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July 20 - Took a long drive up to the Sequoia Natl. Forest and the Sherman Pass area. The weather didn't cooperate as much as I would have liked; in fact, it was really cloudy all day. But I did see at least twenty species and photographed a few new butterflies. At Alder Creek I found a Northern Checkerspot, a Common Sootywing, the nominate subspecies of the Sylvan Hairstreak, and added an improved Northern Cloudywing photo. Later I was in a wet meadow just over 8200 feet and found the Mormon Fritillary and the aejaha subspecies of the Greenish Blue.
June 29 - On a short hike in Newhall up Towsley Canyon with some family members I got a nice female Orange Sulphur nectaring on Spanish Needles and replaced an older photo with it on a new page.
June 28 - I've put the El Segundo Blue photos on a single page and used two new ventral photographs.
June 14 - Haven't been doing too much since knee surgery on May 2nd ($4.60 per gallon gas isn't helping either). I've gone through my older photos and added a few photographs of larvae that I've accumulated, and some adult butterflies as well. Caterpillars include the Checkered White, Monarch, Gulf Fritillary, Queen, Painted Lady and Cabbage White. I've also added the bright red larva of Moss's Elfin, subspecies hidakupa from the San Gabriels; the adults have eluded me for yet another year but it was interesting to find a couple of larvae on the host Sedum spathulifolium. I was also lucky enough to time the emergence of Glaucopsyche piasus gabrielina pretty well; gabrielina is a subspecies of the Arrowhead Blue described in the 1998 Systematics book. It flies near Mt Islip in the San Gabriels where the host Lupine (the slender and silvery Lupinus elatus) is abundant. Another Northern White-Skipper photo that turned out well joins the ones I already had. I'm adding more host plant photos occasionally. I have many more to go through and add; I'll get to them eventually. I'm no expert with plants, so I hope I don't have many misidentifications. I tend to add them as I learn, and I'm always revising. Finally, the Kern River Valley Revitalization website asked to use one of my San Emigdio Blue photographs, and I was honored to see the photo promoting the upcoming North American Butterfly Association's biennial meeting at Kernville on their homepage at http://krvr.org/.
May 21 - The little-known Sand Dunes Metalmark (Apodemia virgulti arenaria), from the dunes just west of LA International Airport, was once thought to be a typical Behr's Metalmark (Apodemia virgulti virgulti). Allozyme studies proved otherwise and in 1998 this butterfly subspecies was formally described. Nearly all of its habitat is behind barbed wire fences, so it is not easy to find. It shares the dunes with the endangered El Segundo Blue and uses the same host, Sea Cliff Buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium).
April 29 - Found San Emigdio Blues flying in Weldon in Kern County near Paul's Place, a classic locality for this rare species. The Saltbush host of this butterfly is very common, but the San Emigdio Blue's larvae are ant-attended and the particular ant is in turn associated with a scale insect, so all three elements - the bush, the ants and the scale insect - must be present or the butterfly won't be.
April 25 - In the eastern San Bernardino Mountains not far from Big Bear at approx. 7500' I found an interesting population of Pearly Marbles looking for their host Descurainia, or Tansy Mustard (I'm not sure of the species of mustard). This butterfly is mentioned in the 1973 Emmel and Emmel book Butterflies of Southern California as Euchloe hyantis near lotta. Euchloe hyantis andrewsi is a related butterfly that should fly a bit later and at lower elevations further west.
April 23 - At the Ord Mountains (near Hesperia - not the Ords farther out in the desert) I was able to find a single Euphydryas editha ehrlichi, Ehrlich's Checkerspot, on a hilltop. This choice butterfly was described in the 1998 Systematics publication and I've wanted to photograph it for quite some time. It has a very limited range and apparently few fly in dryer years, so it can be a real challenge to find.
April 19 - I went to Anza Borrego despite the winds today and among the butterflies out was a female Reakirt's Blue; this shot replaces one from Arizona. She was in Plum Canyon.
April 18 - Yesterday I was in the Laguna Mountains in San Diego County, and I happened upon two Peninsular Metalmarks in a field of Wright's Buckwheat. This is early for them. I also found a beautiful yellow variant of the female Sara Orangetip ovipositing on Rockcress in Laguna Meadow. And the following older pages were missing and I just realized it: Painted Lady dorsal, Red Admiral dorsal and Red Admiral ventral. Welcome back!
April 14 - More from the desert: a better look at the Desert Orangetip, this one a male; the Mojave Blue; new photos of the Desert Metalmark to replace the older ones; the Rock Corral Checkerspot; and a ventral of Neumoegen's Sagebrush Checkerspot; and two more members of the mormo complex: mojavelimbus and nigrescens. I've also been adding more plant photographs on the list pages, and I've added an improved Checkered White male ventral from Bolsa Chica Wetlands.
Introduction
Nearly all these photographs were taken beginning in the summer of 2005 either in my garden, in my local park, or on various hikes 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 I hope to photograph, and then as I do get good photos I enter the pertinent information (time, place, etc.) in columns to the right of the butterfly's name. On the far right is the butterfly's host plant, on which its caterpillar feeds. On each family page I have listed, to subspecific level, pretty much every butterfly that flies in the local mountains, our two deserts, the coast, and in local parks and gardens. Some of these butterflies are very rare or even endangered, but I've included them on the list if they are truly Southern California butterflies. There are, of course, difficulties with creating a comprehensive list to subspecies level; consider it a work-in-progress.
In my garden in Long Beach, California, I may see fifteen or so different species in a typical year. But by hiking in various places no more than a three-hour drive from my house, I can multiply this number by at least ten. 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 (out and back in one day) away from where I live. Some that are rare or only occasionally stray into our area are common in Arizona, and a few photographs are 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 their richness.
Acknowledgments
Thanks a million to John F. Emmel, Ken Davenport, Bill Gendron, Gordon Pratt, Fred Heath, John Pasko, Jim Brock and Chris Henzlik for all the help with identifications, locations, suggestions, etc. Any mistakes are my own.