Monarch Article by our very own Gail and Bob Morris
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This is the list of plants Kirti recommends for butterfly gardening:
Acourtia wrightii (Perezia wrightii) - Brownfoot
Allium cernuum – Nodding Onion
Aloysia wrightii – Wright's Bee Brush, Oreganillo
Anemopsis californica – Yerba Mansa, Yerba del Manso
Aristolochia watsoni – Pipevine, Indian Root, Raiz del Indio
Artemisia ludoviciana – Western Mugwort
Asclepias angustifolia – Narrowleaf Milkweed
Asclepias linaria – Pineleaf Milkweed
Dichelostemma capitatum (D. pulchellum) - Bluedicks
Encelia farinosa – Brittlebush
Erigeron divergens - Fleabane
Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium – Flattop Buckwheat
Eschscholzia californica ssp. mexicana – Mexican Gold Poppy
Glandularia gooddingii (Verbena gooddingii) – Goodding-verbena
Guttierezia sarothrae – Broom Snakeweed
Hyptis emoryi – Desert-lavender
Lesquerella fendleri – Fendler's Bladderpod
Lycium exsertum – Thornberry, Wolfberry
Lycium fremontii – Fremont Wolfberry
Monarda fistulosa – Horsemint, Wild Bee Balm
Monarda pectinata – Spotted Bee Balm
Passiflora bryonioides – Passionflower
Passiflora mexicana – Mexican Passionflower
Poliomintha incana – Hoary Rosemarymint
Rhus ovata – Sugar Sumac
Salvia columbariae – Desert Chia
Senna covesii – Desert Senna
Verbesina encelioides – Crownflower, Añil del Muerto
Night bloomers (for moths)
Peniocereus greggii – Arizona Queen of the Night
Yucca baccata – Banana Yucca
Yucca elata – Soaptree Yucca
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Presumable because of the double freeze this winter and the extremely hot and dry summer, the butterfly numbers were way down from 2010. This is a trend we are seeing thoughout Arizona. Last year we found 44 species of butterflies on the BTA property on the count day (a new record!), while this year it yielded only half of that: 22 species. But we had fun nonetheless, partly because it was the first day with nice fall temperatures, and also because we had guests from Tucson and from England help us with the count! Other teams added species elsewhere in the count circle for a total of 42 species, 514 individuals.
Pipevine Swallowtail 96, Checkered White 1, Orange Sulphur 17, Cloudless Sulphur 28, Mexican Yellow 1, Sleepy Orange 46, “Siva” Juniper Hairstreak 1, Gray Hairstreak 2, Leda Ministreak 8, W. Pygmy Blue 13, Marine Blue 4, Ceraunus Blue 47, Reakirt’s Blue 5, Fatal Metalmark 7, Mormon Metalmark 2, Palmer’s Metalmark 14, American Snout 7, Variegated Fritillary 9, Elada Checkerspot 3, Common Buckeye 3, Tropical Buckeye 1, Red-spotted Purple 2, Viceroy 3, Arizona Sister 1, Hackberry Emperor 10, Empress Leilia 43, Monarch 3, Queen 60, Acacia Skipper 3, Golden-headed Scallopwing 10, Arizona Powdered-Skipper 9, Mournful Duskywing 1, Common Checkered-Skipper 14, Desert Checkered-Skipper 2, Erichson’s White-Skipper 2, Common Sootywing 10, Tropical Least Skipper 1, Orange Skipperling 14, Fiery Skipper 1, Sheep Skipper 6, Eufala Skipper 3, Arizona Giant-Skipper 1.
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A very special event took place last weekend! On Saturday August 13, from 7-9pm, Professional Lepidopterist Dave Wikle came all the way out from California, to teach us about moths at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Moths are commonly perceived by most people as dull-colored stepsisters to the butterfly, but they can be beautiful too. A good tool to attract moths is hanging a white sheet in front of a mercury vapor light. Moths will come in to get observed, ID-ed and photographed.
Over ninety people showed up for this fun event, including many families with children. Kids are fearless when it comes to moths! They love to hold them! It was a big success!
Thank you BTA for accommodating us!
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Saturday July 30th, I led a field trip to the Patagonia, Santa Cruz Co., AZ area to search for Roadside-Skippers. We spent our time along Harshaw and Harshaw Creek Roads, as well as FS 58, which is the road to the San Rafael Valley. This area is probably the best in AZ to find a wide selection of Roadside-Skippers. We also visited the Patagonia Butterfly Garden. There was a reasonable amount of nectar source, but the hillsides remain dry.
While the butterflies were not numerous, we had good success, with 5 species of Roadies. We also had Valeriana Skipper (Codatractus valeriana), which was a lifer for everyone except me. We did not manage to find any Gold Costa Skippers (Cogia caicus), which was a surprise. Acacia Skipper (Cogia hippalus) was extremely common, with almost every individual fresh.
Total list 26 species (names and species from www.butterfliesofamerica.com website):
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata), Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe), Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) my first of the year, Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus), Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), Dark Tropical Buckeye (Junonia evarete nigrosuffusa), Boardered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia), Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) very common, Arizona Checkerspot (Texola perse), Arizona Mottled-Skipper (Codatractus arizonensis) fairly common and very fresh, Valeriana Skipper (Codatractus valeriana), Golden-banded Skipper (Autocton cellus), Desert Cloudywing (Achalarus casica), Drusius Cloudywing (Thorybes drusius), Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades), Acacia Skipper (Cogia hippalus), Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos), Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus), Arizona Powdered-Skipper (Systasea zampa), Large Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes exoteria), Bronze Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aenus), may have seen Texas as well, but would need to have caught it to make sure, Elissa Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes elissa), Slaty Roadside-Skipper (see photo) (Amblyscirtes nereus), Dotted Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscites eos), Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus).
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Pre-trip scouting revealed so few blooming plants and no water in the main canyon this year that it was decided to drive directly to the side canyon where there were a few more flowers and the usual water flowing down through the rocks from the spring higher up.
Fifteen of us, including three members from our sister organization – Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association (SEABA) enjoyed the warm sunny trek up the canyon and through the willows, some of which contained strange caterpillars of Red-spotted Purple (see photo) and Mourning Cloak butterflies.
As usual, Variable Checkerspots were the most numerous species, but even those were less common than in previous years. A Wright’s Metalmark (new for the Rackensack list) was found farther up the canyon by Marceline earlier in the week, but we were unable to locate it during the trip. After lunch at Sears Kay Ruin, a hike up to the top of the ruins trail failed to turn up the expected Great Purple Hairstreak, probably due to the frost damaged Jojoba bushes where it is usually found. Dave Powell led a group to a nearby hill where they found several Martin’s Square-spotted Blues, including a mated pair.
The following 30 species were recorded: Pipevine Swallowtail, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Sara Orangetip, Orange Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, Dainty Sulphur, Gray Hairstreak, Reakirt’s Blue, Spring Azure, Martin’s Square-spotted Blue (Sears Kay), Acmon Blue, California Patch (Sears Kay), Variegated Fritillary, Variable Checkerspot, Sagebrush Checkerspot, Elada Checkerspot, Mourning Cloak, Red-spotted Purple (one beautiful fresh individual having just emerged from the chrysalis), Painted Lady, Common Buckeye, Empress Leilia (only one – usually common), Queen, Arizona Powdered Skipper, White/Common Checkered-Skipper, Golden-headed Scallopwing, Common Streaky Skipper, Orange Skipperling, Yucca Giant-Skipper (two, seen by a few, higher up the canyon than usual), Northern White Skipper, Common Sootywing.
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The book, "Winged Obsession", tells the tale of Yoshi Kojima, the world's most notorious and successful butterfly smuggler. A wily con artist, Kojima eluded arrest for over ten years. He finally met his match in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent Ed Newcomer. Kojima was caught in a web of his own making - one tinged with sex, greed and obsession.
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An avid group of 12 spent a beautifully sunny spring day butterflying at two locations along the Beeline Highway in the Mazatzal Mountain. We went first to Round Valley (RV) where we explored an unnamed water course that runs into Sycamore Creek from the east in Round Valley. As the morning warmed the number and diversity of butterflies we saw rose but from the outset the Variable Checkerspot was as expected far and away the species that was most abundant. We then adjourned to Sunflower Valley (SV) and after a brief break for lunch at the lower end of the closed section of the old Beeline Highway we wandered up the road to the USFS work center. Again, Checkerspots were the order of the day with Sagebrush Checkerspots as abundant here as the Variable Checkerspots were in Round Valley. Here is a list of the 31 species seen and where they were seen.
Pipevine Swallowtail – RV, SV; Two-tailed Swallowtail - SV; Dainty Sulphur - SV; Orange Sulphur - SV; Southern Dogface - RV; Spring White - SV; Pearly Marble - RV; Sara Orangetip – SV; American Snout – RV; Variable (Chalcedon) Checkerspot –RV, SV; Sagebrush Checkerspot -SV; Tiny Checkerspot – SV; Mylitta Crescent - SV; Texan Crescent - SV; Mourning Cloak - SV; Empress Leilia - RV; Common Buckeye – RV,SV; Painted Lady - SV; Spring “Echo” Azure – RV, SV; Brown Elfin - SV; “Siva” Juniper Hairstreak - SV; Western Pygmy Blue - SV; Square-spotted (Martin’s) Blue – SV; Lupine Blue - SV; Zela Metalmark – SV; Duskywing sp. (white fringed) - RV; Pahaska Skipper - SV; Orange Skipperling - RV; Golden-headed Scallopwing - RV; Northern White Skipper – RV,SV; Common Checkered Skipper – RV, SV.
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MEXICO CITY — The number of monarch butterflies migrating from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico has increased this year, a hopeful sign following a worrying 75 per cent drop in their numbers last year, experts reported Monday. The total amount of forest covered by the colonies — millions of orange-and-black butterflies that hang in clumps from the boughs of fir trees — more than doubled from last year's historic low. But concerns persist about the monarchs' long-term survival, because their numbers remain well below average.
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