Checkerspot on the news

[Doug Yanega]

>http://www.butterfliesforsale.com/Species.htm
>
>Would that be the Chalcedon checkerspot, do you think?

No, it would Euphydryas e. editha, known as the Bay Checkerspot (the name
"bayensis" is not valid). It *IS* Federally listed, and if it occurs on the
property in question (it's certainly the right area), then theoretically
there should be significant difficulties in getting the land developed.
Five years with no sightings is certainly possible on an inhabited piece of
property, though it all depends on the credibility of the consultants doing
the surveys. One certainly does hear of consulting firms who conveniently
fail to report positive sightings, or contract out to marginally competent
field people who don't do a thorough job of surveying.


Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
           http://insects.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82