Butterflies are magical
/This winter in our home on the central coast of California we waited expectantly for the usual arrival of the monarch butterflies. They didn’t show up for a long time, and when they finally did they have been few and far between. The western migratory monarch population is only about 3% of what it was 100 years ago, but we keep hoping it will bounce back as people and agriculture change their practices.
We have been visited by other butterflies,moths, and skippers this spring though. In my photo gallery above, you see left to right: Monarch, Gulf Fritillary, Painted Lady, and skipper (photos by Steve). We always have lots of Cabbage White Butterflies and from time to time we see Cloudless Sulphurs, Gray Hairstreaks, and Red Admirals.
This spring we had a new species find us. A couple of months ago my large ceanothus in the backyard was being “attacked” by masses of spiky black caterpillars, all identical. I tried to ID them but was unsuccessful. The caterpillars defoliated several of the branches, but the plant has since re-leafed out. In the meantime, the caterpillars disappeared!
About this time, I spotted a single black spiky caterpillar hanging in a “J” formation from the woodwork of the back door. It had to crawl at least 15’ across the yard to get there! The next morning it had turned into a chrysalis. We were worried that the movement of opening and closing the door might harm it, but it stayed seemingly unchanged for a long time.
After two weeks with no change, I assumed that it had died. I had tentatively decided that it was probably a Painted Lady chrysalis and they are supposed to hatch at 14 days or so. But yesterday morning (Day 22) I looked out back and voila! There was a funny little scrunched up butterfly hanging on the chrysalis.
INaturalist identified it as a California Tortoiseshell, (Nymphalis californica). It gradually pumped up its wings and in the last picture you can see it’s twice as big as the chrysalis. I really wanted to see it fly for the first time, but this morning I went inside to have some coffee and forgot about it, and a few hours later Steve told me it was gone! I’ve looked around for it outside but haven’t spotted it yet. I hope that the other caterpillars found their way to safe places to pupate and will emerge soon so we can enjoy them!
Update: (See gallery above of the brand new butterfly!) After thinking my little guy had flown away, I was in the backyard watering when something flitted by my face and landed at my feet. It was the tortoiseshell! Like he (or she) was coming to say hi to me! It was a nice sunny afternoon, perfect for butterflies, and he spent quite some time on the lantana drinking, then hung around in the passionflower vine. He has a fat fuzzy body and long antennae with white tips. I love how camouflaged he is when the wings are folded, but has such pretty orange and black coloring on the upper wings. I hope he sticks around for a few days.
Ceanothus ‘concha’ from the california native plant society spring plant sale
While my garden isn’t totally native plants, I am sooo glad I planted the ceanothus which the California Tortoiseshell species (and many others) love. Supporting our native ecosystem is my goal in landscaping.
