Because the seasonality of insects is ecologically linked with the seasonality of plants, we record vernal plant growth to estimate when to expect certain insects and grow and familiarize ourselves with useful Lepidoptera host plants. Established Plants:
New Plants:
![]() Authors Alan Liang
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Because the seasonality of insects is ecologically linked with the seasonality of plants, we record prevernal plant growth to estimate when to expect certain insects and grow and familiarize ourselves with useful Lepidoptera host plants. Established Plants:
New Plants:
![]() Authors Alan Liang The California pipevines (Aristolochia californica) have begun to grow new shoots and flowers, meaning there should be pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor hirsuta) eggs on them soon. Like most other deciduous plants in our area, the California pipevines up in the hills are beginning to regrow their leaves and flowers as the weather warms. This plant is the sole host of the northern California pipevine swallowtail subspecies, Battus philenor hirsuta, and thus its regrowth is soon followed by the flight of these swallowtails which will lay large egg clusters on the growing shoots of the vine. It is very important that the vine be in a growing state because the butterflies refuse to oviposit on mature leaves, and the young larvae have trouble eating them. In fact, this is one of the prime reasons (the other being diapause) why the numbers of the butterfly decline in late summer when most pipevines cease growth, since the females have no where to lay their eggs on. Thus, spring time is the absolute best time to look for these eggs, as the butterflies will not only have a large flight due to all previous year generations breaking out of diapause, but because the pipevines are in the prime of their growth. Many of the pipevines right now are already covered in leaf buds and new vine shoots, while some are still covered in large masses of pipe-shaped flowers. Once these flowers fall off, those vines will also begin putting on vigorous vegetative growth as well. If the pipevine swallowtails were already in flight now, we're almost certain that these growing shoots would be clobbered with bright orange-red eggs, but we'll probably have to wait a few weeks for that. While we were up in the hills looking at California pipevines, we also took a quick look at some of the oak (Quercus) and ceanothus (Ceanothus) for any polyphemus (Antheraea polyphemus) or ceanothus moth (Hyalophora euryalus) cocoons, but unsurprisingly we found nothing as these species, especially H. euryalus, seem to have a very sparse distribution around here, and we don't have much expertise in finding wild cocoons in the winter. We also came across a California hop tree (Ptelea crenulata) beginning to regrow which might be useful for some swallowtails and Rothschildia sp. if we get any. ![]() Authors Alan Liang Because the seasonality of insects is ecologically linked with the seasonality of plants, we record prevernal plant growth to estimate when to expect certain insects and familiarize ourselves with useful Lepidoptera host plants.
![]() Authors Alan Liang Our grapevine (Vitis sp.) cuttings are beginning to grow leaves. After a a week or so since we saw signs of these cuttings begin to bud and five weeks since we collected them, they are beginning to put out new leaves. However, none have any rooted yet. These leaves look very vigorous and green, nothing like the nearly abscised crap we were forced to feed our achemons with last September/October that resulted in them being not nearly as large as they could have been (but still reasonable, at least). Hopefully, we can get our achemon rearing going again this year and feed them the good stuff; we know a ton of incredibly nice grapevine places around here that should be in leaf in a month or so that we're dying to make use of. ![]() Authors Alan Liang Because the seasonality of insects is ecologically linked with the seasonality of plants, we record prevernal plant growth to estimate when to expect certain insects and familiarize ourselves with useful Lepidoptera host plants.
![]() Authors Alan Liang We attempt to grow gapevines (vitis sp.) from dormant cuttings this year. About a month after collecting these grapevine (Vitis) cuttings and placing them in a vase of water indoors, several of them are beginning to bud, though there is no root growth yet. We also have a some other cuttings a few weeks older than these stuck in a pot with soil outside, but those have not yet shown any signs of growth. Vitis will mainly be useful for Eumorpha species, such as our E. achemon. These cuttings will definitely not be able to support a large clutch of larvae in their first year, but they will probably be great for getting the moths to lay eggs on. ![]() Authors Alan Liang Because the seasonality of insects is ecologically linked with the seasonality of plants, we record prevernal plant growth to estimate when to expect certain insects and familiarize ourselves with useful Lepidoptera host plants.
Because the seasonality of insects is ecologically linked with the seasonality of plants, we record prevernal plant growth to estimate when to expect certain insects and familiarize ourselves with useful Lepidoptera host plants.
- Alan
Deciduous trees in Albany, CA are beginning to show signs of breaking winter dormancy. We don't usually write about anything other than insects on here (it's an insect blog after all), but since botany and entomology go pretty much hand in hand, it doesn't hurt to talk about plants once in a while. Because most insects are herbivores, the seasonality of their life cycles correlates strongly with the seasonality of plants. Thus, we always make sure to keep a good eye out for when the trees begin to break winter dormancy and plants begin to grow again so we know when to expect certain insects. Here in Albany, CA (and much of the state), the winters are extremely short and relatively warm, and thus trees begin to grow as early as February unlike most other places in the country where you usually have to wait until April or May. Plum trees are usually the first of the fruit trees around here to bud, opening hundreds of blossoms in the course of a week or two followed by leaf growth. Just a week, our cherry plum tree (Prunus cerasifera) was only just starting to get flower and leaf buds all over its branches, and now it is covered in blossoms and leaf shoots. Once the blossoms fade, we can expect it to be green in a few weeks for our cecropias to feed on. Some other trees in our backyard that are breaking dormancy are our rose (Rosa sp.) and lilac (Syringa sp.), which had no traces of green two weeks ago. Rose grows quickly and will probably be nice and bushy in a couple weeks. Our lilac tree is quite small and hasn't done very well in past years (it hardly bloomed last year), but this year it looks like it has a lot of buds that are budding and will probably open in the coming weeks. Our lemon tree (Citrus limon) has been heavily pruned this year despite that citrus trees shouldn't be pruned much, simply because it is a very old tree and was becoming unhealthy so we wanted to reinvigorate it. Citrus trees are tropical and subtropical plants so they grow in response to rainfall changes and not temperature changes, but since this time of year also happens to be the rainy season, you can see the tree is beginning to grow and has several new shoots. Lemon tree shoots typically have a high concentration of anthocyanin which gives them a purple color while most other citrus are just green. We also have two apple trees (Malus sp.) in our back yard, one of which is quite large and vigorous in the summer while the other is sort of scraggly and only moderately vigorous. Right now both appear dormant with no signs of green, though it is possible that the buds are enlarging but we're not quite sure. Historically, they should start blossoming in March and have leaves by April, so it's still a bit early. However, it has been an especially cold and overcast February this year which may cause they to blossom a few weeks later than usual, but we'll see. Hopefully they will be ready in time for our cecropias which we anticipate to hatch some time in late March. - Alan
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Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects around our residence in Albany California, from 2012-2017. 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) 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 cinerea 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 celatus 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 Full Species List
(Alphabetical by common name) Butterflies & Moths Achemon sphinx Acmon blue African moon moth Anise swallowtail Atlas moth Black Swallowtail Cabbage looper moth Cabbage white "California" pipevine swallowtail Calleta silkmoth California ringlet California sister Carolina sphinx Ceanothus silkmoth Cecropia moth Cerisyi's sphinx Common buckeye Common checkerspot skipper Columbia silkmoth Cricula silkmoth Cynthia silkmoth Domesticated silkmoth Eastern festoon Eastern giant swallowtail Eastern tiger swallowtail Eri silkmoth Field crescent Fiery skipper Genista broom moth Gray furcula moth Gray hairstreak Gulf fritillary Imperial moth Indian tussar moth Jacobs' silkmoth Luna moth Modest sphinx Monarch Mournful duskywing Mourning cloak Mylitta crescent "Ophthalm" sphinx Oregon swallowtail Painted lady Pale swallowtail Peleides blue morpho Polyphemus moth Promethea silkmoth Red admiral Red postman Regal moth Salt marsh moth Sandhill skipper Sapho longwing Sara longwing Sara Orangetip Satyr comma Speckled green fruitworm moth Spotted tussock moth "Taiwan" Saw-winged sphinx Tiger longwing Two-tailed swallowtail Umber skipper Yellow-edged giant owl West coast lady Western giant swallowtail Western tiger swallowtail Western tussock moth White-lined sphinx Unidentified Butterfly & Moth Hybrids Black swallowtail × anise swallowtail Eastern tiger swallowtail× western tiger swallowtail Grasshoppers, Katydids, & Crickets Camel cricket Devastating grasshopper Mediterranean katydid Mexican bush katydid Pallid-winged grasshopper Stick & Leaf Insects Giant leaf insect Indian walking stick Mantises European mantis Ghost mantis Ants, Bees, Wasps, & Sawflies Argentine ant Black and white chalcid wasp European paper wasp Pediobius chalcid wasp Valley carpenter bee Western honey bee Yellow-faced bumble bee Unidentified Flies Common green bottle fly Unidentified True Bugs Leaf-footed bug Rough Stink Bug Southern green stink bug Dragonflies & Damselflies Neon skimmer Vivid dancer Beetles Convergent lady beetle Seven-spotted lady beetle Spotted cucumber beetle Western blood-red lady beetle Spiders (Arachnid) European garden spider Red-backed jumping spider |