Exploring with butterflies and dragonflies

VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

The world of invertebrates offers lots of challenges, because there

are so many species to learn. We have had several humbling

experiences recently, as we’ve opened our eyes to butterflies and

dragonflies. Time and again, we’ve had to turn to field guides to

help us identify these colorful critters.

Our front yard pond attracts quite a few dragonflies. We’ve come

to recognize species such as the red saddlebags and black saddlebags.

But a month ago, a brilliant red dragonfly lighted on a dried plant

stalk that angled out over the pond. With careful stalking and full

use of the zoom feature on my digital camera, I was able to capture

some clear, frame-filling shots. I compared my pictures to the ones

in Kathy Biggs’ book, “Common Dragonflies of California.” It sure

looked like a flame skimmer to me.

Vic suggested that I e-mail the picture to Bob Miller, his birding

buddy in Brawley. Bob is a professional birding guide who also

specializes in dragonfly photos, which you can see on the Internet at

southwestbirders.com. Bob said it was not a flame skimmer, but the

more rare neon skimmer. There was no photo of the neon skimmer in

Kathy Biggs’ book, nor in Bob’s photo collection, so I don’t feel bad

about not having identified it correctly.

One of the best butterflies that we spotted in our yard recently

was an anise swallowtail. This butterfly has more black on the wings

and is smaller than the Western tiger swallowtail, which also

frequents our yard. A few years back, we had a third swallowtail

species called the giant swallowtail in our backyard.

Another new butterfly sighting occurred about a week ago at

Shipley Nature Center. The masses of marsh fleabane were alive with

butterflies, called fiery skippers. It was a sight to behold, all

those bright orange little butterflies atop the fuzzy pink flowers of

the marsh fleabane.

But among the fiery skippers was a butterfly I didn’t recognize.

Not having my camera, I tried to memorize its appearance. The dark

gray, nearly black, wings with white rim along the hindwings and

faint blue spots on the forewing were distinctive. That made the

butterfly easy to identify as one of a group called duskywings, but

narrowing down the species took a bit more work, since southern

California has six species of nearly identical duskywings.

Most of the duskywing species have narrow ranges and are found

only in the Santa Ana or San Gabriel mountains. I thought that the

butterfly looked most like the mournful duskywing, but they are here

only from March to May, and shouldn’t be here in late September. They

also are not common.

The funereal duskywing is found here from February through October

and is the most common of the duskywing species. Vic and I mulled it

over and decided that the butterfly was most likely a funereal

duskywing. A few days later, we received a photo via e-mail from Mark

Bixby, who had photographed and identified a funereal duskywing on or

near the Bolsa Chica Mesa, so they’re definitely in our area at this

time.

Funereal duskywing caterpillars feed on legumes such as bur clover

and deerweed. This latter plant is found locally mainly on Huntington

Mesa. The Bolsa Chica Stewards are planting deerweed on the Bolsa

Chica Mesa, and the Friends of Shipley Nature Center are also

planting it, so we may see more funereal duskywings in Huntington

Beach as their habitat improves. These rapid breeders can go through

three generations during the course of a year. The first brood comes

out of their cocoons in February or early March. The next generation

hatches in mid-May to late June, and the last generation flies from

late August through October.

Like many butterflies, funereal duskywings have scent scales.

Males have these specialized scales in a fold on their wings.

Funereal duskywings are unusual in that females of this species also

have scent scales, which are located on their abdomens. These

modified scales release chemical attractants called pheromones. Many

insects use these chemical signals to find others of their species

that are ready to mate.

Last Sunday, Vic and I took a hike in Mason Regional Park in

Irvine. We debated about whether finding the ant-covered head of a

dead gopher by the trail or seeing ten white-tailed kites in one tree

was the most interesting sight. I voted for the gopher, but being a

birder, Vic voted for the kites. A runner-up sighting was the red

crayfish in the stream, but the Lorquin’s admiral butterfly was

definitely the best insect sighting. This gorgeous butterfly is

mainly black, with red tips on the forewing, and a broad white

longitudinal stripe that runs from forewing to hindwing.

The Lorquin’s admiral is restricted to riparian habitats. The only

other ones we’ve seen have been along a stream in Big Bear. It was a

thrill to finally see one here in Orange County. The Lorquin’s

admiral is a fairly sedentary butterfly, and is increasingly rare.

Caterpillars of this species feed on willows. But as natural stream

habitats give way to cleared and concrete-lined flood control

channels, beautiful butterflies such as this are eliminated.

As always, we encourage you to get out and explore the wild world

around you. You never know what delightful surprises you may find.

Maybe you’ll even be lucky enough to see a dead gopher’s head.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.