- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It definitely wasn't a case of "brotherly love" when a predator--maybe a bird or a praying mantis--grabbed the California Sister in our pollinator garden.
The butterfly, Adelpha bredowii californica, didn't survive.
It's quite common in the area, says Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, who has monitored butterfly populations of central California for 50 years.
He writes on his website, Art's Butterfly World:
"A common species of oak woodlands. Glides back and forth along streambeds and roads; males perch on branches and foliage, frequently in oak. Both sexes visit mud puddles. (This is unusual; in most butterflies only males "puddle.") The female is larger than the male, with broader wings and a less pointed forewing apex. There is no variation in color and pattern. This butterfly has been shown to be mildly distasteful to birds and to be mimicked by the more edible Lorquin's Admiral in California. The genus Adelpha is of New World Tropical origin. Although our Sister is usually classified as conspecific (belonging to the same species) with the desert Southwest form, subspecies eulalia, we suspect the two are good biological species."
"Two to three broods, flying March or April to November at lower elevations. Most abundant in the foothills (Sierra and Coast Range/Bay Area) and lower montane zone. Uncommon or rare, and irregular, on the floor of the Central Valley, but occasionally seen in cities and suburbs. Females are highly dispersive and are most likely to be seen in unusual places. The species is not a permanent resident in our area above 5000' but is seen regularly up to 7000' or higher in late spring-early summer and again in autumn."
"Host plants oaks, especially Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia, wislizenii and chrysolepis). Adults visit flowers (California Buckeye, Yerba Santa, Dogbane, Giant Hyssop, Goldenrod, Coyotebrush) but also dung, carrion, flowing sap, damaged fruit, etc.--a very tropical lifestyle."
Sisterhood!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Oh, the patience of a crab spider.
It lies in wait on the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in the hot sun.
It scuttles back and forth, extending its legs. It's an ambush predator, ready to inject venom.
But it seems as if all the bees got the memo: "Crab spider! Beware! Don't buzz it! Don't go near it!"
And then a honey bee, seeking a little nectar and pollen, lands right beside it.
It's a moment in time between a predator and its prey.
The bee? It survived to live another day. The crab spider went hungry.
Just a morning in the life of a crab spider lying in wait on a Tithonia rotundifola.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you're in your garden, look up.
Sometimes you'll see a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar outlined against the sky, munching away on its host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora).
The bright orange caterpillars can be as striking as the adults (Agraulis vanillae).
This caterpillar, however, is not the only critter hungry in the Passiflora. We saw evidence that a praying mantis also calls this home. One wing of a Gulf Frit here. One wing of a Gulf Frit there.
Everything eats in the garden.
In a previous Bug Squad, we mentioned that the Gulf Frits are found in many parts of the world and arrived in California (San Diego) in the 1870s, according to butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology. They spread through Southern California in urban settings and were first recorded in the Bay Area about 1908, Shapiro says. They "became a persistent breeding resident in the East and South Bay in the 1950s and has been there since.”
Shapiro says the Gulf Frits “apparently bred in the Sacramento area and possibly in Davis in the 1960s, becoming extinct in the early 1970s, then recolonizing again throughout the area since 2000.”
Yes, they're back and a joy to see.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In celebrating the California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, visitors at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house learned about the biology and history of the insect, engaged in arts and crafts, and enjoyed two specially decorated sheet cakes, one featuring the male dogface butterfly and the other, the female.
The occasion: the 50th anniversary of the year that the California State Legislature designated the California dogface butterfly as the state insect. Most attending the open house have never seen the butterfly in the wild.
The dogface butterfly, found only in California, thrives at its major breeding ground, the Shutamul Bear River Preserve in Auburn, a private preserve maintained by the Placer Land Trust (PLT). It's there because its host plant, false indigo, Amorpha californica, is there--amid the steep canyons, wildflowers poison oak and other vegetation.
Kareofelas, who has reared multiple dogface butterflies from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, showed a PowerPoint of images he captured of the life cycle and discussed the history and biology of the butterfly. He serves as a volunteer docent for PLT.
Communications specialist Julia Boorinakis Harper Barbeau of Placer Land Trust narrated a video and staffed a table with fellow PLT'ers Carole Gan and CollinHobb. Among others participating was naturalist and PLT docent volunteer Deren Ross, credited with finding the first dogface butterfly at the Shutamul Bear River Preserve. (See PLT news story)
UC Davis students and Bohart volunteers Danielle Sion and Amberly Hackmann encouraged the guests to make yellow felt butterflies, ornaments for their shoes, hair, belt and wrists. Guests also crafted caterpillar puppets. A stick insect at the Bohart Museum petting zoo, took the opportunity to walk on one of the caterpillar puppets.
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection, showed specimens, including dogface butterfly, monarch, morpho and viceroy specimens, and answered questions.
Meanwhile, entomologist and Bohart lab assistant Brennen Dyer staffed the gift shop. A budding entomologist named Chip, 2, of Woodland, showed off his newly purchased bug habitat cage and some toy critters.
The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also maintains a live petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop (including T-shirts, hoodies, books, jewelry, posters, collecting equipment).
The next Bohart Museum open house will be the annual Moth Night, held in observance of National Moth Week. The open house will be both indoor and outdoor from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, July 30. The event is free and family friendly, and visitors are encouraged to explore the world of moths in the Bohart's research collection and to see what lands on backlighting display: a hanging white sheet, illuminated by ultraviolet (UV) light and powered by a generator. The backlighting display will be a short, walking distance from the museum.
This summer the Bohart Museum is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., but groups must make reservations and all must follow the UC Davis visitor guidelines: https://campusready.ucdavis.edu/visitors?.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That story will be among the highlights of the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, July 16 in Room 1124 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the year the California State Legislature singled it out to be the state insect.
Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, a UC Davis doctoral alumnus and author of the children's book, The Story of the Dogface Butterfly, will read the 35-page book to children and parents at 1:30 p.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. in the Wildlife Classroom, Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, located next door to the Bohart Museum in the Academic Surge Building.
The book features photos by Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas and Professor Keller, and illustrations by former UC Davis student Laine Bauer. The California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, found only in California, thrives at its major breeding ground, the Shutamul Bear River Preserve, a private preserve maintained by the Placer Land Trust (PLT).
It is there because its host plant, false indigo, Amorpha californica, is there, points out Kareofelas, who has reared multiple California dogface butterflies from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult. He serves as a volunteer docent for the PLT's Shutamul Bear River Preserve.
"Most people have never seen a single dogface butterfly (in the wild)," says Kareofelas. On a June 10th tour of the preserve, held specifically for the Bohart Museum, the group saw 75 to 100 dogface butterflies.
Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, who has monitored the butterfly populations of Central California for 50 years, said he has never seen 100 Zerene eurydice in his lifetime. He maintains a research site, Art's Butterfly World.
False indigo (Amorpha), its only known host plant, "is a rather inconspicuous shrub found with poison oak, willow, etc. near streambanks, often along boulder-strewn tributary streams in side canyons where access is very difficult," Shapiro says on his website.
The schedule:
1 p.m.: Event starts
Tabling: Placer Land Trust information table, Greg Kareofelas with live caterpillar/rearing project
Activities:
- Craft: Yellow felt dogface butterflies shoe/hair/belt/wrist ornaments
- Craft: Color the dogface butterfly life cycle (paper or for $8.50 for bandanna)
- Craft: Paper caterpillar puppet
- Petting Zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tartantulas)
- Butterfly collection exploration with entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection
- Butterfly banner photo-op
1:30 p.m.: Professor and author Fran Keller reads The Story of the Dogface Butterfly in the Wildlife Classroom
2:30 p.m.: Communication specialist Julia Boorinakis Harper Barbeau of Placer Land Trust shows four-minute video and Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas gives a talk/powerpoint about the history of the dogface (5-10 minutes) in the Wildlife Classroom
3 p.m.: Celebration dessert in the hallway with Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology
3:30 p.m.: Professor and author Fran Keller reads The Story of the Dogface Butterfly in the Wildlife Classroom
4 p.m.: Event ends
The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also maintains a live petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop (including T-shirts, hoodies, books, jewelry, posters, collecting equipment)
