We found mating umber skippers (Poanes melane), common checkerspot skippers (Pyrgus communis) and gray hairstreaks (Strymon melinus) at Albany Hill (Albany, California). Once it hits summertime, we get all kinds of these common little prairie butterflies. Umber skippers (Poanes melane) are the most common skipper and gray hairstreaks (Strymon melinus) are the most common hairstreaks and we have been seeing many of them at Albany Hill these days. In fact, we witnessed two umber skippers in copula, the only ever natural butterfly pairing we have ever observed besides monarchs (Danaus plexippus). They must male must have been "done" by the time we got there because they separately promptly after taking the photograph. We also spotted some common checkerspot skippers (Pyrgus communis) two days ago, which, despite its name isn't actually that common here. Like the gray hairstreaks, it is a mallow (Malva) feeder which is where we discovered them. They were quite likely females looking to oviposit, but from a brief glance we couldn't find any eggs. Later in the season (August to September), however, they should be very easy to find. Alas, we would be in Ithaca by then. ![]() Authors Brian Liang
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Rearing notes for our umber skippers (Poanes melane). These were found as eggs and reared on Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon). Rearing Notes 3/8/17-3/11/17: 3/11:
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Rearing notes for our umber skippers (Poanes melane). These were found as eggs and reared on Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon). Rearing Notes 1/28/17-2/25/17: 2/25:
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- Alan
Rearing notes for our umber skippers (Poanes melane). These were found as eggs and reared on Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon). Rearing Notes 1/12/17-1/22/17: 1/22:
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- Alan
Rearing notes for umber skipper (Poanes melane) chrysalises that were originally obtained as eggs laid by two wild caught females in captivity or found on various wild grasses in the Albany Eastside Permaculture Garden. Rearing notes 12/17/16-12/26/16: 12/26:
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- Brian
The first of a large batch of umber skipper (Poanes melane) caterpillars that were orginally collected as eggs or immature larvae on grasses has built a cocoon. After 29 days since we had our first umber skipper molt to the fifth and final instar, we have our first one to complete building a cocoon. What a frighteningly long wait for these guys! 29 days is quite an unexpectantly long interval for this instar, considering that the caterpillars are so small (relatively, that is, to some other genera) and they typically have many broods throughout the year. And the grasses that they eat shouldn't be the worst host plant ever; they should be quite nutritious even at this time of year. The caterpillars appeared to grow to maximum size in only about a week or so but then seemed to stall indefinitely! The fact that it has been cooler in recent weeks is definitely a contributing factor to this slow growth (assuming that it is slower than normal growth). But what may also be a factor is disease, which, in hindsight was more or less inveitable given our situation and season. The cold, the extremely high humidity in the closed container and the house in general (due to rain), the lack of air flow, and the poor quality of the leaf cuttings that were only changed 2-4 times a week certainly took a toll on the caterpillars as the weeks went by. We had our first caterpillar fall from what appeared to be disease a few weeks ago and since them we have had a couple more deaths already. We believe that it is highly likely that some of the caterpillars that appear to be healthy are already infected and this is what is affecting their growth in a negative way. Like people, the caterpillars do have immune systems that can handle disease to an extent so sometimes even infected individuals can sometimes survive to adulthood but will still display temporary symptoms like the stalled growth. However, potential disease factors aside, the most likely culprit is probably what they are eating. Grasses are notorious for containing very little nutrients, much less when compared to flowering plants. It is not uncommon for grass eating species to take a few months to complete development, so the two months it took our umber skippers to grow is nowhere near out of the ordinary. On top of that, almost all skippers including the umber skipper are supposed to diapause in the larval stage until spring and it is possible that things got a bit complicated because of this. Clearly, the ones that have already pupated did not go into diapause, probably due to indoor conditions, but they may have been slightly confused nonetheless. The cocoon that was finally spun today may not be complete, but it was holding together enough so that we could pull it off the petri dish (it was attached to it on one side) and reveal the silk work. The cocoon is essentially a clump of grass blades stuck together with a layer of soft white silk (removing the grass will break the cocoon). It is quite thin so in some places the caterpillar inside is still somewhat visible. It actually doesn't appear to be quite that much different than the silken nests that the caterpillars regularily make to rest in or to molt; the only difference is that it is definitivly thicker now. However, one interesting thing to note about it is that there are is a pile of messy silken balls on one side (shown in the bottom middle and left). We aren't even exactly sure that stuff is silk. It actually resembles the white powders clumps on the last two abdominal segments of the fifth instar caterpillars (see rearing notes 12/1/16-12/11/16) when it is rubbed off. Perhaps we will get some more insight on this when a few more build their cocoons. - Brian
Rearing notes for umber skippers (Poanes melane) that were obtained as eggs laid by two wild caught females in captivity or found on various wild grasses in the Albany Eastside Permaculture Garden. Rearing notes 12/1/16-12/11/16: 12/11:
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- Brian
Rearing notes for Umber Skippers (Poanes melane) that were obtained as eggs laid by two wild caught females in captivity or found on various wild grasses in the Albany Eastside Permaculture Garden. Rearing notes 11/13/16-11/30/16: 11/30:
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- Brian
Rearing notes for a few Umber Skippers (Poanes melane) that were obtained as eggs laid by two wild caught females in captivity or found on various wild grasses in the Albany Eastside Permaculture Garden. Rearing notes 10/30/16-11/12/16: 11/12:
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- Brian
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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 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 |