Vanessa, Vanessa...Two special butterflies in Southwest Washington.

     For those of us who watch butterflies in Hawaii, the genus Vanessa is special.  This is the genus that includes Hawaii's only endemic big, beautiful butterfly, the Kamehameha Butterfly.  I realize that there is a second endemic butterfly , a small blue known as the Hawaii Blue butterfly, Udara blackburni.  It is small and difficult (for me,at least ) to find.  Definitely not big and beautiful. 

Kamehameha Butterfly  Hawaii DLNR

 

     It is interesting that in our tropical paradise only two butterflies survived the arrival of the Polynesians, roughly 1000 years ago.  Biologists somehow know that there was a massive loss of plant species associated with the arrival of what we now call the native Hawaiians, and entomologists hypothesize that there were butterfly species like the Kamehameha that were inextricably linked to some of these plants.  As there is no fossil record and the Hawaiians did not capture and preserve butterflies way back then, this must fall into the realm of speculation.  If you visit local museums, and even some hotels like the King Kamehameha, in downtown Kailua Kona, you can see artifacts from the period that preceded contact with Europeans.  On display you will see red feathered capes and helmets bedecked with the remains of numerous Hawaiian honeycreepers.  But there are no such artifacts composed of otherwise unknown butterfly wings.  Shazbatt!

    Most of the butterflies that we see in Hawaii might be categorized as Garden Butterflies.  The ubiquitous monarch is a classic example.  It was introduced fifty years after European contact, and thrives on the introduced Crown Milkweed plant, found as an ornamental throughout the islands. 

Snowberry Checkersot, Upper Washougal,  July 2023

 

      The Kamehemeha Butterfly is assuredly not a garden butterfly.  It is linked inextricably to the native Hawaiian nettle mamake.  Thus, the Kamehameha finds itself on a bit of an ecological  precipice.  However , the genus Vanessa includes several other species found in Hawaii that are not linked to a single native plant.  We have been lucky enough to see two of them, the Painted Lady and the Red Admiral.   I emphasize lucky because these species are not common and they are not linked to a single host plant, allowing them to crop up sporadically.  

   All this brings us to Southwest Washington in the summer of 2023.  In our infant career as lepidopterists, Sandra and I have been fortunate to see a modest variety of native butterflies in the PNW.  Up till now, the genus Vanessa has eluded us.  Were it not for our connection to the Kamehmeha, perhaps I wouldn't have been so acutely aware of this deficit.  But the same factor that makes them sporadic in Hawaii is in effect throughout the lower 48.  This is to say, both the Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterflies can survive on more than one host plant and might show up anywhere.  Or to look at it from a slightly different perspective, there is no really special place to search for those species. These are not introduced butterflies, but they both occur in lots of habitats throughout North America. 

My Red Admiral displays on a fern leaf.

     Two weeks ago, Sandra and I were watching butterflies up at Dougan Falls.  We enjoyed an explosion of Snowberry Checkerspots.  We had seen that butterfly up there before, but this was special, with many individuals present.  After this show on the upper Washougal, we went to our favorite lunch spot on Dougan Creek.  As I got out of the car, a butterfly exploded in a flurry of red from the adjacent foliage.   "Could this be the Red Admiral?" I wondered. Ten minutes later,down by the stream, Sandra saw the beast.  I was way up on the road.  Not wanting to risk my breaking a leg in a willy nilly charge into the stream bed, Sandra kept her discovery to herself.  Luckily, the admiral made a visit to the fern beside the car, allowing me to get this picture.  This is not a great picture, but the butterfly is unmistakable .  I was maneuvering for better lighting when the butterfly flew away.  

 

Cinnabar Moth

     Three days later we took our daughter Leslie to the same spots.  In just a few days, the snowberries were remarkably reduced in number, and the Red Admiral, probably a single erratic individual, was nowhere to be seen.  How things can change in just a few days!  The day was saved by a moth, which we netted and took home for further examination.  I believe you will have to admit that the Cinnabar Moth, T. jacobaebae,  is not as pretty as Leslie and Sandra, but it is distinctive enough to brighten any days butterfly excursion.  

    This handsome devil has a story of its own.  Tansy Ragwort is a plant that looks like a tall, multi-blossomed  dandelion and is noxious to cattle.  It was first found in the Portland area in 1922.  The agricultural community declared tansy to be a dangerous introduction and starting in the 1960s began releasing Cinnabar Moths, whose caterpillars eat tansy ragwort. 

    Of course, these well intentioned attempts to eradicate introduced species rarely work.  We still have rats in Hawaii, and we are now blessed with the introduced mongoose and the barn owl.  In Southwest Washington we still have tansy, but we are lucky, I suppose, to have these incredibly handsome moths, in addition.  I really like barn owls and what would Hawaii be with out the ubiquitous mongoose?  Similarly the Cinnabar Moth is pretty enough to brighten any cloudy day in the PNW.  Should we congratulate the agriculturalists for increasing our non-native diversity?  In the same way that a Barn Owl might (or might not) consume a rat, this is food for thought.

    Well, our discovery of the Cinnabar Moth was heralded by my son James who saw "small red butterflies"while mowing his back forty high on the slopes of Livingston Mountain in Clark County.  A  week ago, walking his street before dinner,  I got a look at what I was sure was a Painted Lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui.  Sandra and I have seen few butterflies up there.  Last summer we saw a total of three:  two tiger swallowtails and an anise. And so, dinner two days ago was to provide another opportunity to butterfly this potentially new source for leps (as the aficionados say.)  in Clark County.

A Painted Lady dines on lavender nectar, Livingston Mountain

    James' house sits at 1850 feet, whereas the spot we experienced the explosion of Snowberry Checkerspots is only 1000 feet.  Butterfly lore tells us that these insects  like mountaintops. 

   Additionally,  Tara (my DIL) and her neighbors have been planting some flowers. As we know, those antennae, so iconic to my butterfly models, are powerful chemoreceptors, sensitive to the three big Fs:  foliage, pheremones and food.  Well, I don't think the there has been an invasion of host plants, And as far as pheremones go, it takes two to tango.  But food is a controllable variable. As we will see,  lushly blooming cosmos (planted by Tara) and the  lavender just up the street are apparent sources of nectar and a fantastic lure for butterflies. Twice on the Big Island we were invited to gardens where Gulf Frits were nectaring in great numbers, along with a few other butterflies that we were unable to identify.  I've been looking for a garden that attracts butterflies in our area for several years and have not found one.  Yet.

An oblique view confirms the identification.  July 2023

    We arrived at 2:30 on a hot afternoon.  I got my net and binoculars and walked up the 100 feet to the neighbor's driveway.  I had not previously appreciated the blooming lavender, but it was unmistakable on this afternoon.  Immediately I got a good look at a Painted Lady.  I raced back and retrieved Sandra and the camera.  For the next ten minutes we were treated to a show, with at least one lady, along with numerous bumblebees, nectaring on the lavender.  Considering the proximity of the butterflies, my efforts were just better than mediocre.  

    After a bit the lady was joined with a Pale Swallowtail (the first of the season for us) and numerous Clodius Parnassians.  The only butterfly we see even occasionally on this street is the tiger swallowtail and he was present as well.  What an amazing show on a street most often devoid of butterflies.

A Pale Swallowtail enjoys the lavender nectar.

   Painted Lady is a very interesting species.  It is the most widespread of all butterflies, found across North America and in every other continent except Antarctica.  In Europe it is found in the summer from Iceland, and south and east, to Turkey.  In the fall, adults migrate to Africa,  pausing on the way to go through a life cycle.  Of course they have been extensively studied.  So we know they go through six life cycles on their round trip from Iceland to south of the Sahara. And we know that they are perhaps the only butterfly that continues to breed, producing successful offspring throughout the winter.  

    It has been noted that Painted Ladies alter their migration in some areas in response to a strong winter rainfall.  Could the winter rains in California have induced the appearance of Painted Ladies on Livingston Mountain?  Maybe!

A Clodius Parnassian enjoys Tara's Cosmos

    Getting back to the three Fs, Painted Ladies have a wide range of host plants: calendula, hollyhock,  mallow sunflower and thistle, among others.  This undoubtedly comes into play as they migrate through different areas.  Sandra has become fascinated with the prospect of finding butterfly eggs.  As we walked James' road, we could not help but notice the thistles that are just getting ready to bloom.  Are they also hosting painted Lady Caterpillars?  Stay tuned for the redoubtable SKG is on the job! 

    Because this butterfly is such a successful migrant, some scientists suspect that it was the species that made the journey across the Pacific to Hawaii, evolving over millions of years into the Vanessa we revere on the Big Island, Vanessa tameamea.  So to the ladies on Livingston Mountain, Sandra and I send forth aloha and a heartfelt E komo mai.

jeff