December 2003 Issue:
In This Edition:
In this issue: 1) Coming Events NABA's MISSION STATEMENT: 1. COMING EVENTS: We are sorry to announce that the holiday party scheduled for December 14 this year has been CANCELED. We hope to schedule another chapter event during January 2004. Please check our January issue of the "Flutterby News" for further details on upcoming events, and enjoy the holiday season! 2. BUTTERFLY SIGHTINGS & GARDEN REPORT by Yvonne Homeyer Late September Sightings: Because my computer was out of service for a month, I received many September reports after the newsletter deadline. Here are some additional sightings for September: On 9/3 at Marais Temps Clairs, Jeannie Moe reported Black Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, 27 Monarchs, 25 Cloudless Sulphurs, 12 Common Checkered-Skippers, 8 Variegated Fritillaries, 7 Sleepy Orange, Snout and Red Admiral. At Victoria Glade on 9/4, highlights included 2 American Ladies, Crossline Skipper, Tawny-edged Skipper and a worn Hoary Edge (J. Moe). Torrey Berger observed 1 Checkered White, many Cabbage White, 3 Southern Dogface, Summer Azure, Buckeye, Viceroy, Monarch, 2 Silver-spotted Skippers, 3 Common Checkered-Skippers and more at Riverlands on 9/6. On 9/9 at Horseshoe Lake, Torrey observed 1000+ Monarchs and 500+ Painted Ladies in the same field, along with a Bronze Copper. At Hilda Young C. A. on 9/11, Jeannie Moe saw Gray Hairstreak, Great Spangled Fritillary, Silver-spotted Skipper, and Fiery Skipper. A trip to Busch C.A. on 9/13 yielded Giant Swallowtail, Summer Azure, Great Spangled Fritillary, Red-spotted Purple and Tawny Emperor (Torrey Berger). On 9/19, Torrey reported 22 species at Little Creve Coeur Lake: 2 Black Swallowtails, 10 Cabbage Whites, 35 Orange Sulphurs, 2 Clouded Sulphurs, 11 Dainty Sulphurs, 2 Little Yellows, 4 Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Bronze Copper, 2 Summer Azure, 100+ Eastern Tailed-Blues, 75 Pearl Crescents, 1 Red Admiral, 8 Buckeye, 1 Red-spotted Purple, 10 Viceroys, 5 Monarchs, 12 Horace’s Duskywings, 1 Common Checkered-Skipper, 1 Least Skipper, 8 Fiery, 4 Sachem, and 1 Little Glassywing. Leonard’s Skipper has been found at yet another location, this time at Shaw Nature Reserve, on 9/20 (* photo, Ron Goetz). Leonard’s Skipper has now been documented by NABA members in three Missouri counties: St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin. On 9/21 at Hilda Young C.A., Dianne Benjamin reported numerous Painted Ladies and Monarchs, Pipevines, Little Yellow, Orange Sulphurs, and Eastern Tailed-Blues. October Sightings: As expected, butterflies were slowing down in October, both in the number of species flying and the number of individuals seen. The Monarchs and Painted Ladies that had been so numerous in September began tapering off by mid-month. Torrey Berger counted 25 Painted Ladies, 4 Pearl Crescents, 10 Orange Sulphurs and 5 Buckeyes along the East St. Louis riverfront on 10/2. A trip to Hilda Young C.A. on 10/4 yielded 6 Pipevine Swallowtails, 10 Pearl Crescents, 15 Eastern Tailed-Blues, 2 Monarchs, 20 Painted Ladies and 2 Sachem (YH, JZ). Also on 10/4, at Route 66 State Park, Jim and Yvonne saw these highlights: 1 Gray Hairstreak and 6 species of skippers - Wild Indigo Duskywing, Horace’s Duskywing, Fiery, Sachem, Tawny-edged and Least. At Busch C.A. on 10/5, Jim and Yvonne found 21 species, including 1 Sleepy Orange, 8 Cloudless Sulphurs, 10 Little Yellows, 2 Buckeye, 2 Red-spotted Purple, 1 Viceroy, 50 Painted Ladies, 8 E. Comma, 1 Gray Comma, and 1 Common Checkered-Skipper. On 10/6, Jim Ziebol saw a Goatweed at Route 66 State Park. Also on 10/6, Torrey Berger 13 species at Horseshoe Lake State Park in Granite City, IL: hundreds of Cabbage Whites, Clouded, Orange and Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Sleepy Orange, 1 Little Yellow, 1 Bronze Copper, 1 Snout, 1 Question Mark, 1 Red Admiral, 6 Buckeye, 4 Monarchs and 6 Painted Ladies. At Horseshoe Lake on 10/7, Jim counted 15 Cloudless Sulphurs, 28 Southern Dogface, 5 Viceroy, and 5 Question Marks. Jeannie Moe visited Riverlands on 10/12 and recorded these highlights: 5 Cloudless Sulphurs, Little Yellow, Dainty Sulphur, 3 Gray Hairstreaks, 32 Orange Sulphurs (including 9 albinos), 3 Variegated Fritillaries, 20 Painted Ladies, 21 Buckeyes, Viceroy, and 1 Common Checkered Skipper. At Marais Temps Clair on 10/12, Jeannie found Bronze Copper, 5 Sleepy Orange, Variegated Fritillary, 3 Common Checkered Skippers, and more. Also on 10/12, Jim and Yvonne took a trip to Lincoln & Pike Counties, visiting B.K. Leach C.A., Prairie Slough C.A. and Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge. The composite of all 3 locations was 17 species, including 1 Dainty Sulphur, 1 Sleepy Orange, 2 Gray Hairstreaks, 10 E. Commas, Variegated Fritillary, 3 Silver-spotted Skippers and 12 Common Checkered-Skippers. Seven Sleepy Orange were found at Tyson Reserve Center on 10/15 (JZ). Jeannie visited Riverlands again on 10/16 and reported 4 Sulphur species - Orange, Cloudless, Clouded and Dainty - along with Buckeye, Viceroy, and Pearl Crescent. On 10/18 at Crescent Knoll Glade, Jeannie saw Pipevine Swallowtail, Orange Sulphur and Buckeye. At Little Creve Coeur Lake on 10/18, Jim and Yvonne reported 1 Pipevine Swallowtail (fresh), 3 Clouded Sulphurs, 2 Orange Sulphurs, 5 Pearl Crescents, 3 Buckeyes, 3 Viceroy, 1 Painted Lady, 1 Fiery Skipper and 2 Common Checkered-Skippers. On 10/19 at Horseshoe Lake State Park near Granite City, IL, 12 species were reported in all from two trips there by Jeannie Moe, Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer, including 2 Southern Dogface, 2 Checkered Whites, 1 Snout, and 2 Bronze Coppers. Dainty Sulphur was still being seen on 10/20, at Route 66 State Park (JZ). At Onadaga State Park on 10/22, 6 Pipevine Swallowtails, Little Sulphur, Pearl Crescent, Silver-spotted Skipper and Sachem were observed (J Moe). Also on 10/22, Jim Ziebol saw Sleepy Orange, Gray Hairstreak and Least Skipper at Route 66 State Park. On 10/24, a visit to Horseshoe Lake S.P. by Torrey Berger produced 156 Orange Sulphurs, 4 Little Yellows, 4 Cloudless Sulphurs, 2 Painted Ladies, 1 Bronze Copper, 2 Question Marks, 8 Buckeyes, 2 Monarchs, 6 Pearl Crescents, and 1 Silver-spotted Skipper. The last report of the month came from Dave Berry on 10/31; he reported 3 Monarchs and 2 Painted Ladies at his home on Halloween. Garden Report: Dave Berry observed a shift in the mix of species in his garden, with Summer Azure, Clouded Sulphur and Red Admiral disappearing by mid-October, to be replaced by Buckeye, Cloudless Sulphur and Silver-spotted Skipper. Other species seen in October included Painted Ladies, Pearl Crescent, Gray Hairstreak, Monarch, Peck’s Skipper, Horace’s Duskywing, Fiery Skipper, and Common Checkered-Skipper. Jeannie Moe observed 11 Painted Ladies and 2 Fiery Skippers on 10/6. Jane Schaefer reported Painted Ladies throughout the month at The Green Center. CONTRIBUTORS: Dianne Benjamin, Torrey & Lee Berger, Dave Berry, Dennis Bozzay, Ron Goetz, Yvonne Homeyer, Jeannie Moe, Jane Schaefer, Belle Warden, Jim Ziebol. (* means documented with photo or video). November Sightings: November’s weather was mild, with the temperature reaching into the 70s on many days. Butterflies were seen flying as late as 11/20, the cutoff date for this report. Please report additional November sightings as well as any December sightings to Yvonne for the next newsletter. On 11/2, a warm, sunny day with a high around 80 degrees, Yvonne Homeyer and Jim Ziebol found 13 species at Busch C.A.: 1 Cabbage White, 3 Clouded Sulphurs, 12 Orange Sulphurs, 1 Dainty Sulphur, 3 Pearl Crescents, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 2 Buckeyes, 2 Painted Ladies, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Viceroy, 1 Goatweed and 1 Fiery Skipper. On 11/3, Jim Ziebol saw a Cabbage White and a Cloudless Sulphur at his home. On 11/4, Jim found 7 species at Busch C.A.: 1 Cabbage White, 10 Orange Sulphurs, 2 Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Painted Lady, 3 Buckeyes, 2 Gray Commas and a Monarch. An Orange Sulphur was seen at Route 66 S.P. on 11/12 (JZ). On 11/16 at Horseshoe Lake, Jim observed 3 Orange Sulphurs and 1 Buckeye. An E. Comma and 1 Orange Sulphur were seen in Brentwood on 11/20 (JZ). Three species were seen on the Katy Trail in St. Charles County on 11/20 by Jack Harris and the WGNSS Botany Group: 10 Orange Sulphurs, 1 Eastern Tailed-Blue and a Buckeye. Four resident species overwinter in their adult form: Gray Comma, E. Comma, Question Mark and Mourning Cloak. On any warm day in the winter, you might see individuals of these species emerge from their winter homes under leaves or tree bark to bask in the sunshine. Migrant butterflies such as Cloudless Sulphur, Dainty Sulphur, Buckeye and Common Checkered-Skipper will not survive our winter. The individuals we see next spring will again be migrants traveling north from their breeding grounds south of us. 3. CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES AND BUTTERFLIES Posted on Fri, Nov. 07, 2003 The wildfires that ravaged San Diego County have proved to be deadly to some of Probably thousands of butterflies were killed in the fires because they were in the egg or larval stage and unable to fly away, researchers said. The populations already were squeezed by development, and whether the fire will become a path to extinction for the insects or a chance to expand into new habitat is still very much up in the air. State and federal wildlife officials are only now beginning to canvass the huge burn areas to see if anything survived. It could take a year or two to determine whether the butterfly populations can rebound. "It's just kind of a wait-and-see... there's just a huge amount of area that's been burned," said Dan Marschalek, a UC San Diego graduate student working with the state Department of Fish and Game. Would losing a species or two matter? It would to butterfly lover and biologist Michael Klein, who visited the area Friday. It would be tragic, Klein said, because butterflies are beautiful. "Ask that question to an architect," he said. "'Well, it's only the Eiffel Tower. So what if it gets knocked down?'" The fires destroyed some 400,000 acres of trees, chaparral and coastal sage scrub, but wildlife officials hope the fires burned in a mosaic pattern, leaving islands of vegetation. "That is likely to serve as a refuge for species until new plant growth begins in the winter and spring," said Chamois L. Anderson, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game. "We have high hopes that they're going to be OK." But entomologist David Faulkner said he saw only "desolation" on a recent visit to a fire site. At one site, a federally listed endangered variety called the Quino checkerspot was hit with a "double whammy" when crews set a backfire in an effort to halt the wildfire. "'Don't step on that butterfly.' I'm sure you're going to tell that to a firefighter or someone whose home is threatened," Faulkner said. A recovery plan has been in the works for a decade to help the Chino, which is marked by brown, red and yellow wings. But the plan was completed only a month or two before the fire, he said. The Quino has habitat outside the wildfire boundaries but nobody knows whether it will recolonize burned areas. Out of San Diego County's 150 varieties of butterflies, the main threat is to a few that have limited ranges. The Thorne's hairstreak, an inch-wide brownish butterfly that gleams with blue-green iridescence in sunlight and has two hair-like extensions to its hind wings, is found only on Otay Mountain, which straddles the Mexican border. Almost the entire mountain was burned, and with it the Tecate cypress trees the insect needs. The trees have evolved to release large quantities of seed after blazes, but the butterflies use only mature trees. Klein visited the 2,600-acre Crestridge ecological preserve near El Cajon on Wednesday. It was home to 400 Hermes copper butterflies. "Nothing," he said. "It's gone." The small brownish-yellow insect lays eggs on only one kind of plant, the spiny redberry, and makes its home only in the county and parts of neighboring Baja California. Before the fires, less than a handful of colonies, with perhaps 10 butterflies each, had been found on public lands outside of the wildfire areas. "I'm guessing up to 90 percent of the Hermes copper population got destroyed in the fires," Klein said. "It's scary." Even if they survive, it could take 25 years for the populations of the two species to rebound, Klein said. Butterflies whose homes weren't burned aren't out of danger, though. The Harbison's dun skipper likes drainage areas and feeds on a sedge plant. Deer and cattle whose regular rangelands burned may turn to the sedge, or the plant could absorb fire ash or toxins and become deadly to caterpillars, experts said. Faulkner feared the fires may give developers a new excuse to go into protected areas. The perception may become, "Well, everything's lost. There's no reason we can't develop the whole county now," he said. Areas stripped to bare earth also might be a welcome spot for nonnative invader plants. On the other hand, previous fire experience has shown that scorched areas often rebound with lush growth of local plants, and butterflies such as the gray hairstreak that eat a variety of annual plants could thrive. "They have over 200 species of plants that they use," Klein said. "They could even be rebounding and doing well." Above article provided by: Scott Hoffman Black, The Xerces Society, sblack@xerces.org 4. LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT? Consider giving a membership in NABA! With this gift, there are no worries over size, color, etc., no hassles with shopping mall parking lots or lines of shoppers, and the recipient will receive great information from NABA and our local chapter throughout the whole year ahead. Membership information is included at the end of this newsletter. Happy Holidays from St. Louis NABA! 5. AND MORE... HOLIDAY PARTY CANCELED: We are sorry to announce that the holiday party scheduled for December 14 this year has been CANCELED. We hope to schedule another chapter event during January 2004. Please check our January issue of the "Flutterby News" for further details on upcoming events, and enjoy the holiday season! NEWSLETTER ARTICLES WELCOME: Please send articles, stories, photos, or suggestions for this "Flutterby News" newsletter to: Dave Larson. For your information, each Newsletter issue is also found online at: www.naba.org/chapters/nabasl/newsltr.htm 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
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