Rearing notes for a common checkerspot (Pyrgus communis) fourth larva originally found as an egg on wild mallow (Malva sp.) in Albany, California Rearing notes 8/13/17-8/16/17: 8/16:
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![]() Authors Brian Liang
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On what is one of our last trips to Albany Hill (Albany, California), we found some checkerspot skipper (Pyrgus communis) eggs and adults and west coast lady (Vanessa annabella) eggs. Fast and darty as always, it was hard to get close to this checkerspot skipper (Pyrgus communis) to take pictures of it. Unlike other skippers, we almost always only find them near mallow (Malva), which the larvae eat, or dry grassy areas in general where the plants grow. We have never seen them nectar at anything except for mallow flowers and the flowers of other small plants on the ground. Although we see checkerspot skippers throughout the year, the only time we kind actually find a decent amount of their eggs is towards the end of summer. A few weeks ago we found one and today we found another with trying very hard. Of course, we have never known them to be very common around here, so it was still a nice find. We would have taken it home if we weren't leaving in a few days. We also found at least a dozen or two west coast lady (Vanessa annabella) eggs scattered around. It seems that the painted ladies (V. cardui) take the spring, red admirals (V. atalanta) take the summer, and these west coasts take the end of summer and fall. ![]() Authors Brian Liang Rearing notes for a common checkerspot (Pyrgus communis) third larva originally found as an egg on wild mallow (Malva sp.) in Albany, California. Rearing notes 8/6/17-8/10/17: 8/10:
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![]() Authors Brian Liang Rearing notes for a common checkerspot (Pyrgus communis) second larva originally found as an egg on wild mallow (Malva sp.) in Albany, California. Rearing notes 8/2/17-8/5/17: 8/5:
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![]() Authors Brian Liang Rearing notes for a common checkerspot (Pyrgus communis) larva originally found as an egg on wild mallow (Malva sp.) in Albany, California. Rearing notes 7/30/17-8/1/17: 8/1:
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![]() Authors Brian Liang Today we found a common checkerspot skipper (Pyrgus communis) egg on mallow (Malva) at Albany Hill (Albany, California). As always, during the late summer common checkerspot skippers (Pyrgus communis) become common on mallows (Malva). It seems it is getting close and they are just starting to trickle in. Today we found a single egg on mallow at Albany Hill. The egg is a tiny white colored dome shaped thing. Probably fresh. It was located on the underside of a leaf near the edge which is pretty typical based on last year's collections. There are actually lots of mallows growing among dead grasses and other little weeds, but there only seemed to be one plant -- a large and mature one -- that was getting all the attention because we also found some other stuff on it. We also saw an adult flying about nearby these mallows which was probably a female. ![]() Authors Brian Liang 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 The fifth installment of rearing notes for wild caught Common Checkered Skippers (Pyrgus communis) that we found as eggs or caterpillars on wild, introduced mallow (Malva). Rearing notes 10/24/16-11/1/16: 11/1:
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- Brian
The fourth installment of rearing notes for wild caught Common Checkered Skippers (Pyrgus communis) that we found as eggs or caterpillars on wild, introduced mallow (Malva). Rearing notes 10/16/16-10/23/16: 10/23:
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- Brian
The third installment of rearing notes for wild caught Common Checkered Skippers (Pyrgus communis) that we found as eggs or caterpillars on wild, introduced mallow (Malva). Rearing notes 10/8/16-10/15/16: 10/15:
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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 |