San Antonio Canyon - Cuatro de Mayo

[Mark Walker]

It's Cinco de Mayo time here in the Los Angeles basin, and I had trouble
heading out of my inlaws Bellflower pit stop on account of festival
preparations.  I almost hated to head out, given the abundance of good food,
but California lepping has been elusive and I wanted to take advantage of
what little opportunity I have.  I gave my good friend Bill Gendron a call,
and we arranged to meet for a bit of morning butterflying up in San Antonio
Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains.  Bill monitors this habitat on a nearly
daily basis, and though it hasn't been a banner year for leps, the weather
was looking promising.
 
Checkerspots are late this year, it would seem.  By now the familiar
Euphydryas chalcedona would already be visible from the highway, but we
didn't see one at all until we were nearly ready to leave - and even then we
didn't get a positive id.  I found Thessalia leanira just a few weeks ago in
another canyon, but this bug hasn't made an appearance yet in San Antonio.
The one reliable resident was Chlosyne gabbii, and males were very common on
this day.  It's easy to forget what an incredible little insect this
checkerspot is when you live in southern California.  It's pretty much not
found anywhere else on the planet, and it's quite a gorgeous thing as well.
But here, during spring, it can be one of the most common leps encountered.
 
The creek was flowing, but quite low for this time of the year.  This would
be expected, given the little precipitation we've had this past winter.  We
wondered what it all might do to early summer emergences.  The hairstreaks
are expected to start popping any day now.
 
Perhaps the most common lep of the day was Celastrina ladon echo (Echo
Blue).  The butterfly has been flying since January, but many of the
hundreds that we encountered this day were fresh and quite blue.  It would
appear that a second brood is well under way for this insect.
 
Another common butterfly for the day was Erynnis propertius (Propertius
Duskywing), which could be found most readily at moisture.  Both males and
females were common and could also be found at nectar.  Bill was a bit
surprised to find two other Erynnis species present and fresh on this day -
Erynnis funeralis (Funereal's Duskywing) and Erynnis tristis (Tristis
Duskywing).  The Duskywing situation out west is almost unmanageable.  It is
possible, though I'm far from validating this theory, to get to a point
where you can id these on sight based on appearance, location, and time of
the year.  The presence of a white border helps in reducing the problem
somewhat, but there are more than one of even these, and the leps do overlap
in much of their range.
 
We saw two swallowtails - Papilio rutulus (Western Tiger Swallowtail) and
Papilio eurymedon (Pale Swallowtail), both common mountain residents.  We
were hoping for a sighting of Papilio indra pergamus, but none accommodated.
 
There were other blues besides the Azure.  Glaucopsyche lygamus (Silvery
Blue) is pretty much past peak, though its foodplant is everywhere.  Bill
found a single Plebejus icariodes (Boisduval's Blue), which he reports as
being present but uncommon in San Antonio Canyon.  Both Plebejus acmon and
Plebejus lupini were seen, and we each netted a single female Philotes
sonorensis - an insect quite common in the low elevation canyons a few weeks
ago, but enjoying the last of it's flight presently.  Other Lycaenids
included Callophrys affinis (Bramble Hairstreak), Callophrys augustinus
(Brown Elfin), and a single gorgeous Atlides halesus (Great Purple
Hairstreak) that flew at me, buzzed back into my face, and then zipped on up
the trail.  I love that bug.
 
Male Zerene eurydice (California Dogface) was also in the canyon, with
several sightings throughout the morning.  Anthocharis sara was also quite
common, though we found only a single female.  I was pleased to find
Anthocharis lanceolata australis still flying, and managed to net a pair.
Pieris rapae was also found nectaring.
 
Nymphalids included the Gabb's Checkerspot, a few pristine Limenitis
lorquini (Lorquin's Admiral), Adelpha bredowii (California Sister),
Polygonia satyrus (Satyr Anglewing), and Phyciodes mylitta (Mylitta
Crescentspot).
 
The only skipper encountered besides the Duskywings was a surprise singleton
of Thorybes pylades (Northern Cloudywing), which Bill found dabbing moisture
in a Cuatro de Mayo puddle party of Propertius, Echo Blues, and Sonoran
Blues.
 
Mark Walker.
Oceanside, CA
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/leps-l/attachments/20020505/0bd6be23/attachment.html