Applegater Fall 2015
Painted Ladies in
flight through fall
BY lINDa kaPPEN
The Painted Lady is the most widely
distributed butterfly species in the world,
inhabiting five continents—Antarctica
is too cold and Australia is too isolated.
Because of its wide range it is referred to
as a “cosmopolitan” butterfly.
These butterflies migrate
yearly from their warm winter habitats
in the south to more temperate climates
in the north for breeding. Some years,
Painted Lady on coyote mint
Washington and beyond.
The Painted Lady is often
mistaken for the monarch butterfly
as it migrates. The difference is that
Painted Ladies migrate in groups,
while the monarch, after leaving their
southern populations of the Painted Lady overwintering sites, will migrate singly.
will reach large numbers, producing a Early spring reports from north of
mass phenomenal migration northward overwintering sites talked about “groups
that has caused road closures in places. of monarchs” flying north when, in fact,
With our warm winter of 2014- they were Painted Ladies.
This past spring I saw in a puddling
2015, a noticeable but not excessive
area
a
painted lady laying eggs on gravel,
migration occurred early this past spring.
It was not a mass migration as recorded small sticks, and also on a nearby thistle. I
in the early 2000s, but the butterfly was believe the type of host plant they use and
seen in large numbers moving north surrounding conditions can sometimes
before dispersing, have a direct effect on the size of the
r e a c h i n g w e l l adult butterfly.
The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
into the state of
is of the Nymphalidae
family of butterflies.
Side view of Painted Lady
Its wingspan can reach
two to three inches.
With wings open, it
has black tips with
white spots. Shades
of orange and brown
pattern the wings. On
the underside of hind
wings, colors are gray
to brown with four
small eyespots.
Males will
perch in shrubs
Rearing and tagging monarchs
BY SUzIE SavOIE
At only ten percent of their former
abundance, monarch butterflies have
been declining in population at a
precipitous rate for the past 20 years.
Conservation groups have petitioned the
US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect
the monarch under the Endangered
Species Act, and it is now a candidate for
listing. With some endangered species,
such as the polar bear or loggerhead sea
turtles, for example, it is difficult to feel
like you can make a difference in their
survival. But with monarch butterflies
you can make a tangible difference right
in your own backyard.
Planting milkweed, the
only larval food source for monarch
caterpillars, and nectar plants for adult
monarchs is the easiest thing to do,
but some passionate conservationists
in our area are also trying to reverse
the downward population trend by
rearing monarchs indoors and saving
wild monarch eggs and caterpillars
from voracious predators such as wasps,
ants, birds, spiders, or the tachinid fly.
Historically, these natural predators
kept a balance with monarchs, but with
human-caused habitat loss through
development and agriculture, combined
with pesticide and herbicide use, it is all
the more important to protect monarchs
during their vulnerable larval stage.
Linda Kappen has been
rearing monarch butterflies at
Applegate School for 12 years. During
this time she estimates that she has
released 180 monarch butterflies. In May
2014, Linda started working with David
James, associate professor of entomology
at Washington State University, who
has been studying monarch butterfly
breeding and migration biology in the
Pacific Northwest. Part of his research
has included a monarch tagging program
to track the migration of our western
population of monarchs—those that
live west of the Continental Divide and
overwinter along the coast of California.
Not as much is known about our western
population, and David’s research is
integral to the long-term conservation
strategy for the monarch butterfly.
Weighing just two percent of a
monarch’s body weight, the tags are small
stickers that don’t impact movement or
flight. As an example, on September 30,
2014, Linda tagged a monarch in the
Applegate Valley. On October 10, 2014,
a man found it in his yard, 330 miles
away, in San Mateo, CA.
After growing milkweed for over
a decade and watching caterpillar after
caterpillar either disappear or be eaten
by a predator, I decided to join Linda
in both rearing and tagging monarchs
this summer, in hope that my work as a
citizen-scientist may help in the recovery
of this amazing species. I purchased
butterfly-rearing cages and diligently
watched for eggs and caterpillars on my
milkweed patches. I found the first eggs
on April 18, and from that point on I
was hooked. I have tagged and released
nearly 50 butterflies so far this year, and
the season isn’t over yet.
Rearing monarchs is no easy
task: it takes daily work and access to
a big milkweed patch. Once an egg or
caterpillar is found outside on milkweed,
it is very carefully transferred onto
potted milkweed plants or cut stems in
the rearing cage. As the caterpillars get
bigger they will eat a lot and will typically
need to be fed on a daily basis. All this
eating means a lot of cleaning out of
the “frass” (aka poop). A caterpillar goes
through five stages of growth, referred
to as instars, eventually reaching 2,000
percent of its original size. When ready
13
and aggressively patrol for females.
A female will lay up to 500 eggs singly on
the tops of host-plant leaves. Caterpillars
will make a silk nest to live in and eat the
leaves of the host plant. Painted Ladies
can produce up to three broods or flights
a year. Because these butterflies use as
many as 300 host plants, as recorded
in databases, they are great pollinators.
Some of their favorites are mallow,
thistles, hollyhocks, and some legumes.
Painted Ladies use nectar as their
adult food. They will use thistles, asters,
milkweeds, joe-pye weed, rabbit brush,
cosmos, dandelion and almost any garden
plant or native flowers and shrubs.
The Painted Lady habitat is
anywhere from gardens to open spaces
and forests. You can see these butterflies
in flight from early April to November.
If you would like to learn
more about butter flies and
moths, I welcome you to the Facebook
page, “Butterflies and Moths of the
Pacific Northwest.” There you may find
yourself visually stimulated with an
accompanying desire to get outdoors
more often.
Linda Kappen
humbugkapps@hotmail.com
Linda earned a naturalist certification
from Siskiyou Field Institute and hosts
two-day butterfly courses there. Photos:
Linda Kappen.
to start metamorphosis, the
caterpillar will find a place in the
rearing cage to hang in a J-shape
and transform into a chrysalis.
Watching the monarch
emerge from the chrysalis
is fascinating, but releasing a
monarch, safe and sound, out
into the wild world is pure joy.
The female butterflies I released
left on their migratory path
immediately, while some of the
males stayed to hang around my
milkweed patch, waiting for a
female to come along to mate.
After having raised these
monarchs I felt an intimate
connection to the tagged
butterflies that flittered around
my wildlife-friendly garden
for part of the summer. The
knowledge that I’m helping
with the recovery of an at-risk
species, from the comfort of
my own home, is uplifting in a
world where the extinction of
endless species of wildlife can
get you down.
Suzie Savoie
klamathsiskiyou@gmail.com
Photos at right: (top) Just released
tagged monarch nectars on showy
milkweed in author’s garden.
(middle) Linda Kappen tags a wild-
caught monarch near a rare patch
of heartleaf milkweed
in the Applegate Valley.
(bottom) Inside of author’s rearing
cage with newly emerged butterflies,
chrysalides, and a caterpillar.
For more information
about monarchs
• Online resources: Xerces Society, Monarch Watch, and Journey North, to
name a few. YouTube has excellent videos on rearing monarchs.
• Facebook page for researcher David James: www.facebook.com
/Monarch ButterfliesInThePacificNorthwest.
• Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates: www.somonarchs.org.