Moe and Kraig Paradise started the month off with an interesting trip to Riverfront Park on 8/1, where they saw these highlights: 17 Cabbage White, 23 Checkered Whites (hard to find), 2 Common Checkered Skippers, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 9 Monarchs, 2 Sleepy Orange, 1 Goatweed and 4 Viceroy (scarce this year). Jim Ziebol observed the following species at Horseshoe Lake on 8/4: 125+ Orange Sulphurs, 12 Clouded Sulphurs, 1 Cloudless Sulphur, 7 Little Yellows, 3 Southern Dogface (locally rare), 15 Question Marks, 20+ Painted Ladies, 2 Southern Cloudywings, 20+ Common Checkered-Skippers. Torrey Berger saw the following highlights at Horseshoe Lake on 8/5: Little Yellow, Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Southern Cloudywing, 3 Least Skippers; on that same date, Dennis Bozzay was also butterflying at Horseshoe Lake and found the following additional species: 3 S. Dogface, 3 Variegated Fritillaries, 10 Painted Ladies, 2 American Ladies, 20 Snouts, 1 Viceroy, 4 Common Checkered-Skippers and 5 Delawares. On 8/7 Torrey went back to HL and reported Pipevine & Black Swallowtails, 8 Cabbage White, 2 S. Dogface, 5 Little Yellow, 1 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 1 Question Mark, 14 Painted Ladies, 1 Snout, 3 Buckeye, 1 Viceroy, and the following skippers: 3 Silver-spotted, 2 Least, 1 Delaware, 1 Fiery, 3 S. Cloudywing, and 2 Common Checkered. Jack Harris and the WGNSS Botany Group visited St. Joe State Park on 8/7 and saw 5 Little Yellows, 1 Great Spangled Fritillary, 5 Pearl Crescents, 3 Summer Azures, and 1 Monarch. A visit to Levee Rd in Monroe County, IL on 8/8 by Jim Ziebol yielded 10 Cabbage Whites, 10 Orange Sulphurs, 150+ Variegated Fritillaries, 100 Painted Ladies, and 55 Monarchs. On 8/9, Scott Marshall found a locally rare butterfly, a Harvester, at Tyson Research Center; this is a new species to add to Tyson's list. On 8/10, Betty Walters and James Trager led a butterfly walk at Shaw Nature Reserve, accompanied by Ann Earley, Dennis Bozzay, Jim Ziebol, Bob Siemer, Nels Holmberg, Debbie Heffern and Kathy Heffern. The groups saw 24 species: 2 Black, 6 Giant (plus larvae on Prickly Ash, found by James Trager), 5 Spicebush, 4 Tiger and 4 Zebra Swallowtails, 8 Cabbage Whites, 1 Orange Sulphur,1 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Dainty Sulphur, 2 Eastern Tailed-Blues, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 1 Summer Azure, 1 American Lady, 1 Buckeye, 5 Great Spangled Fritillaries, 4 Hackberry Emperors, 3 Pearl Crescents, 1 Question Mark, 10 Silvery Checkerspots, 3 Red-spotted Purples, 1 Wood-Nymph, 4 Monarchs, 1 Horace's Duskywing, 1 Little Glassywing (only 2 skipper species were seen). On 8/12, Dennis Bozzay and Jim Ziebol spent a day visiting various locations in and around the Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge in Calhoun County, IL. They observed 15 Checkered Whites, 30+ Cabbage Whites, 5 Clouded Sulphurs, 30+ Little Yellows, 12 Dainty Sulphurs, 12 Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 6 Question Marks, 1 E. Comma, 4 Red-spotted Purples,150+ Pearl Crescents, 10 Viceroy, 100+ Monarchs, and 12 species of skippers, including Hayhurst's Scallopwing and Byssus Skipper. On 8/14, Jim Ziebol found 10 Pipevines, 8 Summer Azures, and 50+ Hackberry Emperors at Tyson, and an afternoon trip to Hilda Young produced these highlights: 1 Great Spangled Fritillary, 1 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Monarch, 20 Silvery Checkerspots, 4 Zabulon, 1 Tawny-edged, and 2 Silver-spotted Skippers. Also on 8/14, Jim and Yvonne made a late-afternoon stop at Route 66 State Park and found quite a lot of butterfly activity along the Meramec River: 1 Tiger, 4 Pipevine, 1 Cabbage White, 4 Eastern Tailed-Blues, 1 Summer Azure, 5 Silvery Checkerspots and 9 skipper species: 1 Hayhurst's Scallopwing, 2 Horace's Duskywing, 1 Wild Indigo Duskywing, 6 Dun, 5 Least, 8 Little Glassywing, 3 Silver-spotted, 5 Least, 1 Zabulon, and 2 Fiery. No Orange Sulphurs were seen at Tyson, Hilda Young or Route 66 S.P. on 8/14. That same day, 8/14, Jeannie and Jim Moe observed these highlights at Marais Temps Clair: 8 Variegated Fritillary, 14 Monarchs, 27 Sleepy Orange, 6 Common Checkered-Skipper, 1 Bronze Copper, 4 Checkered Whites. Mark Peters has again found Harvester on his prairie for the third year in a row, on 8/15 and 8/24. On 8/16 at Busch, Jim and Yvonne saw 25 Pearl Crescents, 4 Hackberry Emperors, 1 Tawny Emperor, 5 Red-spotted Purples, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 30 Monarchs but no Orange Sulphurs or Cabbage Whites. Jeannie Moe and Kraig Paradise reported Bronze Copper, Gorgone Checkerspot, Dainty Sulphur, E. Comma, Painted Lady, Red-spotted Purple and Monarchs at Columbia Bottoms on 8/19. On the WGNSS Botany Walk to Dresser Island on 8/21, Jeannie Moe found the following highlights: Viceroy, Variegated Fritillary, and several skippers: Least, Silver-spotted, Zabulon, Common Checkered, and Duke's Skipper. Duke's Skipper is locally rare. On 8/22, Jim Ziebol found another rare butterfly, Dion Skipper (female), at Route 66 S.P. The Horseshoe Lake Count on 8/24, led by Jim Ziebol, drew a large number of participants (see separate article below). The count total was 35 species and 570 individuals. Highlights included 6 Sleepy Orange, 1 Bronze Copper (Linda Virga), and 1 Dion Skipper (Torrey and Dennis). Every local sulphur species was seen: 2 Clouded, 101 Orange, 23 Southern Dogface, 39 Cloudless Sulphur, 21 Little Yellow, 6 Sleepy Orange and 1 Dainty Sulphur. The field where Wild Senna (host plant for Sleepy Orange) grew was burned this year and only 1 plant was found where there used to be a whole patch. Predictably, Sleepy Orange numbers were down. See separate article for entire count list. On 8/26 at the Jim Z. Butterfly Garden at Busch, Dennis Bozzay saw 10 species, plus many Monarch larvae on Swamp and Common milkweed. Jeannie Moe visited Faust Park during a WGNSS Botany Walk on 8/28 and reported the following butterfly species: Black & Pipevine Swallowtails, Orange Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, Monarch, Hackberry, Pearl Crescent, and 8 skipper species - Whirlabout (rare), Sachem, Fiery, Peck's, Delaware, Crossline, Dun and Silver-spotted. Also on 8/28, Jim Ziebol observed 1 American Lady, 1 Crossline (male), 5 Dun and 1 Byssus Skipper in a large patch of Mistflower at Tyson Research Center. A Giant Swallowtail, Wood Nymph and Gray Comma were seen in rural Franklin County on 8/30 (YH, JZ). Garden Report: At the barbecue at Torrey & Lee Berger's home on 8/17, NABA members saw Tiger Swallowtail (including the black form), Fiery & Silver-spotted Skipper, Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, Monarch, and Summer Azure. Torrey reported more skipper species later in the month: Peck's, Dun, Delaware, Tawny-edged, Sachem, Crossline, Little Glassywing, and Horace's Duskywing. Dave Berry reported an upswing in butterfly activity in his garden during August. A Bronze Copper was a lifer for Dave. This butterfly is hard to find in the St. Louis area, but particularly surprising in a residential setting. A Pipevine laid the first eggs Dave has ever seen on the Pipevine he planted 3 years ago. Unfortunately, he has not seen any caterpillars. He saw the first Zebra Swallowtail in his yard since 1999. Dave observed many Monarchs, Painted Ladies, American Ladies, Tiger Swallowtails, including the black form, Silver-spotted, Fiery, Peck's and other skipper species. A Cloudless Sulphur laid eggs on a Wild Senna plant. Yvonne saw a Great Spangled Fritillary (usually not seen in gardens) in Brentwood on 8/14. Betty Walters observed Monarch, Painted Lady and Tawny-edged Skipper nectaring on zinnias and Butterfly Bush on 8/19. The Noes have seen 7-10 Monarchs at a time in their garden, along with Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails, Painted Ladies, Cloudless Sulphurs, and skippers. Anne McCormack has seen Silver-spotted and Byssus Skipper, Tiger Swallowtails, Monarchs and Painted Ladies at her Kirkwood garden. On 8/25, Ron Goetz reported two butterflies not often seen in gardens: Red-banded Hairstreak and Sleepy Orange. Jim Ziebol reported just a few butterflies in his city garden on 8/26: Fiery, Sachem and Peck's. Jeannie Moe's garden was busy on 8/23, with 2 Tigers, 2 Monarchs, 2 Painted Ladies, 2 Silver-spotted Skippers, Fiery Skippers, 2 Northern Broken Dash, Cabbage White, and Red Admiral. Dennis Bozzay added 2 more species to his yard list: Zabulon Skipper and Horace's Duskywing. There were larvae of 4 species on host plants in his garden - Pipevine, Spicebush and Black Swallowtails and Cabbage White. Belle Warden has not seen any Orange Sulphurs but has seen Snouts, a Red-spotted Purple on 8/27, 11 Painted Ladies on 8/31, several Monarchs each day (but no larva yet), 1-2 Cloudless Sulphurs a day, a Tiger Swallowtail on 8/16 and a Black Swallowtail on 8/22. CONTRIBUTORS: Torrey Berger, Dave Berry, Dennis Bozzay, Ron Goetz, Yvonne Homeyer, Scott & Annie Marshall, Jeannie Moe, Bob & Claudia Noe, Kraig Paradise, Mark Peters, James Trager, Linda Virga, Betty Walters, Belle Warden, Jim Ziebol. 3. BUTTERFLY BIOLOGY IN SCHOOLS by Betty Manlin As a representative of NABA-St Louis, I visited many schools in the St. Louis area in Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 and taught students about butterfly biology. I distributed NABA handouts and described butterfly gardening to them. I also showed them how to make butterflies from leaves. My favorite grades are 1 through 4. Please see the attached photographs (below) that one of the teachers took of me and the students. |
Sincerely, Betty Manlin.
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4. HORSESHOE LAKE COUNT by Yvonne Homeyer Jim Ziebol was the leader of the Horseshoe Lake Count, accompanied by Neal and Lyda Bringe and their children, Jeannie Moe, Kraig Paradise, Dennis Bozzay, Torrey Berger, Scott Marshall, Yvonne Homeyer, Linda Virga, Linda's friend from Germany, Luise Stephan, and guest Scott Goldman. The count was followed by lunch at Tienda El Ranchito, a nearby grocery store/restaurant offering authentic Mexican cooking, cold beer and great prices. |
The total of 35 species was a record for this Count. Here are the results:
Pipevine Swallowtail |
15 |
Painted Lady |
18 |
5. NABA TO PARTICIPATE IN ST LOUIS ZOO'S CONSERVATION FORUM by Ann Earley Our chapter will have a display table at the 2003 Conservation Forum to be held at the Saint Louis Zoo's Living World on Wednesday, November 5. Registration begins at 5 p.m., followed by presentations, exhibit viewing, and a keynote address at 8 p.m. by Dr. Frank Joyce of the University of California. His topic is "Conservation in Costa Rica: Working Mutualisms Between People and Nature." This event is co-sponsored by the International Center for Tropical Ecology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri Botanical Garden, The Nature Conservancy-Missouri Chapter and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Dr. Joyce's presentation will be preceded by concurrent breakout sessions at which conservation organizations will describe their missions, activities and achievements. Participants will be able to purchase a light supper. For additional information or to register by the October 24 deadline, please contact Dr. Patrick Osborne at the International Center for Tropical Ecology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Department of Biology, 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO 63121-4499, by phone at 314-516-5219, or email at osbornepl@msx.umsl.edu 6. COMMENTARY FOR POST DISPATCH ON PESTICIDE SPRAYING by Margaret P. Gilleo "Sapere Aude! Dare to know," proclaimed Immanuel Kant in his 1784 essay, What Is Enlightenment. Kant goes on to urge people to have the courage to use their own intelligence, speaking strongly against blind acceptance of so-called "expert" advice. This is not to discount the work of those well-educated in a particular field. Yet, as anyone can see, opinions of experts often differ widely. The scientific process is open-ended, never finally settled. New discoveries and new information can change or radically contradict a previously held belief. According to its mission statement, the Saint Louis County Department of Health "promotes optimal health for people who live, work, or visit the County." Under this mission falls the responsibility to protect the public from diseases such as West Nile virus. According to the County, the best method of protecting the public is a program of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The Department of Health, Vector Control (which controls rodents and mosquitos), and the St. Louis County Council Committee on Justice and Health have held several meetings and public hearings to explain their program. Representatives of the Council and the aforementioned departments gave presentations on IPM. They listened attentively to citizen concerns. They stated unequivocally that adulticiding (the spraying to kill adult mosquitoes) is the least effective method of mosquito control. Based on their best scientific judgment and analysis, the most effective method of controlling mosquitoes is source reduction, which removes mosquito breeding areas in standing water. The next attack is larvaeciding, which kills mosquito larvae in standing water. Adulticiding kills only a small percentage of mosquitoes who happen to be flying in the immediate area. The County's program of integrated pest management appears sound at first glance. The average person trusts the Department of Health, Vector Control, and the County Council. Yet, a communication from Vector Control reads as follows: "I want to emphasize how important larviciding is to a comprehensive mosquito control program. Spraying is highly visible to the community. Less visible, but most effective, is the monitoring and treatment of mosquito breeding areas." This implies that adulticiding is little more than a placebo that leads public to believe that Vector Control is assisting the Department of Health in fulfilling its mission of protecting people. Most people take comfort in the County's expertise, even when the County does not follow its own scientifically based decisions. The County maintains that it has no authority to go onto private property and demand that citizens remove standing water. Recently, some residents noticed a large area of standing stagnant water in an alley that was county property. Despite several phone calls, the county did nothing to remove this prime mosquito breeding pool. Finally, in response to yet another call, a resident was told that Vector Control would put the area on the spray list. Why was the least effective component of Integrated Pest Management used and the most effective ignored? Does the County not even have the authority to remove standing water on its own land? Vector Control assures the public that spraying is done according to the directions on the label of the product, Aqua Vector. The public needs to ask the County some serious safety related questions.. The label of Aqua Reslin advises covering drinking fountains. Does the County do this in public places, and does it warn everyone who has an outdoor drinking fountain? The label warns against spraying on water supplies. What about our reservoirs? Are they being contaminated? The label warns the user not to spray the product on surface water because of its toxicity. Does this include swimming pools? Since, again according to the label, the product drifts, what precautions should pool owners take, and how long after spraying is it safe for someone, particularly a young child or pregnant woman, to get into a pool? The label says the product should not be used around crops that are used for food, forage, or pasture. What about residents who grow tomatoes or herbs in their yards? Should they be covered, and how long after spraying is it safe to eat them? Or should we eat them at all? What about people eating outside on pleasant summer nights? Are they aware that spray on their food is dangerous? The County states that the general public needs to be educated about mosquitoes and their control. It claims to be engaged in a program of educational outreach to involve citizens in mosquito abatement. Where is the education? Where is the outreach? It's much easier and "highly visible" to drive a truck down a street and spray. 7. AND MORE... MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE CHAPTER HOLIDAY PARTY! THANKS FOR THE BUTTERFLY MEMORIES! NEW MEMBERS: NEWSLETTER ARTICLES WELCOME: YOUR OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS: 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
Suggestions, Corrections and Articles are appreciated.
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