Hotspots

[Mark Walker]

There have been some very good responses to Todd's email request, but I am
nevertheless prompted to reply - having been perplexed by the same mystery
only seven years ago.  This was before I began participating in this
newsgroup/list, but many, many years after I collected my first insect - or
walked my first wilderness trail.  In spite of this, I wished for direction
as I became reacquainted with my childhood passion.
 
Not having access to anyone who shared my disease, I did what I did when I
was seven.  I walked through empty fields, powerline cuts, city parks,
abandoned lots, and every other suitable habitat within easy travel distance
from home.  Having a car over a bicycle definitely helps, but even without
one, things can be pretty productive.  I'll never forget finding a Queen
(Danaus gilippus) in an empty lot right next to Los Angeles International
Airport (1995).  I had to trespass on the lot - slated for development - but
there were many leps flying, and I was hopelessly addicted.  It was my first
California Queen (no S.F. jokes, please) - I had yet to venture into the CA
deserts for leps - and I was stoked.  FYI, I didn't catch it.  I was hoping
it was breeding there (I was pretty naive).
 
The lot has since been developed.
 
On another day (1996) I found a nice population of Callophrys dumetorum
(Bramble Hairstreak) living in a railroad yard off of Hermosa Beach.  Way
cool.  There's stuff out there.
 
Of course, I didn't stop with local spots.  I spent a lot of time driving
(and still do), looking for good spots that are choice and not National
Parks or refuges.  One interesting thing to add to all the other pointers on
finding spots - I've been amazed at how many of the places I've "found" on
my own that turn out to be famous CA lepping spots from Comstock's day
(early twentieth century).  This proves the point - you really do start to
get an intuition very soon.  If the habitat looks good, it probably is.  If
it looks different, it probably is.  And just about any habitat available
for lepping is a good spot to look.
 
All this being said, there's still nothing like finding a friend.  With
these electronic silent talking boxes, that's getting real easy to do.  Of
course, it's possible to be with too many lepidopterists (I'd say two is an
upper threshold };>).  Solitude is, after all, one of the attractions of
this hobby.  But the number of species identified grows non-linearly between
the first and second lepper.  What one scares out of the bush, the second
identifies.  It's magic.
 
I confess that some of my ento society friends have turned me on to a few
"hot" spots.  Amazingly, a few of them were places I'd checked previously
and abandoned for lack of productivity.  I agree - don't quit looking even
after several trips.  Many of the bugs fly for just a few weeks - and then
are gone.  As a result, the weeks they fly are not always predictable.  And
while hot spots are fun, it's even more exciting (and ecologically
preferred) to find new ones.  Even in the California wilderness, famous
"hot" spots do tend to suffer from trampling.
 
And of course it's probably already been said - for many leps, if you don't
have larval foodplant - you don't have the bugs.  Intuition does a pretty
good job here, too (interesting habitat is home to interesting plants), but
ignorance here trumps intuition.  Looking for elusive leps without knowledge
of life cycle can truly be a needle and haystack kind of problem.
 
good hunting, and best wishes,
 
Mark Walker
back in a rainy Texas
 
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Todd Redhead [mailto:toddredhead at hotmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 7:17 AM
> To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Subject: Hotspots
>
>
> Question from a relative newcomer:
>
> Collectors, it seems to me, all seem to have a couple of
> "hotspots" where
> they collect regularly.  A good hotspot might be an area
> where one can find
> some uncommon species with some regularity or maybe where
> there is a large
> diveristy of insects that can be found in sheer numbers.
> These hotspots
> are, for obvious reasons, often closely guarded secrets.
>
> Here is my question:
>
> How do collectors out there find these places?  Is there a
> method that is
> commonly followed or is it just hit and miss?  How would you
> suggest a
> newbee (me) go about developing his own hotspots?
>
> Thanks from Toronto (about 20 deg F today)
>
> Todd
>
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