May 23 - Pratt's Metalmark, Apodemia virgulti pratti, was flying in its type locality, Holcolm Valley north of Big Bear Lake. These are my first photographs of this spring-flying subspecies. This is one of the many subspecies described in the Systematics book in 1998. For those who appreciate skippers, I also saw a black Pacuvius Duskywing on Siberia Creek Trail near Bluff Lake, and I've added another Sonoran Skipper photo from a hike in 2006. These weren't yet flying at Bluff Lake Meadow today.
May 17 - The second brood of the Sara Orangetip is lighter on the underside and a bit larger than the earlier spring brood. This female of Anthocharis sara sara was in Holy Jim Canyon, in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange Co. This female's offspring will be on the wing next spring.
April 26 - After a few years of fruitless searching, I found the rare San Gabriel Mountains subspecies of Moss's Elfin, Callophrys (or Incisalia) mossii hidakupa, flying around its host on a cliffside in the San Gabriels. It may be on the drab side, but it is a truly rare butterfly and I believe few photographs of these in the wild exist. These may be the first posted online.
April 19 - I created a page for the Eastern Sierra Blue, Plebejus icarioides eosierra, a subspecies of Boisduval's Blue, which I photographed last year near Sageland.
April 17, 18 - Added a better Fatal Metalmark - Calephelis nemesis - from Malibu Creek State Park. I also was excited to find the Coastal Arrowhead Blue, Glaucopsyche piasus sagittigera, at Lone Pine Canyon in the San Gabriels.
April 2 - In the Bob's Gap/Valyermo area north of the San Gabriels, I found several worthwhile butterflies on a couple different hills. Apodemia virgulti mojavelimbus was around its host buckwheat (fasciculatum) at both places, and I've added shots to that page including an individual with almost no hindwing orange. Spring Whites were common as well. Finally, I was able to get some good photos of Juniper Hairstreaks from the Juniper bushes there. I've also added better Mojave Blue photos, including a female ovipositing on the tiny host buckwheat, Eriogonum pusillum.
March 31 - Spent parts of two days around Cottonwood Spring in the southern part of Joshua Tree Nat'l Park. I've added photos of Euchloe lotta, the 'Desert' Pearly Marble; a fresh Sleepy Orange sipping mud at a spring; a California Patch; and a few new 'Neumoegen's' Sagebrush Checkerspots, including a female that looked like she'd recently emerged. I'll have some more plant photos soon as well.
March 23 - Added a new photo of a caterpillar of the common Cabbage White, Pieris rapae.
March 18 - The season is just underway in the Mojave, and a visit to a hilltop in Valyermo found it alive with Spring Whites, Sara and Desert Orangetips, and Funereal Duskywings, with many Perplexing Hairstreaks down the hill. Should be even better in a week or two, but for now I was able to get a decent shot of a female Desert Orangetip, Anthocharis cethura cethura.
March 17 - Finally: I saw the endangered Palos Verdes Blue flying at two different places, and at the second stop they were nice enough to pose. I've replaced the awful photos from 2007 with some that I'm very happy with.
January 31 - Added another male Cloudless Sulphur, this one from my garden. Very different from the one I saw in Arizona.
January 19 - Echo Blues where common today in the San Gabriels, where they've emerged during an extended period of warm weather. I needed a male dorsal photo, and after following dozens down the trail, one finally obliged. They don't often spread their wings, I've found.
October 21 - I went to the Nature Center near my home in Long Beach hoping to find a female Umber Skipper. I found one right away and also a Eufala Skipper, which was a nice surprise.
October 12 - I was in the desert this weekend, and I found a female White Checkered Skipper in Palm Desert. This is a common skipper in the autumn, and I didn't realize I lacked a photo of a female until recently. The females' white 'checks' are reduced compared to the males.
Nearly all these butterfly photographs were taken beginning in the summer of 2005 either in my garden, the local park, or (most often) in wild areas within a few hours of my home in Long Beach, California. I've listed on six pages - one for each family represented locally - all the butterflies in my area (to subspecies level) and their larval host plants, with links to pages I've created for each butterfly. Some of these are very rare or even endangered, and thus a challenge to find and photograph, but I've included them on the list if they fly in this region. There are, of course, various difficulties with creating a comprehensive list to subspecies level, and so it tends to evolve as I learn more or with taxonomic changes.
In my garden I may see fifteen or so different species in a typical year (I've seen twenty-five species there over the years). But by day-tripping to various places no more than a few hours' drive from my house, I can multiply this number many times over. The lists on this site are all of these butterflies - those I'd like to photograph that are in my area or a reasonable drive from where I live. Some that are rare or only occasionally stray into our area are common in Arizona, and I've included a few photographs from there. Southern California is an incredibly diverse place to explore and enjoy the flora and fauna. Mountain forests, wetlands, parks, deserts, rivers, even islands - all are within easy reach with their various lepidopterous inhabitants. I've learned to appreciate these places, and I hope my photographs help convey the richness of this aspect of our native flora and fauna.
Feel free to e-mail me: denbugg at hotmail dot com.
Thanks to John F. Emmel, Jim Brock,
Ken Davenport, Bill Gendron, Gordon Pratt, Fred Heath,
John Pasko and Chris Henzlik for all the invaluable help
with identifications, locations, suggestions, etc. Any
mistakes are my own.
