Lep Log

New PA Butterfly Atlas Released

Rick — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:28:24 +0000

David Wright released the newly revised Atlas of Pennsylvania Butterflies (11th Edition, rev.) today on PaLepsOdes. It’s his usual fine work of combing through state records and sorting them by county. You can check it out and download a PDF: Atlas_PA_Bflies.11th-ed.2012

MNPS Program: Landscaping to Attract Butterflies and Other Wildlife

Rick — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:12:55 +0000

Maryland Native Plant Society Monthly Meeting:

Landscaping with Native Plants to Attract Hummingbirds, Butterflies, and Other Wildlife
31 Jan 2012 7:30 PM
Kensington Library, Kensington, MD

Speaker: Christa Partain

Local animals need food provided by gardeners due to extensive habitat loss. Learn the best native plants to attract the 3 B’s: birds, bees, and butterflies. Christa Partain, horticulturist and plant ecologist, brings insight into how to make your yard friendly to wildlife.

Location: Kensington Library.

Directions: From the Washington Beltway (I-495)

Take Connecticut Avenue north to the third signal after the Beltway. Turn left onto Knowles and go 2 1/2 blocks to the library on the right.

The meeting is open to non-members.

Next WABC Meeting February 23

Rick — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:26:43 +0000

Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:30 PM
Topic: Gardening for Wildlife and Winged Wonders!
Speaker: Lisa Bierer-Garrett, Patuxent Wildlife Research RefugeThis meeting is free and open to the public.

Long Branch Nature Center
625 South Carlin Springs Road
Arlington, Virginia

Naturalist Lisa Bierer-Garrett, one of the original members of WABC, will speak on butterfly and wildlife gardening for your backyard. Lisa, a Calvert County, MD resident and longtime butterfly-garden caretaker for several county parks, will discuss how to look at your space and plan a great garden that is attractive to pollinators, birds and and other critters. She tends towards using native plants and developing native habitats that are attractive to monarchs. She has been tagging monarchs for more than a decade with Monarch Watch. Join Lisa to discuss what you most want to attract to your backyard and she will try to work out a great garden plan!

Prior to being the Wildlife Images Bookstore manager at Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge in Laurel, MD, Lisa was owner of the Bowie Wild Bird Center (closed) and a naturalist for Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC)/Prince George’s County Parks.

Butterflies of Singapore — Rogue’s Gallery

Rick — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:26:34 +0000

The Butterflies of Singapore Website has a very nice feature that focuses on one butterfly species every month, usually with lots of photos and accompanying text comments but sometimes — as in this month with the Malay dartlet – a full life history photo study. Browsing through the site’s extensive list of “butterfly of the month” listings is a great way to ignore the snowflakes outside this week.

MNPS Meetings of Interest to Lepsters

Rick — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:28:12 +0000

The Maryland Native Plant Society, Greater Baltimore Chapter, has a couple of upcoming winter lectures with great relevance for those of us whose main interest is butterflies. The January lecture is about our favored Leonard’s skipper habitat, Soldiers Delight, and the restoration efforts ongoing there. February’s feature is wavy-leaved basketgrass ecology, and we all know that basketgrass is spreading rapidly along wooded paths and forest margins across the region where it outcompetes native host and nectar plants (although I did see northern pearly-eye ovipositing on it in Monocacy NRMA in 2010). And the March session is about native lupine conservation — a preferred host for at least some local populations of frosted elfin. The lectures are open to non-members. Registration is not required.

*Soldiers Delight Restoration*
Date: January 18, 2012 @ 7pm
Speaker: Wayne Tyndall
For the past 20 years, Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources has coordinated the restoration of indigenous grassland and oak savanna communities in Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, including pine removal, prescribed burning, managed deer hunts, and invasive species management. DNR Restoration Ecologist, Wayne Tyndall, will give an overview of what has been learned about the indigenous serpentine ecosystem, including geology, origin, and landscape history, plus a summary of past, present, and future restoration and management efforts.
Location: Irvine Nature Center, 11201 Garrison Forest Rd., Owings Mills, MD 21117. http://www.explorenature.org/

*Wavy-leaved Basketgrass Ecology*
Date: February 15, 2012 @ 7pm
Speaker: Dr. Vanessa Beauchamp
Maryland is “ground zero” for the invasive plant, wavy-leaved basketgrass (Oplismenus hirtellus subsp. undulatifolius). Towson University plant ecologist, Vanessa Beauchamp will discuss the ecology of this insidious non-native grass.
Location: Howard County Conservancy, 10520 Old Frederick Road, Woodstock, MD 21163. http://www.hcconservancy.org/

*Saving the Sundial Lupine*
Date: March 21, 2012 @ 7pm
Speaker: Dr. Sara Tangren
The University of Maryland Arboretum and Botanic Garden has completed it first Rare Plant Heritage Project, conservation of the state-threatened sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis). Soil Scientist and Plant Ecologist, Dr. Sara Tangren, will discuss the unique habitats where Maryland’s remaining lupines grow, the factors responsible for their precipitous decline, and the successful efforts that are being made to save them.
Location: Irvine Nature Center, 11201 Garrison Forest Rd., Owings Mills, MD 21117. http://www.explorenature.org/

Contact Christa Partain if you have any questions: cpartain@gmail.com

Enter the New Year

Rick — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:45:14 +0000

I spent the early morning today at Kenilworth Aquatic Garden, freezing, shivering in the occasional snow flurry, and looking in vain for some of the more interesting birds that have been seen here recently. The blustery wind off the marsh on the overlooks at the boardwalk trail reminded me very clearly why I prefer butterflies and botanizing to birding.

I grew up birding, and it’s still one of my great passions. But there are four things that genetically predispose me to other forms of nature study:

1) I admit it: I like to sleep in. So do butterflies. Plants don’t care if I look for them at noon or midnight.

2) I freeze easily. Give me a steaming hot summer day any time. You don’t look for butterflies when it’s five below zero. On the other hand, days like this convince birders that irruptive northern finches could be in any overgrown field or conifer and REI has a rush on fleece underwear.

3) I get seasick. There are no pelagic trips for butterflies or trilliums.

4) I have no ear for warbler songs, the stock in trade for spring birding. Butterflies don’t sing (at least not in a range I have to worry about).

On the other hand, you can bird if you must from before sun-up to midnight, on cloudy days, even in relatively substantial rain. You can botanize 24/7 too if you have a flashlight, but I don’t recommend it. Butterflies are notoriously fickle; most of them pull a disappearing act the minute the sun goes behind a cloud, or the temperature dips into the 50s. And don’t even start comparing the number of great field guides and electronic birding apps with the meager selection of ID options for butterflies. And how about an eButterfly complement to eBird?

So birding makes a great wintertime substitute for butterflies and wildflowers — and one might on rare occasions be out on warm winter days looking for hermit thrushes or winter wrens and stumble on a mourning cloak or anglewing, if you’re really lucky. Otherwise, I’ll trade in my close-focus bins for a spotting scope and freeze next weekend, standing on the headland looking out over the bay for Barrow’s goldeneye…

Compton’s Tortoiseshell in Mission TX!

Rick — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:35:11 +0000

The folks at the National Butterfly Center noted today that a Compton Tortoiseshell has been spotted there this week:

>>Today is the second day in a row that a Compton Tortiseshell has been seen at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas. Jeff Glassberg stated “That’s incredible! It’s a Compton Tortoiseshell, a butterfly never before reported south of Missouri in the Midwest! I would say that, for the Valley, this is more unusual than almost any Mexican stray.” <<

The question becomes, where did it come from, and how do we find that out?

Nick Grishin replied on the NABA chat listserv that — in apparent conflict with long-held NABA views about capture/collecting of butterflies, which recently erupted online into a rather heated exchange — the only real way to find out is to take a DNA sample, either a part of or the entire insect:

>>This is exactly the case when the butterfly should be collected and at least one of its tarsi/legs removed. After that, if so desired, it could be released, although keeping it might be more beneficial (in case experiment with the leg fails, or more DNA is needed from the body).

The tarsus contains enough DNA to get some sequences. These sequences could be compared to Compton Tortiseshell sequences across the US, and we will have a chance of figuring out which population the bug came from. DNA sequences vary a little bit with the population – e.g. insects in the west differ from those in the east. Is it from the closest populations in Missouri? Or is it from Canada? We might have an answer.

If the butterfly is eaten by a bird, we will lose this chance. I hope proper authorization could be obtained to perform this interesting, one-of-a-kind scientific experiment.<<

This is certainly where the scientific rubber meets the road. Thoughts? Use the comment form below to weigh in …

Butterflies in Winter, January 15

Rick — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:22:38 +0000

[Readers note: This replaces a previous listing for this event with new information]

Butterflies in Winter ― Sunday, January 15, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Registration
Required. Location is Rust Library in Leesburg. Did you leave your garden a
little “messy” at the end of the season? Well, hidden in old flower stems or
tucked away in a hibernaculum, an egg or caterpillar may be waiting out the
chill. And what about the adults? Well – there just may be butterflies in
that leaf pile!Where do butterflies go in the winter? How do they hibernate?
In what form? How does a miniscule egg form into a beautiful creature of
flight? Can you raise butterfly eggs to adulthood for release? Nicole
Hamilton will answer all of these questions, show you some overwintering
chrysalids and more! Learn how you can help butterfly populations and
encourage butterflies to over-winter in your very own backyard. For those
interested, following the program, we’ll walk around the habitat restoration
area and see what signs of butterflies we can find. This free program is
sponsored by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. Sign up online. For questions,
contact Nicole Hamilton at nhamilton@loudounwildlife.org

Frank’s Photos

Rick — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:13:29 +0000

I never tire of looking through Frank Model’s Flickr photo sets of butterflies.

I spent a half hour or so again this morning, putting off some work around the house, because he noted on one of the lep listservs that he had added new pics to the Northeast U.S. photo set. And it’s just really hard to *only* look at that set — I found myself browsing through his European butterflies set (I am headed to Italy in the spring, after all), the southern Florida set (hey, there are often cheap midwinter fares to Orlando), and the Wyoming-Montana set (because I’m planning a Rockies lep trek this summer).

I’m guessing you’ll be just as addicted to these great photos.

Holiday Lepidoptera Quiz 2012

Rick — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:51:49 +0000

Our good colleagues at the Amateur Entomologist’s Society have posted their annual brain-teaser; looks like a tough one this year!

Christmas Lepidoptera quiz 2012

13 December 2011

This is a quiz put together each year by AES member Graham Wenman.

The answers to the clues are names of different butterflies and moths (mostly their English names, but 11 of the answers are scientific names).

Prizes

1st Prize: one year’s membership of the AES to include all three AES periodicals (normal cost £48 in the UK).
2nd Prize: one year’s membership of the AES to include any two periodicals of your choice (choose any two from the AES Bulletin; Bug Club Magazine; Entomologist’s Record).
3rd Prize: one year’s membership of the AES to include one periodical of your choice.

Entry Fee

There is no prescribed entry fee but a donation to the AES would be appreciated for each entry. You can donate online or by post to: AES, PO Box 8774, London SW7 5ZG.

Closing Date

The closing date for the quiz is 16th January 2012.

The answers should be sent by email to gjwenman@yahoo.co.uk (from whom ‘hints’ to some of the answers may also be obtained!).

The Quiz

Elegant bra Dan’s undone (14, 3 words)*
Where Tom allows kippers to hide (13, 2 words)
Indian (or African) raptor? (12, 2 words)*
Easy Row five mixed (8, 2 words)
Ragged deer reversed after switching vowels (10, 2 words)
Jaundiced view of an egg? (11, 2 words)*
Ewe, Dolly could be cloned (13, 2 words)
Bully found battered in hole (9, 2 words)
Make Rome snail free (13, 3 words)
Does it need mess clearing daily? (13, 2 words)
Bowl led particle – the opposite (12, 2 words)
Lost in Bermuda? (8)
“The Hoople”, rocking lumbered (12, 2 words)
Oxbridge sportsman is after Aphrodites’ lover (10, 2 words)
Argentine nimbus? (11, 2 words)
Explosion that our guns make? (11, 2 words)
Shivering, icy-clad and Hornby? (9, 2 words)
Through his legs! (6)
Used to be paired with treacle (9)
Hear Tom ranting! (7, 2 words)
If you catch one, Lemsip is recommended! (8)*
A wayfarer? (9)
Snooker’s Jimmy after most of golf’s Tiger (9, 2 words)
Strike at Audi America (13, 2 words)
Nails bent round famous “bender” (8)
Capone amongst cows, he proclaims (6)
Turn the green dial for me! (9)
PC only works on minor crime? (11, 2 words)
Mix Reg Fry’s “E” up? (10, 2 words, apostrophe)
I get laid when the nobs are about! (9, 2 words)
One of the gnioptera perhaps? (9, hyphen)
Once I was a dishclout! (15, 2 words)
Created by John H Pepper (5)
Moffet’s Admirable (10, 2 words)
“Irregular” – a maul, soon (9)
Ellie or Eliza has lice – destroy! (19, 2 words)
New rental? (6)
Phantom male miler, running (16, 2 words)
Discovered by wee taverner? (11, 2 words)
Perspex skies fluttering (12, 2 words)
Domino (with double six) scores 8, and is …… (11, hyphen)
The Marmoress (12, 2 words)
Black Pig’s captain goes about after losing west (6, 2 words)
“Old Ford model” has our queen cuss about it (18, 2 words)
Brute Burt bashed? (9)
Found in an intercom manual? (5)
Angels shiver before Hell? (11, 2 words)
Chaos when Fiona calls on us (14, 2 words)
K9? (9, 2 words, apostrophe)
Lost in a tunnel? (7)
Where to find London, Paris, Rome, etc (11, 2 words)
Sounds like Yusuf Islam’s jewel (11, 2 words, apostrophe)
I emerged from oily wallet! (10, hyphen)
My aunt’s son is from Berlin! (12, 2 words)*
Shock find! Bra in red Polo (10, 2 words)
This little one is a Friend! (11, 2 words)
You can ‘plug me in pip’ (apparently) (11, 2 words)
What valets may become (not footmen!) (6)
S & D art? (8, 2 words)
Moses Harris’s, Grand Surprise (16, 2 words)
I’m from Durban! (6, hyphen)
Hand (in Welsh) reversed (4)
Danger terror to X is abroad (17, 3 words)
Ancient loo key is lost! (13, 2 words)
Botched law allows it (11)
‘Ice flyer’ Waring identified? (14, 2 words)
A geisha maybe? (11, 2 words)
Does it hold up a holster? (16, 2 words, hyphen)
Form of Ephraim’s a high angel (8)
I run game badly and get 3rd place medal (14, 2 words)
Polypodium for example (4)
Samantha was on page 3 (3)
Town Blair exploited (9, hyphen)
Echium vulgare (13, 2 words, apostrophe)
Are you being served Captain? (7)
In Hell, you can drink here, it seems (8)
Loeb’s i/o accident is unusual! (17, 2 words)
Confine to school goalie (10)
What a nice Arran might produce (9, 2 words)
H.I.M. (13, 2 words)
Cure, or fester (8)
Change starters of mud, both (7, 2 words)
Allows, back to front (6)
Dance that is lazy tango (Scotch) (11, 2 words)
Yan Song was one (16, 2 words)
I.R. vaccination (sic) went wrong (16, 2 words)
Duchess of Lugo’s mother (12, 3 words)
Sarah Whitehead, the Black Nun? (7, 2 words)
Mugs play rave (and it’s “mixed with grey”) (12, 2 words)
Finish flag with “herrings” tail to head (16, 2 words)
If I buffer yours, will you …….? (10, 2 words)
Stuttering p-petal (6)
Hear anger strike maybe? (15, 2 words)
Gordon (PM) and ‘Sir Alan’ fired! (10, 2 words)
‘Angleps’ dog left, disturbed (11, 2 words)
Can it make a pie in Paris? (10, 2 words)
Run nude on pitch (6)
The result of a silly pub tiff (7, hyphen)
She got the needle in London! (9)
Smite wall in a Spooner trap? (10, 2 words)

Clues marked with an asterisk (*) were suggested by the following people: G Tordoff, D Lewis and K Norris. Many thanks.<<