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| Arizona Sister, Utah August 2022 |
Over many years of watching animals, I have been lucky enough to be associated with three superb field biologists, which might in two of the cases be revised to animal finders. These guys are able to see a bird or a fish where the average mortal sees only a bush or a rock. Mike Van Ronzelen has for a few years now been watching birds in the St. Peter's Cloud Forest. I trust he is seeing some worthy birds on a daily basis. Peter is, of course, still around and you can see his pictures and enjoy his ramblings on his blog, one breath kohala. Of the three, Peter is the true field biologist. Extensively trained, he brings a different aspect to the sport of listing animals, be they bird, fish or insect.
Having named two, that brings me to my friend Bob Hillis. When he lived in Kona, Bob and I watched many a fine fish together. And as above, he pointed out a few fish that I wouldn't have seen on my own, sometimes in situations that I would not have ventured into on my own.
Lucky for us, Bob is still around, and, I believe, mostly retired, but still getting out and seeing some really good stuff. Perhaps I had a little influence on both Peter and Bob, for they started watching butterflies as Sandra and I got interested in them.
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| Arizona Sister in resting position photos Bob Hillis |
At one point Bob started to write a blog, but it was more on philosophical lines, as opposed to highlighting the animals that he was seeing. Lucky for me, he has continued to send me pictures of the animals he has photographed, mostly in Utah, where he now lives, and Southern California, where he lived and worked for many years as a State Parks ranger. And where he still has some nature loving friends.
Last week he sent me yet another excellent picture of a butterfly that I will probably never see and, I thought, many of you who read my blog have heard Bob mentioned from time to time, why wouldn't you want to look at a few of these pictures. With that in mind, I have gone through my cell phone and extracted some of the better pictures. And with Bob's permission I'm presenting them to you here along with a small bit of explanation.
The first is an Arizona Sister. For those of us who live on the West Coast, the related species is California Sister, which I have yet to see. My feeling is that Bob hasn't seen one either. The California Sister lives in canyons populated with live oaks, although its preferred host plant is Golden Chinkapin. Being a poor botanist, which is a sad state for a butterfly watcher, I wouldn't be able to tell a Golden Chinkapin from a golden retriever. Supposedly the sister can be seen in the arboretum on Mt Pisgah in Eugene, which is the northern limit of its range. It becomes more common as you head south towards California. What a surprise!
Last summer Bob met up with a friend in Bellingham, Wa. They went to Larabee State Park where he took this picture of starfish on the beach. This was of interest to me, because starfish have been virtually exterminated in Puget Sound. Sandra and I have a favorite little beach in Anacortes where, three years ago we stumbled upon a handsome statue that serves as a memorial to the starfish. Up to that point, I was oblivious to this catastrophe.
He and his friend went snorkeling at Larabee and he caught this handsome nudibranch at 30 feet. While I am a big fan of snorkeling, I draw the line at snorkeling in 63 degree water which was what he recorded. What can I say, I'm a wuss.
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| Sonoran Blue Butterfly, Bob Hillis |
The photo that set me off on this tribute was this one of a Sonoran Blue Butterfly. This was taken in Anza Borrego State Park in the mountains east of San Diego two weeks ago. Suffice it to say, Butterfly Season is much longer in So Cal than in northern Oregon.
On the same day, Bob saw West Coast Lady, one of three species of "ladies" on the west coast. It is also found n Oregon and our friend Caitlin advises us to keep an eye out for it.
Like any other butterfly watcher in the western United States, Bob sees lots of fritillary butterflies. In part, he does this with the misguided idea that I can help him identify them. There are about a dozen species of medium sized frits in Oregon. They come in a variety of oranges and all have a very similar complex maze of black markings on their dorsal wing surfaces and a complex pattern of paisleys on their hind ventral wings. Getting a good look at that surface is often the key to nailing down the identification.
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| Speyeria mormonia, Utah, Bob Hillis |
The problem is, there is so much local variation that in many instances, even experts like our friend Caitlin LaBar, are unwilling to identify these insects outside the range they are familiar with. This is quite a bit different from bird watching. If one sees an acorn woodpecker in Oregon it will be virtually identical to one seen elsewhere in its range.
All of this leads to an amusing story. Around the time Bob went to Bellingham he sent me two butterfly pictures. The first one you see is a Mormon Frit nectaring on an aster. This is a butterfly with a wide range and is very similar throughout. It is smaller than many other Speyeria frits and it has those distinctive rounded wings. So in a way we can think of it like the aforementioned acorn woodpecker.
At the same time, he sent me the picture that you see below. And as part of that text, he mentioned that he saw this butterfly near his yard (in St. George, Utah). And he even named it, Western Pygmy Blue.
But sometimes I don't pay attention. The Redoubtable SKG will be happy to verify this observation. In that vein, I thought he was identifying it as an Acmon Blue seen on Mt. Baker, the snow capped volcano that towers above Bellingham. I was sure, even as a tyro lepidopterist, that this was not the case. And so I presented both photos to Caitlin telling her that I thought they were taken on Mt. Baker and asking her what the blue was. And this is what she replied:
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| Western Pygmy Blue St. George, Utah Bob Hillis |
Hi Jeff,
Yes, the frit is a female momonia.
The mating pair of blues are Western Pygmy Blues, which I highly doubt were taken at Mt. Baker, maybe the locations got mixed up? They are very common in Utah, and were common in SE WA in 2022, but hardly seen in 2023, and have never been found north of the Tri Cities area.
In this way Caitlin reaffirmed her virtuosity by avoiding all my sand-bagging misinformation. What a girl!
Living a life of faux pas can make things just a little more interesting.
Last year Bob sent me a couple pictures of larger butterflies. One was of the curiously named Southern Dogface. This is a widely distributed butterfly, from New England to California, south to Mexico and the Caribbean. It is so named because the person who had the honor of giving the insect its common name thought the spot on the wing reminded him of his pet poodle. Says so on the internet, so it must be true. Right?
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| Southern Dogface Butterfly Utah Bob Hillis |
The Southern Dogface has been the California State insect since 1929. I suspect that there is some variation in wing pattern in California, as there are articles on the internet calling it the California Southern Dogface. So this picture was probably taken in Utah.
I could ask Caitlin for verification, but I fear I may be in her doghouse.
Look carefully and you will see that Bob has captured the proboscis of this nectaring butterfly. And how about those eyes? Creepy!
I am a sucker for checkerspots. Sandra and I saw our first one, the Snowberry Checkerspot, near Dougan Falls and attempted to identify it on our own. Sandra posted it on the northwest butterfly website and all the little old ladies got their undies in a twitter correcting our mis-identification. Since then, Sandra and I have seen two more species, which you will recall if you are a faithful blog reader.
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| Anicia Checkerspot, Cedar Breaks National Monument BH |
Many checkerspots are not widely distributed and Bob sent us a picture of a beauty that I have yet to see in the PNW. As I don't have any books here in Hawaii, I am stuck using the internet, which is a terrible way to identify almost anything, especially butterflies. So Caitlin helped us out once again and said:
That’s an Anicia Checkerspot, they look much more red and yellow
the further south and east you go, compared to what you’re used to in
the northwest 
So now Bob can put it down definitively on his list. We'll keep it as a surprise until he reads it, just like you, in the blog
Spring is creeping in, so get out your cameras and nets and see some butterflies,
jeff
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