Photography Links

Santa Clarita Valley Butterflies
http://lepidoptera.jcmdi.com/
Check out the fascinating videos.

Butterflies of Kern County
http://www.natureali.org/Butterflies_of_Kern_County.htm
Lists butterflies to subspecies level, with photos of many.

Nicky Davis' Wild Utah
http://www.wildutah.us/index_btfly.html
I've used this site particularly for caterpillars. Incredibly sharp photography.

Butterflies of San Diego County
http://sdbirds.basiclink.com/
Also birds, dragonflies and more.

Mariposas Mexicanas
http://www.mariposasmexicanas.com/
Some of these species are also in Southern California. A very extensive site with hundreds of photos.

Butterflies of America
http://butterfliesofamerica.com/
An ambitious project from those who produced the latter site.

David S. Horner
http://www.solardarkroom.com/
David is a fellow denizen of the southland who photographs butterflies locally.

Owl's Pleasure
http://www.owlspleasure.com/butterflies.html

Detailed Species Information

The USGS Site for the US
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map
and California
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map?x=25&y=125&_fc=1

Nearctica
http://www.nearctica.com/butter/index.htm
Similar to the USGS site (Paul Opler was involved with both); same text, but different photographs.

Orange County Butterflies
http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/biodiv/bflyplnt.htm
This is from Larry Orsak's 1977 book, and the detailed information on locations is especially valuable.

Rudi Mattoni's Butterflies of Los Angeles poster
http://www.urbanedpartnership.org/uclasp/ISSUES/butterflies/bfcover.html
The photos aren't very good, and it's very brief, but this one little list has inspired me to hike the San Gabriel Mountains more than anything else. Why? Because I had no idea there were records for some of these butterflies up there, and I like the idea that something rare and extraordinary might be just around the bend.

Organizations and Listserves

Orange County's Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabaoc/index.html
Check out the new-and-improved website - very nice!

The International Lepidoptera Survey
http://www.tils-ttr.org/
Has great resources like Ken Davenport's update of Emmel and Emmel's classic 1973 book, The Butterflies of Southern California. Also has Davenport's official date ranges for California butterflies. This tells you the normal times a butterfly should be flying and what the early and late records are down to subspecies level.

There are two listserves covering our area. The digests are worth reading even if you don't want to join in:
DesertLeps - http://www.butterflydigest.com/s/digest.pl?rm=one_list;id=23
SouthwestLeps - http://www.butterflydigest.com/s/digest.pl?rm=one_list;id=2
Both have a range of contributors, from newbies to serious academics.

Plants

Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains
http://www.researchlearningcenter.org/bloom/SpeciesLinks.htm
I use this all the time.

Heap's Peak Arboretum - San Bernardino Mountains
http://www.heapspeakarboretum.com/mountainplants.htm
Also very helpful for identifying plants.

CalFlora
http://www.calflora.org/species/index.html
More difficult to just browse through, but when you need detail, this is a great site.

Las Palitas Nursery
http://www.laspilitas.com/
A unique website packed with information on native plants, and a great nursery for the butterfly gardener.