And the Anise Spring Flight is Waning. . .

A wild Anise Swallowtail, June 26

Anise Swallowtails (Papilio zelicaon) are highly multivotine here in the East Bay where the winters are so mild. But even so, it seems the massive flight of late spring has begun to come to an end and eggs are becoming more difficult to find for a while. 

---

Anise Swallowtails (Papilio zelicaon) are by far the most common swallowtails here in Albany, CA and they breed relentlessly throughout the year from April to as late as December (yes, we have found a few stray caterpillars during winter!). However, like most multivoltine butterflies, they do still follow some flight time guidelines despite their generations overlapping vehemently later in the season. As a tradition, diapausing pupae in our region (and most regions, we we would think) emerge in one enormous flight sometime during the spring, peak in May and June and then level off for the rest of the summer. So by the Fourth of July, most butterflies scarce. 

​Today when we were out searching from some fresh eggs to replenish our stock of wild-caught individuals to keep the new genes pumping in for variation in breeding, and only found a measly three after two hours of searching. For the past few weeks, we have noticed a steep decline in eggs and this week there have not been a single egg to be found anywhere in over ten different distinct locations locally. We did, however, collect a total of twenty caterpillars, a few of which were larger than the second instar which are only really possible to find later during season (now), especially since this species exhibits especially considerable R-selection.   

Because we have not been keeping a log of our P. zelicaon shenanigans (rearing notes) save for our experimental citrus and starving group caterpillars, here are some collection stats for the past few weeks, discluding any individuals obtained through hand-pairing. 

---

Collection Log 6/14-7/5:

6/14: 92 eggs and 19 caterpillars; home (Albany); Ohlone Greenway at Brighton Ave. (Albany and El Cerrito)
6/15: 9 eggs; home (Albany) 
6/16: 6 eggs; Ohlone Greenway at Brighton Ave. (Albany and El Cerrito)
6/17: 68 eggs; home (Albany), residential home (Albany), across Marin Elementary School (Albany), Ohlone Greenway at Gilman St. (Berkeley)
6/19: 5 eggs; home (Albany)
6/20: 48 eggs; home (Albany), residential home (Albany), across Marin Elementary School (Albany), Ohlone Greenway at Gilman St. (Berkeley), residential home (Berkeley), residential home (Berkeley), residential home (Berkeley), Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School campus and garden (Berkeley) 
6/22: 50 eggs; Ohlone Greenway at Brighton Ave. (Albany and El Cerrito)
6/23: 10 eggs and 14 caterpillars; Ohlone Greenway at Brighton Ave. (Albany and El Cerrito), residential home (Albany)
6/25: 25 eggs; home (Albany); Ohlone Greenway at Brighton Ave. and Lincoln Ave. (Albany and El Cerrito)
7/1: 30 eggs and 10 caterpillars; home (Albany); Ohlone Greenway at Brighton Ave. (Albany and El Cerrito)
7/5: 4 eggs, 20 caterpillars; home (Albany), Ohlone Greenway at Gilman St (Berkeley), residential home (Berkeley)

Total: 347 eggs and 63 caterpillars from 6/14-7/5 (22 days)

- Brian