cloudless sulphur ~ 01/17/15 ~ Los Osos/Baywood Park

female cloudless sulphur (BAMONA)

Phoebis sennae marcellina (BOA)

(UC Irvine, SoCal Butterflies, BOA plates, Flickr)

If I didn't know I took this picture on Saturday in the middle of January, 105 miles down the coast as the crow flies in Los Osos/Baywood Park, I would have guessed this was taken sometime in late September or October, based on the yellow and green coloring of the sweetgum (in the garden behind the Back Bay Inn).  Up here in Monterey, November is usually when sweetgum leaves have already finished turning bright red, before dropping completely off the tree.  Apparent seasons on the coast continually surprise me, even after living here for 12 years.  I can't tell you much about the timing of the butterfly, either.  I don't think January is typical for cloudless sulphur sightings in CA considering there's only one report this year down in Orange Co. and only one other (ever!!!) single report way back in 1977 down in Riverside Co. (according to BAMONA and an additional quick internet search). Both Art and Chris make little mention of the cloudless sulphur, because it's a more southerly butterfly.  So, is this a migrant?  Did it recently emerge from its crysalis nearby?  Who knows?

CA dogface ~ 07/17/14 ~ Podere di Farfalla

male California dogface nectaring on bull thistle

male Zerene eurydice nectaring on Cirsium vulgare

Asteraceae

(UC Irvine, Las Pilitas Nursery, Shapiro, old BOA)

Despite the fact our official state insect seems to fly practically all year around here (Monterey Co. and Pinnacles), I've only ever spotted this yellow butterfly a couple times.  It's frequently reported that its only larval host plant is false indigo (Amorpha californica).  Either that's not entirely correct, or plant folks generally don't bother looking for this native shrub.  I say this because the plant checklists for Podere di Farfalla and San Benito County strikingly do not include false indigo, notwithstanding the reported 10-month flight period of the CA dogface in these same areas.

As a note to myself, I want to be sure to not mistake the CA dogface for the superficially similar orange sulphur (Colias eurytheme), another butterfly I don't often see and have yet to photograph.