BF Report - Los Angeles Co.

[wanda]

Butterflies seen yesterday 2/27/99 by some/all--Mary Shepherd, Phyllis
Barry, Mark, Christian & Matt Walker, Wanda Dameron in canyons above
Glendora, Los Angeles County & approximate #'s

Western Tiger Swallowtails - 4
Pale Swallowtail - 8
California Dogface - 5 - unusually good looks
Cabbage White	- 8
Sara Orangetip  - 5
(Western) Brown Elfin	- 2  
(Echo Blue)Spring Azure 	- 2
Acmon Blue	- 1
Mourning Cloak	- 25--everywhere! in pairs, males spiraling up....  
Melitta Crescent - 12
Satyr Comma	- 2
(Western) Milbert's Tortoiseshell - 1

Probable, but flybys prevented definite ID:

California Ringlet, 
'White' Common Checkered Skipper
Painted Lady

Note:  Dalton Cyn. is closed M-F due to work on the upper dam and stream
water blocked.  The latter had some impact on low # of butterflies seen
in this canyon (though didn't get there til midday).  Recommend
consideration of  trails in Little Dalton Cyn (next canyon west--most of
above reports) and/or Azusa cyn, plus understand Mark had some
additional sitings the previous week on trails off Glendora Mt. Rd.

Jim Springer--in response to your query about the earlier reported
probable Fritillary, while we'll never know for certain, our conjecture
is of a rather large male Melitta Crescent.  Factors that made us wonder
were the extremely early date and previously unknown in literature south
of Sierras in Kern Co., from a very well-worked butterfly area.   Some
Melittas that were seen yesterday had particularly dark ventrals and in
a flyby, along with the dark orange dorsal of the males, could have
easily been mistaken for a (Western Meadow) Pacific Fritillary. 	

A beautiful day in the field!

Cheers, Wanda Dameron
Los Angeles, Calif.


P.S.  For those butterflying in so. Calif., recommend: "Searching for
Butterflies in Southern California," from so. Cal. Audubons, Bio-Quip,
or Flutterby Press--be496 at lafn.org   It has BF lists for 25 areas by
habitat, tips on location, updated NABA names, local subspecies,
foodplant section, timelines, BF count synopsis, immigrants, Lifelist,
sensitive species, etc.