October 12 - The Large Orange Sulphur is flying in Palm Desert, and I found several at a nursery there. This butterfly isn't common in Southern California and may only be temporarily established in this area.
August 1 - An Anise Swallowtail larva that was enjoying my fennel plants wandered off to pupate, and after searching for it a couple of times I finally found it - just inches away from its host on a cilantro stalk.
July 29 - The fall-flying Apodemia mormo cythera from Big Rock Creek, on the northern side of the San Gabriels, was just starting its flight and nectaring on the few rabbitbrush plants now beginning to flower. If you love this complex of butterflies as I do, you'll appreciate the extensive yellow coloring on the wings. Compare this to the fall-flying mormo in the nearby San Bernardinos - A. mormo nr mormo - and note the stark contrast in ground color, even within the sames species. This Big Rock Creek population of ssp. cythera is contiguous with those I found just to the south and uphill near Mt. Islip, and those further south along Highway 2 at Grizzly Flat. The Mojave River mormo is also cythera, apparently, and resembles the Big Rock Creek population.
July 26 - A few weeks ago an American Lady was ovipositing on my garden Licorice plants (Helichrysum petiolare), which caught me off-guard. I had no idea these were a host for anything, as I got them a long time ago as part of a gift basket and they've taken over a corner of the garden. Today I was again pleasantly surprised to find American Lady larvae in small, curled-up leaves. Glad I didn't rip these plants out. I also took another shot of an Anise Swallowtail larva on fennel.
July 19 - I've planted fennel and dill in my garden in hopes of enticing Anise Swallowtails. It worked. Today I found two larvae - one a second instar, the other (probably) a fifth instar.
June 28 - Drove up to Tehachapi Mountain Park and saw quite a few butterflies. The Great Copper was common, as were Great Basin Wood Nymphs. Lorquin's Admirals were flying, and I had to add two photos of Echo Blues because of the nice backdrops.
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.
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.
