Butterflies & Moths!

Common Sheep Moth - Hemileuca eglanterina

We came across this pair of Common Sheep Moths mating in the Lakes Basin this week, around 7,500' in elevation!  I've never seen these beautiful moths before, and their coloring was exquisite!  They were fairly large, with a wingspan of about 3". We watched them for a good 5 minutes and they were still mating when we left! Here's what butterfliesandmoths.org has posted about them.

"Adults emerge in early morning and mate in late morning. Females lay eggs in rings on plant stems. Eggs overwinter and hatch in April and May. Young caterpillars feed together in groups and when they are older they feed alone. Fully-grown caterpillars pupate in loose cocoons in the leaf litter or in burrows in soft soil, and adults emerge from July-September. At high elevations and northern latitudes, 2 years are needed to complete development. The cocoons overwinter and in the spring the adults emerge and start the cycle again.

Caterpillar Hosts: Mountain lilac (Ceanothus), mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata), bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), snowberry (Symphoricarpos), currant (Ribes), wild rose (Rosa), willow (Salix) and others.

Adult Food: Adults do not feed.

Habitat: From sea level to at least 8400 feet in a variety of habitats including chaparral, pine and redwood forests, oak woodlands, and riparian areas."

Ceanothus Silk Moth - Hyalophora euryalus

Another local moth that I've seen in the past is the large Ceanothus Silk Moth.

These gorgeous adult moths are large, with a wingspan of 3.5"-5"! As adults, their primary purpose is to reproduce, and do not feed. After mating and laying eggs the adults soon die. Again, here's what butterfliesandmoths.org has posted about them.

 

"Life History: Females glue eggs singly or in clumps on leaves of the host plant. The eggs hatch in 9-14 days and the caterpillars eat leaves. The cocoon is spun in the outer part of the host plant and is attached to a twig by only one-half its length.

Caterpillar Hosts: A wide range of plants including buckbrush (Ceanothus), manzanita (Arctostaphylos), gooseberry (Ribes), madrone (Arbutus menziesii), willows (Salix), alder (Alnus), and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides).

Adult Food: Adults do not feed.

Habitat: A wide variety of habitats including coastal areas, chaparral, and conifer forests."

Field Crescent - Hoffman's Checkerspot

Phycoides pulchella montana - Chlosyne hoffmanni 

 

There are many butterflies fliting around the Lakes Basin. They differ from moths in many ways.  Here are the basic differences:

 Butterfly vs. Moth

wings usually open at rest - wings usually closed at rest

usually diurnal - usually nocturnal

usually brightly colored - usually dully colored

usually have clubbed antennae - usually have "feathered" antennae

Adult butterflies spend most of their time searching for mates, laying eggs, feeding and resting. Males either search for mates or perch and wait for females to fly by. If another male comes near a perched male, they will often engage in an upward spiraling flight, after which the "intruder" usually leaves. If a female flies by, of the same species, the perched male will force the female to the ground to mate. Another method of perching is known as "hill-topping". 

Wikipedia states: "Males of many butterfly species may be found flying up to and staying on a hilltop - for days on end if necessary. Females, desirous of mating, fly up the hill. Males dash around the top, competing for the best part of the area - usually the very top; as the male with the best territory at the top of the hill would have the best chance of mating with the occasional female, who knows the "top male" must be strong and thus genetically fit. Studies have shown that even slight elevation differences on flat terrain can trigger hill-topping behavior. Flowering or tall trees may induce hill-topping behavior."

California Sister - California Tortoiseshell 

Adelpha californica - Nymphalis californica

Butterfly Facts

from butterflyconservatory.org

Wikipedia also states, "Butterflies have "complete" life cycles, with four different stages: egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), and adult. The entire life cycle, from the deposition of the egg to the emergence of the adult, usually takes about a month for most butterflies. Each species of butterfly has a different adult life span. Some adult butterflies only live for a few days, while others live for a few weeks or even several months (if they experience dormant periods of diapause or hibernation). The average lifespan for most adults is one to two weeks.

Butterflies have compound eyes and simple eyes. They see very differently from us; they can see ultraviolet rays (which are invisible to us)."

Great Spangled Fritillary (female - male)

Speyeria cybele leto

"A butterfly's antennae, palps, legs and many other parts of the body are studded with sense receptors that are used to smell. The sense of smell is used for finding food (usually flower nectar), and for finding mates (the female smelling the male's pheromones).

A butterfly's feet have sense organs that can taste the sugar in nectar, letting the butterfly know if something is good to eat or not. Some females also taste host plants (using organs on their legs) in order to find appropriate places to lay their eggs. These receptors (called chemoreceptors) are nerve cells on the body's surface which react to certain chemicals. We have similar receptors in our nose and on our tongue."

Flooded meadow near Frasier Falls

Lakes Basin Meadows

One day last week we decided to check out the Lakes Basin meadows. To our complete surprise we found one of the meadows totally flooded!!!  Lots of trees had fallen in the area and possible some had created a dam across the far end of the meadow!  Unfortunately we didn't have time to check it out, but will in the near future!  The last time we had been there was last fall, when the meadow was completely dry and the aspens had golden leaves! 

Creek running through Howard Meadow, bordered with Yampah and Asters!

 The Lakes Basin has many lovely meadows ranging is size from a few to several hundred acres. Although they all have many things in common, each one is delightfully unique. I never know what I might discover whenever I walk out into one of them.  

Meadow at the edge of Upper Tamarack Lake filled with Paintbrush!

Apart from being gorgeous, meadows are a very important part of the sierran ecosystem. The following quote from https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS

briefly summarizes their benefits to the environment.

"Besides supporting species not found elsewhere, meadows do many other things. They filter sediment from water flowing from surrounding slopes—providing clean water for wildlife and healthy habitat for aquatic animals that live in lakes and streams. Meadows provide an important breeding ground for invertebrates (such as insects), a key food source for many birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Meadow plants also provide food and habitat structure for small mammals that, in turn, provide an important prey base for raptors, coyotes, and other predators. Meadows are sponges, absorbing water as snowpack melts and holding that water like an underground water tank. By holding the water in the mountains, the risk of flooding in the Sacramento Valley is reduced significantly. Then, later in the summer, this stored water feeds the many streams and rivers in the mountains, so they continue to flow during the long dry summers."

Meadow off FS Road 09 filled with Yampah, White Brodiaea, and Mallows!

In the book Sierra Nevada (1970) the author, Verna R. Johnston, writes a delightful account of the wildlife that inhabits sierran meadows, including Pocket Gophers, California Moles, voles, Aplondontia, shrews, Coyotes, bats, deer, weasels, songbirds, and raptors! It is a fascinating account of the complex ecosystem of a meadow. I highly recommend her book! The following quote is her introduction to the subject of mountain meadows.

"This inherent rhythm, unique to each species, is very evident among the animals of the mountain meadows. Thousands of meadows, varying from small seepages to spacious ranches, intersperse the midmountain, higher mountain forests. Each, in an unmatched setting of its own, is a serene open place where morning dew hangs heavy on the grass and sedge, midday sun dazzles, evening's coolness brings the deer. But each is much more than grass, wet soil, wildflowers, deer at twilight. Each is an interlaced community of plants and animals whose lives affect each other intimately the year through, often in ways that barely show above the surface."

Meadow near Mud Lake filled with Paintbrush and Fireweed!

The meadows this year have been filled with thousands of flowers, more than I've ever seen before! Some of the meadows are starting to dry out, but the meadows at the higher elevations are still in full bloom! Such beauty!

Damp Earth Art

It was very HOT this week, but the smoke has diminished from the Oak Fire. Hopefully more rainstorms will come soon. We really need them. Please join me in my continuing hope for precipitation! Perhaps our collective efforts may help it happen.

I'm going to keep posting rain inspired writings, art, etc. on my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated.

Wishing for peace in Ukraine and

an immediate end to this senseless war!

What are my neighborhood songbirds doing?

What's happening in Sierra Valley?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

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