Applegater Winter 2014
13
The Common Buckeye
event this year
by LINDA kAPPEN
The Common Buckeye’s normal
range is the warmer southern states in the
west (south of the Pacific Northwest) and
northern Mexico. Although the buckeye
butterfly may at times be a resident of
southern Oregon, the warm weather
pattern of 2014 caused the buckeye to push
northward in the spring and increased our
local populations.
Examples of extreme north or
cooler locations that were notable
for the buckeye this year are:
• The first official recorded sighting
at Crater Lake National Park during a
Lepidoptera bioblitz, a biological survey.
• The state of Washington reported its
first known sightings near Spokane and
Tri-Cities.
• A greater-than-normal population in late
May in the Trinity National Forest and in
locations in Northern California.
The Common Buckeye (Junonia
coenia) butterfly is of the Nymphalidae
family of butterflies, whose wingspread
can reach up to two and a half inches. It
is a sight to behold these butterflies at any
size—their eyespots are quite large and
colorful when compared to our Wood
Nymph and lady butterflies.
The buckeye frequents open
areas near waterways, fields, roadsides
and garden areas. The buckeye uses over
40 known larval food plants, including
plantains, verbena, and many members
of the Figwort family such as paintbrush,
monkey flower, and penstemons. Nectar
sources for the buckeye are a wide variety
of wildflowers and garden flowers.
For three years a friend and I
searched for buckeyes in southern
Oregon, only to find some on a day trip
to Northern California near Redding. They
were hard to net for observation and gave
us quite a run. They dart about quickly
and wildly, making it difficult to approach
them when they sit on the open ground.
The first one I saw this year had been
netted by a student at Applegate School in
the spring. It was exciting to see one of the
students capture one.
After that there were many
everywhere, and it didn’t take long for
some of us to master netting them. The
best opportunity I had for photos was in
the butterfly habitat of Applegate School
in September and October when the
butterflies sat drinking nectar from flowers
during warm days.
Staff at the Master Gardener section
at Oregon State University Extension
observed a buckeye ovipositing (laying)
eggs on a slender mountain mint plant in
their garden in August. With the warm
sunny days, the butterflies may have had
a few broods. As of late October, I was still
seeing them in flight on sunny days.
There are a few other butterflies that
make small migrations north, among them
the Painted Lady. There was an increase in
Painted Lady sightings this butterfly season
too, but not like the buckeye event.
Linda Kappen
humbugkapps@hotmail.com
Linda earned a naturalist certification from
Siskiyou Field Institute and hosts two-day
butterfly courses there.
Wanted: Memories and stories
of this valley’s wildlife
by jAkOb SHOCkEy
As a kid, I remember hearing a story
about Frank Decker. About how, when he
was bear hunting, his gun jammed and
a bear attacked him. How he rammed
his arm into the bear’s mouth while he
unjammed the rifle with the other. Then
how he shot the bear from atop him and
returned home to get his arm sewn up
before going back into the woods with his
wife for the bear meat.
I don’t remember where I heard this
story so the details may not be strictly
true, but as a boy it made an impression. I
grew up just downstream from the Decker
homestead and that story made Frank
Decker the gold standard of tough.
Both hunting and how people
interact with wildlife in this valley
have changed. Just last week, as rifle season
opened, I saw a couple standing on the
gravel road up Woodrat Mountain. He
wore sweatpants and a Day-Glo traffic vest,
and she was wearing pajamas (no joke). It
was around 11 am, and they were peering
over the edge of the road for deer, having
strayed not ten feet from their new SUV. It
was the weekend and they were “hunting.”
Here’s my pitch: I’m looking for
stories from when hunting wasn’t just a
weekend hobby. Stories of wildlife and
the people who knew them, of trapping
and hunting before this valley was tamed.
Applegate old-timers, this is a callout
to you. I think it would be fun to hear your
memories, tall tales and knowledge of our
valley’s wildlife. Write me or give me a
call. Let’s record these stories so that my
daughter and your grandkids also might be
impressed as children—so that this history
isn’t forgotten.
Jakob Shockey
541-890-9989
Riparian Program Manager
Applegate Partnership &
Watershed Council
riparianprogram@apwc.info
Rich and Kellie Halsted, who live on North Applegate Road, were amused to find
this photo of an apparently curious elk on their critter cam .
Common Buckeye on tall aster.
Common Buckeye with closed wings on showy sedum.
Butterfly photos by Linda Kappen.