Category: Pieris_rapae

Various Butterfly Sightings at Tilden

4/29/2017

In this post, we record the butterflies that we observed at Tilden Regional Park (Berkeley, CA) around the Little Farm and Jewel Lake.

Today we took a short hike in Tilden Regional Park until we were just past Jewel Lake. There, we witnessed a completely different selection of butterflies than what we saw last summer in July. The first thing we saw was west coast ladies (Vanessa annabella) and painted ladies (Vanessa cardui) which seem to be in large numbers during this time. These were mostly flying around tall grasses and nectaring. We also saw a male sara orangetip (Anthocharis sara), which is a species that we have never seen before. This is probably one of the only times that we have seen a pierid around here besides the cabbage white (Pieris rapae) which we also saw on the way back. Also out of random chance, we also found a mylitta crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) and something that we cannot identify but looks vaguely like a some sort of Lycaenid. Both were flying among dead grasses and little weedy nectar plants away from the creek.

We also observed one or two western tiger swallowtails (Papilio rutulus). One was around the butterfly garden which is right beside the creek while the other one (it could have been the same one) was flying along the creek past Jewel Lake. They flew by too quickly to distinguish either by physical characteristics or by behavior whether they were male or female. Despite not seeing any eggs, we also saw a single pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor hirsuta) near pipevine, though we also could not tell if it was a male or female.

Authors
Brian Liang

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Pieris Rapae Rearing Notes (4/14/17-4/17/17)

4/17/2017

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Rearing notes for our cabbage white (Pieris rapae). It was collected as a first instar here in Albany, California and reared on a Brassica oleracea cultivar.

Rearing Notes 4/14/17-4/17/17:

4/17:

The chrysalis eclosed today into a male adult (one spot on forewing rather than two)
Not too much interesting about this species appearance wise; cream white wings with clear greyish green eyes

4/16:

The black markings on the wing are very clear now and the eyes and appendages are well defined; the pupa is nearly pharate

4/15:

Slightly more developed now; patterns and appendages are all more clearly defined now; eyes are becoming pale green

4/14:

The pupa of the larva that pupated on 4/3/17 is now near eclosion as the wing color and patterns are now visible; the eyes and appendages are also becoming distinct on the ventral side
The pupa is male based both on genital groove and the single rather than two spots on the developing forewing

Authors
Alan Liang

Comments

Pieris rapae Rearing Notes (3/19/17-4/3/17)

4/3/2017

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Rearing notes for our cabbage white (Pieris rapae) eggs and larvae collected on Brassica oleracea cultivars.

Rearing Notes 3/19/17-4/3/17:

4/3:

The prepupa pupated into a green form chysalis
Development time for larva took just 15 days

4/2:

The fifth instar has become a prepupae, becoming more compact in shape; it has a reddish piece of frass and began making a silk pad on the petri dish

4/1:

fed and grew a lot today due to high temperatures
Testes clearly visible on the dorsal abdomen (yellowish kidney shaped markings) indicating male

3/31:

Fifth instar has grown a bit, causing the setae to become more spread
the smaller larvae unexpectedly desiccated due to the sudden high temperatures and extremely dry humidity today (29%)

3/30:

The fourth instar molted into fifth isntar and now has much larger head capsule; the entire body is a more vibrant green while the ventral side is whitish; the yellow dorsal stripe is more clearly defined as well as two lateral stripes on each side along the spiracles

3/29:

Fourth instar feeds much more frequently and in larger amounts
The cuticle already looks tight and shiny again and the yellow spiracular spots are more obvious; looks to be in apolysis again already?

3/28:

Third instar molted into fourth instar and has already grown quite a bit; the yellow dorsal stripe is much more obvious now and the larva is a darker green overall

3/27:

Another two days and another instar - the third instar is now in apolysis for fourth instar now; the integument is shiny and tight
Most of the younger larvae are now second instars

3/26:

Third instar larva's spiracular rings are clearly yellow now; it feeds more often and has become quite a bit larger than before

3/25:

The second instar molted into third instar; the whole body is not slightly greener and hairier and a faint yellow dorsal stripe is now visible
The first instars are now in apolysis; counted nine in total after changing leaves

3/24:

Second instar already in apolysis after just two days even at cool temperatures; truly a very fast growing species

3/23:

Second insatr is a darker green and slightly larger; cuticle becoming tight and shiny already after just a day in the instar
Neonates have become translucent green upon consuming foliage

3/22:

The first instar molted into second instar; the head capsule is now green and hairy and the body is slightly greener and hairier
Several of the eggs hatched, though a few already desiccated or were possibly cannibalized (common occurrence with newborn Pieridae); the newborns are off white and are extremely small

3/20:

First instar in apolysis; cuticle very tight and shiny

3/19:

First instar larva has become slightly larger and greener but still translucent
Eggs have not hatched

Authors
Alan Liang

Comments

Pieris rapae Egg Collecting

3/18/2017

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With no better species currently in season yet, we decided to go ahead and collect some of the ever-common Pieris rapae (cabbage white) eggs just to help with the winter boredom.

Well, it's been a long time since we've reared this ridiculously common "pest", but since we don't have anything better to rear these days we thought, why not? This butterfly is one the first ones to be in flight owing to abundant and year-round host availability and its tolerance to cool, moist temperatures. There is pretty much nothing else we can rear right now besides it, and since it is so easy to obtain, all we had to do was take a few minutes at a vegetable garden and we had over a dozen eggs and a neonate - not bad for no effort (though back a four years ago when we reared a whole bunch of these, we were collecting them by the hundreds in one sitting). It really wouldn't even be that bad of a butterfly to rear - its just a nice Pierid, but due to its incredible abundance an range all over the world, it has simply become boring and considered a pest. Nonetheless, it's an easy rear so we'll just casually get these few eggs to adult and be done with. by then the weather will have warmed up enough for other butterflies like Papilio zelicaon.

Authors
Alan Liang

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What You Can See in Two Hours at Tilden

7/9/2016

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In just two hours on our hike at Tilden Regional Park (Berkeley, CA) encountered at least 8 different species of Lepidoptera including the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus), Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), California Sister (Adelpha californica) Painted Lady (Vanessa cadui), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) and the Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon).

As you have probably read in our other recent posts (here, here, and here), we went to hike on one of the many trails at Tilden Regional Park today because we have just received our brand new butterfly net. As an overview, Tilden -- like much of this part of California -- is basically a dry woodland (lots of trees and dried grass) but with some creeks to provide riparian habitat which some species prefer. Now we'll cut to the chase and just discuss some of the butterflies we today.

When we first got to Tilden, we saw a Painted Lady (Vanessa cadui) flying around some Redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) and bramble (Rubus ursinus). It was flying too fast to catch, but we did end up finding two Painted Lady caterpillars on milk thistle (Silybum marianum) later, when we actually started on one of the trails. A common species, yes, but not especially around here with the smaller West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) usually dominating the scene.

Before we got onto the trail, we first went to check out Tilden's butterfly garden. The naturalists at Tilden are pretty smart and they have some legitimate butterfly experts working there so the garden was pretty good. It has plenty of excellent butterfly nectar sources (the full list can be seen on their brochure) and some caterpillar host plants as well. When we got there, we saw two Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor) around the California Pipevine (Aristolochia californica) but we must have startled them because they quickly flew up into the trees to roost. We also saw a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) flying around the area but, like the Painted Lady, it was just too quick of a flyer (they move in quick fluttering spurts instead of easy glides like some swallowtails and Monarchs [Danaus plexippus]).

When we finally arrived on the trail, the first butterfly we saw were Common Buckeyes (Junonia coenia) all along the dead grasses, sunning themselves in the hot mid-afternoon sun. They were probably all males since the females of the species rarely show themselves unless they are around the host plant laying eggs, but we went for it anyway and caught five out of more than ten that we saw that day. We have never even seen the eggs or caterpillars of this species in real life despite them being so extremely common in dry, open areas like this (good examples are Albany Hill and the Ohlone Greenway) where there is an abundance of plantain (Plantago, a potential host plant). The second most common butterfly around these places is definitely the introduced pest, the Cabbage White (Pieris rapae), and you can bet that we saw plenty of those as well.

In the same little clearing where we saw our first Buckeyes, we also saw a majestic Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) gliding along the tops of some Eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus). But it was just too fast and too high up for us to even think about catching it. By the end of the two hours, we had seen at least three or so of them and weren't able to catch a single one.

While we were catching the Buckeyes, we also happened to step into a little patch of dead grasses where there were tons of Acmon Blues (Plejebus acmon) chasing each other around in aerial battles. We didn't try to catch these and they were probably all males as well anyway by this behavior. However, they were the only one of the seven identified butterflies we saw today (there were a bunch of other little gossamer-winged butterflies [Lycaenidae] and other brush-footed butterflies [Nymphalidae] like checkerspots but we didn't get a long enough look to identify them) that we got pictures of since they actually stopped long enough on the ground.

The last butterfly we saw today was the California Sister (Adelpha californica). Like all of the other species, they are not uncommon around here but this was our first time really seeing one up close. It stopped to nectar for a very long time but we weren't able to catch it or take any good photos because it was too far into the vegetation and we would have to cross a strip of spiky bramble to reach it.

In conclusion, it was a great day for butterfly sightseeing. Lots of beautiful species that we don't often encounter in the city. If only we could have caught a few and gotten pictures of them all. Perhaps next time. . .

- Brian

Comments

P. rapae Rearing Notes (5/1/16-5/14/16)

5/14/2016

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Rearing notes 5/1/16-5/14/16:

5/14:

5/8:

5/1:

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P. rapae Rearing Notes (July 2013)

7/31/2013

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The third installment of rearing notes for our Cabbage Whites (Pieris rapae). These were collected from various locations in egg or larval stages and reared indoors on various cultivated Brassica oleracea variations such as broccoli and kale.

Rearing Notes July 2013:

7/31:

7/30:

7/29:

7/28:

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Eclosing (4)

7/27:

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Eclosing (2)

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Expanding Wings (7)*

*Shown in 16x speed

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Eclosing (3)*

*Shown in 4x speed

7/26:

7/25:

7/24:

7/23:

7/21:

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Expanding Wings (6)*

*Shown in 16x speed

7/7:

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Eclosing (1)

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Expanding Wings (5)*

*Shown in 16x speed

7/6:

7/5:

7/3:

Fifth Instar Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Caterpillar Eating Broccoli (2)

Fifth Instar Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Caterpillar Eating Broccoli (3)*

*Shown in 16x speed

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Caterpillar Forming a Silk Girder (3)*

*Shown in 16x speed

7/2:

7/1:

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Pupating (6)*

*Shown in 16x speed

- Alan, Brian

Comments

P. rapae Rearing Notes (June 2013)

6/30/2013

Comments

The second installment of rearing notes for our Cabbage Whites (Pieris rapae). These were collected from various locations in egg or larval stages and reared indoors on various cultivated Brassica oleracea variations such as broccoli and kale.

Rearing Notes June 2013:

6/30:

6/29:

6/28:

6/27:

6/26:

6/25:

6/24:

6/23:

6/22:

6/21:

6/20:

6/19:

6/18:

6/15:

6/12:

6/11:

6/10:

6/7:

6/6:

6/4:

6/2:

6/1:

- Alan, Brian

Comments

P. rapae Rearing Notes (May 2013)

5/28/2013

Comments

The first installment of rearing notes for our Cabbage Whites (Pieris rapae). These were collected from various locations in egg or larval stages and reared indoors on various cultivated Brassica oleracea variations such as broccoli and kale.

Rearing Notes May 2013:

5/28: