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
Comments
|
Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
August 2017 (49) July 2017 (121) June 2017 (79) May 2017 (77) April 2017 (91) March 2017 (35) February 2017 (12) January 2017 (10) December 2016 (12) November 2016 (26) October 2016 (49) September 2016 (84) August 2016 (94) July 2016 (99) June 2016 (53) May 2016 (21) April 2016 (4) January 2016 (1) August 2015 (3) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (2) June 2014 (3) May 2014 (1) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (3) December 2013 (2) November 2013 (2) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (11) August 2013 (15) July 2013 (9) June 2013 (5) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (3) March 2013 (2) February 2013 (3) January 2013 (2) December 2012 (2) November 2012 (1) October 2012 (2) September 2012 (2) August 2012 (5) July 2012 (1) June 2012 (1) Authors
![]() ![]() Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |