The Latest

March 5 - Desert Orangetips were flying with Sara Orangetips, Becker's Whites, and Spring Whites at Yaqui Well in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The season is slowly getting underway after a wet winter.

Introduction

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.

Acknowledgments

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.