Butterfly Sightings Updated May 4
... guided walks May 24, June 28, July 26, August 3

Guided butterfly walks are offered on the fourth Saturday of each month, starting at 9:30 a.m. and included with regular daily admission of $7.50 for adults or $3 for ages 5-12. Dates for these are May 24, June 28, July 26, August 23, September 27 and with the season finale just before halloween on October 26. There's one additional "Sunday Special" walk August 3, too. Read about Central Arizona Butterfly Association events around the state with a visit to the website http://www.cazba.org. Tour Guides Marceline Vandewater, Adriane Grimaldi, Pete Moulton and others have shared digital images of butterflies here at the Arboretum View photos of our state butterfly.

Recent sightings around the gardens include:

From: Jim Brock
Date: May 4, Sunday
(As reported by participant Marceline VandeWater) It was awesome to have Jim Brock lead the butterfly walk today. He shared a lot of information on different butterfly behavior, their host plants and flight patterns. We saw Pipevine Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, Checkered White, Orange Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, Southern Dogface, Dainty Sulphur, Gray Hairstreak, Leda Ministreak, Marine Blue, Ceraunus Blue, Spring Azure, Western Pygmy Blue, Palmer's Metalmark, Tiny Checkerspot, Elada Checkerspot, Painted Lady, Common Buckeye, Empress Leilia, American Snout, Queen, Common Sootywing, Funereal Duskywing, Northern White Skipper, Orange Skipperling. 26 species in total.

From: Dave Powell
Date: April 26 (Saturday)
We found 24 different species on this month's guided butterfly walk, most numerous of all were American Snout and Western Pygmy Blue (we counted 20 of each) followed by 15 Dainty Sulphur and 10 Checkered White. Species seen (in Arboretum checklist order) include 5 Pipevine, 2 Giant Swallowtail, 8 Sleepy Orange, 3 Orange Sulphur, 2 Cloudless Sulphur, 5 Southern Dogface, 3 Marine Blue, 5 Martin's Blue, 1 Mormon Metalmark, 3 Tiny Checkerspot, 6 Elada Checkerspot, 2 Variable Checkerspot, 1 California Patch, 3 Texas Crescent, 1 Red Admiral, 10 Hackberry Emperor, 6 Common Buckeye, 4 Queen, 1 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 4 Orange Skipperling.

From: chris kline
Date: April 1 (Tuesday)
Just made a quick trip around our main trail. Several things flying, but conspicuously absent was Two-tailed Swallowtail -- which I've been seeing regularly for the past week, until today of course. Totalled 12 species (47 individuals) with 13 Pipevine Swallowtail, 3 Sleepy Orange, 2 Western Pygmy Blue, 2 Fatal Metalmark, 2 Variable Checkerspot, 15 Tiny Checkerspot, 1 Red Admiral, 2 Empress Leilia, 1 Mourning Cloak, 2 Common Streaky Skipper, 1 Common/White Checkered Skipper, 1 Orange Skipperling.

From: Adriane Grimaldi
Date: October 27 (Saturday)
We had about 15 people and we started down the trail a little bit later than usual because of the closure of sections of Highway 60. Late October is definitely the end of Butterfly season -- Pipevine Swallowtails and Queens were tattered, dingy-looking -- and fewer than we found duirng September's walk (which you can read below). Our end-of-the-season tally Saturday found 20 Pipevine Swallowtails, 25 Queen, 3 Emperoris Lelia, 1 Monarch, 1 Funearal Dustywing, 4 American Snout, 3 Tiny Checkerspot, 1 Painted Lady, 15 Cloudless Sulfur and 4 Southern Dogface.

From: Dennis Walker
Date: Friday, September 28
The Arboretum was fantastic this past Tuesday (Sept. 25). I had a great time and got some great photos. The White-patched Skipper I saw (not a great photo but OK for ID) was confirmed as a county record by Jim Brock and Ken Davenport. I enjoyed my visit - hope to return soon. I just finished the list for that day: 29 species including Arizona Powdered-Skipper, White Checkered-Skipper, Eufala Skipper, Acacia Skipper, Orange Skipperling, Fiery Skipper, richson's White-Skipper, Golden-headed Scallopwing, Funereal Duskywing, White-patched Skipper, Pipevine Swallowtail, Sleepy Orange, Cloudless Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Mexican Yellow, Gray Hairstreak, Leda Ministreak, Ceraunus Blue, Mormon Metalmark, Arizona Metalmark, Palmer's Metalmark, American Snout, Bordered Patch, Queen, Empress Leilia, Painted Lady, Gulf Fritillary, Elada Checkerspot, Tiny Checkerspot.

From: Adriane Grimaldi and Marceline Vandewater
Date: Saturday, September 22
Here's what we saw on the guided Butterfly Walk Sept. 22. Two Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar were seen in addition to these, and many Queen caterpillars were on Pineleaf Milkweed. We divided our group in two, and here are separate lists: (Adriane's list) 40 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Two-Tailed Swallowtail, 1 Monarch, 25 Queen, 25 Cloudless Sulphur, 12 Southern Dogface, 7 Sleepy Orange, 4 Mexican Yellows, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 4 Marine Blue, 2 Ceraunus Blue, 1 Gulf Fritillary, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 2 Bordered Patch, 2 Fatal Metalmark, 1 Palmer's Metalmark, 1 Tiny Checkerspot, 1 Painted Lady, 3 Funereal Duskywing, 2 Mournful Duskywing, 1 Orange Skipperling, 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing, 3 Common Checkered Skipper, 5 Fiery Skipper, 5 Empress Leilia and 3 Arizona Powdered-Skipper.
Marceline & Paul Kinslow's list: 24 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Two-tailed Swallowtail, 1 Checkered White, 14 Sleepy Orange, 6 Southern Dogface, 35 Cloudless Sulphur, 2 Mexican Yellow, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 1 Great Purple Hairstreak, 3 Marine Blue, 2 Ceraunus Blue, 8 American Snout, 1 Monarch, 10 Queen, 1 Gulf Fritillary, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 2 Bordered Patch, 2 Fatal Metalmark, 1 Mormon Metalmark, 1 Palmer's Metalmark, 1 Tiny Checkerspot, 1 Texan Crescent, 1 Painted Lady, 3 Funereal Duskywing, 2 Mournful Duskywing, 2 Orange Skipperling, 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing, 3 Common Checkered Skipper, 4 Fiery Skipper, 6 Empress Leilia, 3 Eufala Skipper, 3 Arizona Powdered-Skipper 3

From: Chris Kline
Date: Thursday, September 20
We had our first ever BioBlitz on Saturday September 15. Rich Bailowitz and Doug Danforth were kind enough to come up to do the butterfly and dragonfly survey. Below are the results for butterflies counted: 170 Pipevine Swallowtail, 2 Black Swallowtail, 2 Orange Sulphur, 133 Sleepy Orange, 150 Southern Dogface, 100 Cloudless Sulphur, 5 Mexican Yellow, 1 Tailed Orange (this was exciting -- a new addition to BTA checklist!); 6 Marine Blue, 5 Ceraunus Blue 5, 2 Western Pygmy Blue, 3 Gray Hairstreak, 3 Leda Ministreak, 4 Fatal Metalmark, 2 Mormon Metalmark, 1 Palmer's Metalmark, 2 Elada Checkerspot, 2 Variable Checkerspot, 25 American Snout, 20 Empress Leilia, 1 Hackberry Emperor, 2 Gulf Fritillary, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 2 Painted Lady, 1 Red Spotted Purple, 66 Queen, 8 Orange-headed Scallopwing, 15 Orange Skipperling, 10 Acacia Skipper, 5 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 3 Checkered Skipper, 1 Common Sootywing, 2 Erickson's White Skipper, 50 Eufala Skipper and 1 Fiery Skipper. We found a total of 36 species and 808 individuals -- John Saba's record of 38 species remains intact!

From: Marceline Vandewater
Date: Sunday, Sept. 3
Sunday was an excellent day for butterflies! I didn’t spend as much time looking for them as I wanted, because I was following Mr. Holycross and Mr Brennan around on their herp walk. I have to admit that that was very informative and interesting too:). My list for the day (Demonstration Garden, Picnic Area and Hummingbird-Butterfly Garden) has 31 species including: 4 Black Swallowtail, 52 Pipevine Swallowtail, 24 Sleepy Orange, 63 Cloudless Sulphur, 4 Southern Dogface, 1 Leda Ministreak, 3 Reakirt’s Blue, 4 Ceraunus Blue, 4 Marine Blue,2 Fatal Metalmark, 1 Mormon Metalmark, 2 Palmer’s Metalmark, 190 American Snout, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 1 Gulf Fritillary,3 Tiny Checkerspot, 5 Elada Checkerspot, 8 Painted Lady, 5 Empress Leilia, 1 Monarch, 18 Queen, 2 Funereal Duskywing, 1 Northern White Skipper, 1 Acacia Skipper , 1 Nothern Cloudywing, 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing, 2 Common Sootywing, 2 Common Checkered Skipper, 3 Orange Skipperling, 1 Sheep Skipper and 4 Eufala Skipper.

From: Chris Kline
Date: August 28, Tuesday
On our butterfly walk this past Saturday we had 14 human participants, but butterfly numbers were down. Overcast skies. However, the lightning and rain stayed away for the most part. Interesting the difference a few miles can make here in AZ. At my house in Kearny, 22 miles south of the Arboretum, two hours of constant lightning early Saturday morning and about a half-inch of rain. The entire town was without power for several hours. Breakers on power poles popping were left and right. The Arboretum, however, was relatively high and dry. An entire .01" of precipitation. Well, anyways, to the bugs! We had Pipevine Swallowtail, Sleepy Orange, Cloudless Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Gray Hairstreak, Bordered Patch, Queen, Funereal Duskywing and Fiery Skipper. I went back out later in the afternoon when the sun came out and added Fatal Metalmark, American Snout, Tiny Checkerspot, Elada Checkerspot, Painted Lady, Empress Leilia, Monarch, Orange Skipperling. Came in this morning (Tuesday) and added Giant Swallowtail and Sheep Skipper. Its all in the timing I s'pose!

From: Chris Kline
Date: August 28, Tuesday
Here are the official Boyce Thompson Arboretum/CABA count results! We had 13 folks show up for a hot (its a dry heat, right) day of butterfly counting here at BTA. We divided into three teams, with one team each visiting the Picketpost Trailhead of the Arizona Trail, the Arboretum, the town of Superior and sections of Queen Creek in town, and also Oak Flats six miles East of the Arboretum. I am listing the day's results for each of the four sites and then the total for the count. BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM: 22 Pipevine Swallowtail, 2 Two-tailed Swallowtail, 11 Sleepy Orange, 2 Orange Sulphur, 68 Cloudless Sulphur, 3 Southern Dogface, 1 Ceraunus Blue, 3 American Snout, 1 Gulf Fritillary, 4 Tiny Checkerspot, 5 Elada Checkerspot, 2 California Patch, 11 Empress Leilia, 1 Mourning Cloak, 6 Queen, 2 Funereal Duskywing, 4 Common Sootywing, 1 Acacia Skipper, 1 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 2 Common Streaky Skipper, 1 Orange Skipperling, 1 Eufala Skipper. We had a total of 22 species, 154 individuals. OAK FLATS: 4 Pipevine Swallowtail, 4 Two-tailed Swallowtail, 2 Sleepy Orange, 2 Orange Sulphur, 15 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Ceraunus Blue, 2 Marine Blue, 1 Western Pygmy Blue, 1 American Snout, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 1 West Coast Lady, 1 Monarch, 2 Queen, 1 Duskywing sp., 2 Common Sootywing, 8 Acacia Skipper, 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing, 1 Fiery Skipper, 1 Eufala Skipper; 18 species, 50 individuals. ARIZONA TRAIL @ PICKETPOST TRAILHEAD: 7 Pipevine Swallowtail, 4 Sleepy Orange, 13 Cloudless Sulphur, 12 American Snout, 14 Empress Leilia, 1 Hackberry Emperor, 2 Queen, 1 Common Sootywing -- 8 species, 54 individuals. TOWN OF SUPERIOR: 7 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Two-tailed Swallowtail, 7 Sleepy Orange, 4 Orange Sulphur, 24 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Western Pygmy Blue, 5 American Snout, 1 Painted Lady, 10 Empress Leilia, 2 Queen, 1 Common Sootywing 1 -- 11 species, 63 individuals. TOTAL FOR BTA/CABA COUNT: 40 Pipevine Swallowtail, 7 Two-tailed Swallowtail, 24 Sleepy Orange, 8 Orange Sulphur, 120 Cloudless Sulphur, 3 Southern Dogface 3, 2 Ceraunus Blue, 2 Marine Blue, 2 Western Pygmy Blue, 21 American Snout, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 1 Gulf Fritillary, 4 Tiny Checkerspot, 5 Elada Checkerspot, 2 California Patch, 1 Painted Lady, 1 West Coast Lady, 35 Empress Leilia, 1 Hackberry Emperor, 1 Mourning Cloak, 1 Monarch, 12 Queen, 2 Funereal Duskywing, 1 Duskywing sp., 8 Common Sootywing, 9 Acacia Skipper, 1 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 2 Common Streaky Skipper, 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing, 1 Orange Skipperling, 1 Fiery Skipper, 2 Eufala Skipper -- 31 species, 321 individuals. And FYI, the mysterious dragonfly we caught appears to be a Straw-colored Sylph.

From: Dave Powell
Date: August 5, Sunday
A few surprises on our guided butterfly walk Sunday morning included a Bordered Patch which held to its perch, allowing photographers in our group some great closeups, and also a territorial Empress Leilia guarding a spot in the road just below the rolling gate to the Picnic Area. We also found 4 Common Sootywings and 1 Common Streaky Skipper. Butterflies seen (in numerical order from highest to lowest) included 40 Cloudless Sulphur, 20 Pipevine Swallowtail, 15 Elada Checkerspot, 12 Queen, 10 Tiny Checkerspot, 6 Empress Leilia, 3 Sleepy Orange,2 Two-tailed Swallowtail and 1 Orange Sulphur.

From: Kurt & Cindy Radamaker and Dave Powell
Date: July 28 (Saturday)
Heat, gray skies and high humidity may have resulted in a slower-than-usual morning for finding butterflies but we had great participation (18 adults and 10 kids) on the butterfly walk July 28 and a few surprises -- including our one Monarch of the day, which was observed at the south end of the Hummingbird-Butterfly Garden. Other types seen on our walk included Cloudless Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Sleepy Orange, Acacia Skipper, Marine Blue, Funereal Duskywing, Pipevine Swallowtail and Queen.

From: chris kline
Date: Sat, 16 Jun
Here is a list from my two hour walk this morning. Next Saturday we will have a butterfly walk from 9:30 AM til whenever ('til we are too hot to go any further!). Kurt Radamaker will be leading. Today's route included the Demonstration Garden, Rose Garden, Herb Garden and Main Trail as far as the suspension bridge over Queen Creek. Time was from 8:45 - 11:00 AM., with a starting temperature of 93 degrees and finishing temperature of 98 degrees Sunny and calm. Species seen include 17 Pipevine Swallowtail, 19 Sleepy Orange, 1 Cloudless Sulphur, 3 Southern Dogface, 3 Dainty Sulphur, 2 Leda Ministreak, 2 Reakirt's Blue, 12 Ceraunus Blue, 31 Marine Blue, 9 Fatal Metalmark, 1 American Snout, 4 Empress Leilia, 1 Common Buckeye, 37 Queen, 5 Funereal Duskywing, 1 Mournful Duskywing, 7 Acacia Skipper, 8 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing, 10 Common/White Checkered Skipper, 16 Orange Skipperling, 2 Fiery Skipper, 1 Eufala Skipper. In total there were 23 species and 193 individuals. Species that we've been seeing lately that are conspicuously absent from this list include: Gray Hairstreak, Western Pygmy Blue. While we have LOTS of nectar, the plants that seem to be attracting the most leps currently are Mexican Hat, Vitex (Pepper Tree, but the blooms are fading fast), and Melaleuca. Final note: In my four plus years here at BTA, we currently have more Acacia and Arizona Powdered Skippers than I have ever seen at one-time. Normally we may have 3-4 sightings a year of each of these two.

From: Chris Kline & Adriane Grimaldi
Date: Saturday, May 26, 2007
We had a great butterfly walk today. More butterflies than people, and we had 53 people -- so good stuff! We counted 28 species (195 individuals), and the Silver-banded Hairstreak was a new addition to the Arboretum's butterfly checklist. Nectar sources are plentiful. The Mexican Hat flowers and Vitex (Pepper Tree) were especially strong attractants. I covered the Demonstration Garden and the Main Trail from the Eucalyptus Forest to the suspension bridge on a Saturday that was sunny, calm, and with temps from low to mid 90's. We saw: 25 Pipevine Swallowtail, 5 Checkered White, 27, Sleepy Orange, 2 Cloudless Sulphur, 21 Southern Dogface, 3 Dainty Sulphur, 4 Gray Hairstreak, 2 Leda Ministreak, 6 Reakirt's Blue, 1 Ceraunus Blue, 28 Marine Blue, 2 Fatal Metalmark, 3 Mormon Metalmark, 2 Palmer's Metalmark, 9 American Snout, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 1 Tiny Checkerspot, 1 Elada Checkerspot, 1 Texan Crescent, 2 Empress Leilia, 1 Monarch, 25 Queen, 3 Funereal Duskywing, 1 Northern White Skipper, 3 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 8 Common/Desert Checkered Skipper and 7 Orange Skipperling.

From: Marceline Vandewater
Date: Saturday, May 6, 2007
David Powell and I had 24 visitors along with us when we started off the Butterfly walk; our report below includes some that we saw after the official walk, when we checked out the small drying-up puddle in the Queen Creek. We found: 32 Pipevine Swallowtail, 6 Checkered White, 6 Sleepy Orange, 3 Southern Dogface, 4 Dainty Sulphur, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 7 Reakirt's Blue, 3 Ceraunus Blue, 12 Marine Blue, 1 Spring Azure, 2 Square-spotted Blue (Martin's); 1 Mormon Metalmark, 12 American Snout, 1 Checkerspot sp., 3 Bordered Patch, 10 Empress Leilia, 2 Queen, 2 Northern White Skipper, 2 Orange Skipperling, 3 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 1 Acacia Skipper, 1 Sheep Skipper.

From: Chris Kline
Date: Saturday, March 24, 2007
We had roughly 20 people show up for our first official butterfly walk of 2007 today...unfortunately, not as many butterflies. This may be the first walk where the people outnumbered the butterflies! On the "official" walk we had 15 Pipevines, one Painted Lady, and one Queen. Distraught by the poor turnout, I walked the entire Main Trail afterward, hoping to find something flying somewhere (below is a record of that). Overall a poor butterfly day. Since March 21 we've had just short of two inches of rain. The rain cleared out about 30 minutes before the walk started. I'd guess that had something to do with the poor turnout. This list reflects what was seen from 9:30-12:30 on a day that was partly cloudy, with temps in the low-60s. 31 Pipevine Swallowtails, 2 Two-tailed Swallowtails, Sleepy Orange, Marine Blue, Tiny Checkerspot, Painted Lady, 3 Empress Leilia, 4 Queen, 2 Checkered Skippers. We had a total of 9 species, 46 individuals.

From: Chris Kline
Date: Tuesday, 26 December, 2006
Hi all -- I jst made a 20 minute walk through our Demonstration Garden. Still some things flying after several sub-freezing nights in a row. Pipevine
Swallowtail, Spring White, Clouded Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, 2 Dainty Sulphurs, 3 Mexican Yellows, Sleepy Orange, Gray Hairstreak, 2 American Snouts, 4 Queen, 2 Monarchs and 2 Funereal Duskywings.

From: Tom Fiore & Brenda Inskeep (N.Y. City & Peoria, AZ)
Date: Wednesday, December 6
Pipevine Swallowtail, Checkered White, Cabbage White (1), Orange Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Cloudless Sulphur, Mexican Yellow, Barred Yellow, Sleepy Orange, Dainty Sulphur, Leda Ministreak, Western Pygmy-Blue, Fatal Metalmark, American Snout, Variegated Fritillary, Painted Lady (many), Common Buckeye, Queen (common), Common Checkered-Skipper and Common Sootywing.

From: Chris Kline
Date: Saturday October 28
I didn't get to participate in today's guided butterfly walk (the last one here until next Spring, 2007), but was able to go out for two hours in the afternoon. A nice supply of leps still out there -- 30 species/232 individuals. Here is what I found: 29 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Two-tailed Swallowtail, 51 Sleepy Orange, 35 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Clouded Sulphur, 1 Orange Sulphur, 22 Southern Dogface, 4 Dainty Sulphur, 2 Mexican Yellow, 1 Great Purple Hairstreak, 1 Ceraunus Blue, 1 Spring Azure, 7 Western Pygmy Blue, 1 Arizona Metalmark, 13 American Snout, 2 Variegated Fritillary, 3 Texan Crescent, 1 Painted Lady, 3 West Coast Lady, 4 Empress Leilia, 1 Hackberry Emperor, 1 Mourning Cloak, 1 Common Buckeye, 1 Monarch, 18 Queen, 1 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 13 Common/White Checkered Skipper, 3 Orange Skipperling, 6 Fiery Skipper, 4 Eufala Skipper.

From: Adriane Grimaldi
Date: Saturday, September 23
What a great day for butterflies! From 9:30 to 11:00a.m. we counted 40 Pipevine Swallowtails, 60 Cloudless Sulphurs, 25 Clouded Sulphers, 20 Southern Dogface, 4 Snouts, 1 Painted Lady, 15 Empress Leilia, 4 Monarchs (two were tagged by Arboretum Education Coordinator Chris Kline today during the walk); 30 Queens, 3 Funereal Duskywings, 20 Skippers (not sure what kind) some Fiery; some unidentified. I was able to get good photos of the Funereal Duskywing and Clouded Sulpher -- see you Oct. 28 for next Butterfly Walk!

From: Chris Kline
Date: Friday, September 22
From 10 a.m. to Noon there were light breezes and temperatures in the low 80s. Species include 6 Black Swallowtail, 63, Pipevine Swallowtail, 5 Large Orange Sulphur, 50 Sleepy Orange, 160 Cloudless Sulphur, 6 Southern Dogface, 2 Gray Hairstreak, 3 Marine Blue, 2 Fatal Metalmark, 1 Mormon Metalmark, 14 American Snout, 3 Tiny Checkerspot, 1 California Patch, 5 Bordered Patch, 3 Painted Lady, 96 Empress Leilia, 3 Monarch, 33 Queen, 12 Funereal Duskywing, 5 Common/White Checkered Skipper, 2 Orange Skipperling, 2 Fiery Skipper, 15 Eufala Skipper. Note: no adults today, but caterpillars were on fennel in our Herb Garden. on a short walk Monday I also spotted Western Pygmy Blue and Dainty Sulphur, and yesterday on a school program saw a Giant Swallowtail. My suspicion is that the latter was so terrorized by the 5th graders its probably in Yuma by now! Friday I had 23 species/479 individuals. All in all, a good list for the Arboretum. Initially I thought I might have a chance to beat John Saba's species record here at BTA (is it 31 John?) but no luck! Includes the entire Main Trail plus the Demonstration and Herb Gardens.

From: Chris Kline
Date: Wednesday, August 23
In preparation for our butterfly walk on Saturday (August 26) I took a walk this morning to see who's about. Kurt Radamaker will be leading Saturday's walk, which starts at 9:30am. Today I had 13 species (302 individuals) and I also have 47 monarch caterpillars in my milkweed study area. Species counted from 9:45am - 11:30am includ 20 Pipevine Swallowtail, 2 Orange Sulphur, 3 Sleepy Orange, 229 Cloudless Sulphur, 3 Large Orange Sulphur, 1 Lyside Sulphur, 14 Marine Blue, 1 Fatal Metalmark, 4 American Snout, 13 Empress Leilia, 1 Monarch, 10 Queen and 1 Funereal Duskywing.

From: Chris Kline
Date: August 1, 2006
The Lysides have arrived! A short walk around the Arboretum this morning produced 154 individuals (11 species) on a calm, sunny day with temperatures in the low 90s. Seen were 5 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Sleepy Orange, 47 Cloudless Sulphur, 2 Clouded Sulphur, 72 Lyside Sulphur, 6 Marine Blue, 1 Fatal Metalmark, 3 Empress Leilia, 15 Queen, 1 Acacia Skipper and 1 Fiery Skipper.

From: Chris Kline
Date: June 21, 2006
What a difference a year makes, my count a year ago on this date tallied 19 species and 1,376 individuals, while today there were 112 individuals representing 16 species observed around the Arboretum from 9:45-11:30 a.m. on a sunny morning with no wind and temps ranging from 90-100 degrees from start to finish. Most of the Checkered Skippers were on blooming Silver Germander - this plant is quite the butterfly magnet this year! Butterflies seen included 9 Pipevine Swallowtail, 29 Sleepy Orange, 1 Southern Dogface, 1 Mexican Yellow, 24 Ceraunus Blue, 2 Marine Blue, 3 Western Pygmy Blue, 1 Fatal Metalmark, 1 Elada Checkerspot, 3 Empress Leilia, 18 Queen, 6 Funereal Duskywing, 12 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 7 Common/White Checkered-skipper, 3 Orange Skipperling and 2 Fiery Skipper.

From: Chris Kline
Date: May 26
Marine Blues were the most numerous of all today, with 101 counted around the Arboretum on the day before our regular butterfly walk. Also seen were 5 Pipevine Swallowtail, 6 Sleepy Orange, 7 Southern Dogface, 1 "Siva" Juniper Hairstreak, 2 Gray Hairstreak, 1 Reakirt's Blue, 4 Mormon Metalmark, 8 American Snout, 2 Tiny Checkerspot, 13 Empress Leilia, 20 Queen...for a total of 12 species and 170 individuals. Numbers are starting to rebound from a very slow spring!

From: Chris Kline
Date: Saturday, April 29
Such a nice day decide to look for leps and odonates. Sunny, light breeze, temp low 80's. Found 11 Pipevine Swallowtails, 14 Marine Blue, one each Spring Azure, American Snout and Empress Leilia; 6 Tiny Checkerspot (total of six species and 34 individuals). Also had a couple sulphurs but couldn't get a good look. Probably Sleepy Orange. Also had a very dark skipper, lacking white fringe. In comparison to previous years, on April 23, 2005 had 17 species (96 individuals) and was being over-run by Texan Crescents. And on April 28, 2004, 24 species and 185 individuals including 60 Snouts and 25 Checkered Whites. I find it very interesting how things change from year to year!

From: Adriane Grimaldi
Date: Saturday, April 22
Participants who attended our first guided butterfly tour of 2006 saw 12 Pipevine Swallowtails, one Sleepy Orange, one Snout, one Marine Blue and that was it! Luckily I had brought along some specimens to look at or it would have been really disappointing. The weather was just too cool for the butterflies. We did spot four caterpillars on the Fennel plant in the Herb Garden.

From: Chris Kline
Date: April 1, 2006
TGIA (thank God its April!); March was such a bust, but today a glimmer of hope penetrated my pessimism. Eight species and 37 individuals. Sunny, light breeze, temps in the low 70's. Species, and numbers of individuals observed, includ 21 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Sara's Orangetip, 7 Sleepy Orange, 2 Marine Blue, 2 Spring Azure, 1 American Snout, 2 Painted Lady, 1 Monarch. Our first Vanessa's of the season. Also, we rarely get spring monarchs thru here. This one was rather beat up and faded. It wouldn't settle down long enough to determine gender. Also had what I think was a Satyr Comma, but I no more than spotted it and it took wing. When I spotted it it was nectaring on sumac.

From: John Saba
Date: Oct. 8
Today's list includes 38 species, which represents an incredible diversity for this location. There were 437 individuals seen on a day with temperature from 75-85 degrees, partly cloudy skies, intermittent light wind, becoming breezy in afternoon. Seen were 20 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Black Swallowtail, 1 Giant Swallowtail, 4 Checkered White, 3 Orange Sulphur, 5 Southern Dogface, 11 Cloudless Sulphur, 25 Sleepy Orange, 12 Mexican Yellow, 2 Dainty Sulphur, 10 Gray Hairstreak, 25 Leda Ministreak, 13 Spring Azure, 2 Reakirt's Blue, 25 Ceraunus Blue, 4 Marine Blue, 7 Western Pygmy Blue, 11 Mormon Metalmark, 7 Fatal Metalmark, 15 American Snout, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 1 Texan Crescent, 25 Painted Lady, 6 Common Buckeye, 1 Tropical Buckeye, 22 Empress Leilia, 2 Monarch, 135 Queen, 2 Arizona Powdered-Skipper, 1 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis sp. 3); 9 Common/White Checkered-Skipper, 2 Erichson's White-Skipper, 7 Orange Skipperling, 7 Fiery Skipper, 1 Cestus Skipper, 1 Sheep Skipper, 7 Eufala Skipper and one Violet-clouded Skipper.

From: Chris Kline
Date: Friday, Oct. 8, from 9:15 am to 10:45 pm
Tied John Saba's record for species during my 90 minute trip around the grounds -- great butterflies right now! We saw 28 different species and 223 individuals, including 17 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Giant Swallowtail, 2 Checkered White, 12 Sleepy Orange, 9 Cloudless Sulphur, 6 Southern Dogface, 3 Mexican Yellow, 3 Gray Hairstreak, 1 Leda Ministreak, 1 Reakirt's Blue, 10 Ceraunus Blue, 2 Marine Blue, 3 Spring Azure, 1 Western Pygmy Blue, 2 Arizona Metalmark, 3 Mormon Metalmark, 10 Snout, 1 Gulf Fritillary, 19 Painted Lady, 7 Empress Leilia, 1 Common Buckeye, 1 Monarch, 99 Queen, 2 Funereal Duskywing, 1 Northern White Skipper, 1 White/Common Checkered Skipper, 5 Fiery Skipper and 1 Eufala Skipper. We also had a bug that looked like a small, not quite right, version of the White/Common Checkered SKipper.

From: John Saba
Date: Saturday, August 20, from 9:10 am to 3:50 pm
Today's count around the grounds included 184 individuals representing 21 species, including 26 Pipevine Swallowtail, 2 Two-tailed Swallowtail, 1 Checkered White, 7 Orange Sulphur, 3 Southern Dogface, 7 Cloudless Sulphur, 25
Sleepy Orange, 1 Leda Ministreak, 6 Ceraunus Blue, 9 Marine Blue, 1 Western Pygmy-Blue, 7 American Snout, 5 Elada Checkerspot, 1 Texan Crescent, 12 Painted Lady, 3 Common Buckeye, 4 Empress Leilia, 60 Queen, 1 Arizona Powdered-Skipper, 1 Erichson's White-Skipper, 2 Fiery Skipper. Temperatures ranged from 85-95 degrees on a day that was sunny, mostly still, and humid.

From: Chris Kline
Date: Thu, August 11
Thursday I counted 14 species and 70 individuals around the grounds, including 11 Pipevine Swallowtail, 1 Sleepy Orange, 4 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Clouded Sulphur, 2 Leda Ministreak, 3 Ceraunus Blue, 1 Elada Checkerspot, 3 Painted Lady, 4 Common Buckeye, 1 Monarch, 36 Queen, 1 Golden-headed Scallopwing, 1 Common/White Checkered-Skipper and 1 Fiery Skipper. Conditions were mostly sunny 12:30-2:30 pm with a slight breeze, temperatures in the low 90's. A relatively slow day lepidopterally speaking. Anybody seeing Lyside Sulphurs yet? Should be about time. Odonately speaking, things are really picking up. There's water in Queen Creek again; I wasn't really dressed to go wading, but saw several Flame Skimmers, Roseate Skimmers, Filigree Skimmer and others.

From: John Saba
Date: Saturday, July 23
Best spot was today was the Demonstration Garden, but the Butterfly Garden, Herb Garden, and Legume Exhibit were also worth checking. Temperatures from 85 - 95 degrees, partly cloudy, with intermittent light wind and very humid. Today's count of 28 species may be a new record! And a total of 177 individuals. Species (and totals) were 20 Pipevine Swallowtail, 4 Checkered White, 6 Southern Dogface, 5 Cloudless Sulphur, 22 Sleepy Orange, 2 Mexican Yellow, 1 Eurema sp., very probably Boisduval's Yellow (very ratty individual); 2 Dainty Sulphur, 5 Gray Hairstreak, 6 Leda Ministreak, 3 Reakirt's Blue, 6 Ceraunus Blue, 1 Marine Blue, 5 Fatal Metalmark, 6 American Snout, 2 Variegated Fritillary, 1 American Lady, 6 Painted Lady, 10 Common Buckeye, 7 Empress Leilia, 1 Monarch, 40 Queen, 1 Northern Cloudywing, 4 Common/White Checkered-Skipper, 1 Erichson's White-Skipper, 4 Orange Skipperling, 5 Fiery Skipper and 1 Eufala Skipper.

From: Chris Kline
Date: June 21, Tuesday, partly cloudy, calm winds, temp. 105 degrees F. 2:30-4:00 pm.
This is my third year at the Arboretum and I have never seen butterfly numbers like what we are currently experiencing. I apologize in that I sincerely think the numbers below are a gross underestimate. In addition, the observations below were made in only three locations: demonstration garden, rose garden, and herb garden. There was another mile or so of trail I didn't get to: 24 Pipevine Swallowtail, 6 Checkered White, 4 Cloudless Sulphur, 9 Orange Sulphur, 2 Southern Dogface, 3 Dainty Sulphur, 24 Gray Hairstreak, 993 Leda Ministreak (had to estimate numbers on individual plants due to high #'s); 51 Reakirt's Blue, 3 Ceraunus Blue, 89 Marine Blue, 1 *Acmon Blue (new to the BTA checklist!); 3 Fatal Metalmark, 13 Snout, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 2 Texan Crescent, 148 Queen and 1 Common/White Checkered-skipper. Total number of species was 19, with 1,376 individuals. I suppose one nice thing about the hot temps is that several species seem to be attracted to various mints for respite from the heat. It was common place to find Leda Ministreaks at rest on individual plants by the hundreds.

From: Chris Kline
Date: June 8 (Wednesday)
Noticed a large number of butterflies around the Arboretum so I figured today I'd do a one-man butterfly walk around our main trail. WOW! It was not a record for species in one day but was a record for individuals in one day. And all accomplished in a two and a half hour walk. Saw a total of 21 sepecies and 255 individuals including 6 Pipevine Swallowtail, 4 Giant Swallowtail, 21 Checkered White, 7 Cloudless Sulphur, 4 Orange Sulphur, 5 Southern Dogface, 10 Dainty Sulphur, 16 Gray Hairstreak, 11 Leda Ministreak, 7 Reakirt's Blue, 68 Marine Blue, 3 Fatal Metalmark, 1 Mormon Metalmark, 29 American Snout, 6 Texan Crescent, 1 Empress Leilia, 40 Queen, 2 Funereal Duskywing, 1 Arizona Powdered Skipper, 2 Common/White Checkered Skipper, 1 Orange Skipperling. Also had a new one to BTA but couldn't get a good enough look. A Sootywing of some sort I think, Will check again later. For details about other butterfly reports around Arizona contact SoWestLep@yahoogroups.com

From: Chris Kline
Date: May 28 from 10:30 until noon
We had the largest crowd to date for today's butterfly walk: 34 people! Walk was from 10:30am - 12:30, on a sunny day with temperatures in the mid-80's. We had 15 different species and 62 individuals including 8 Pipevine Swallowtail, 3 Giant Swallowtail, 2 Cloudless Sulphur, 2 Clouded Sulphur, 2 Orange Sulphur, 2 Southern Dogface, 5 Dainty Sulphur, 2 Boisduval's Yellow, 1 Reakirt's Blue, 10 Marine Blue, 1 Western Pygmy Blue, 10 American Snout, 2 Texan Crescent, 2 Empress Leilia, 10 Queen. For details about other butterfly reports around Arizona contact SoWestLep@yahoogroups.com

From: Chris Kline
Date: April 23, from 10:30 until noon
There were countless blues that wouldn't hold still long enough to get a clear ID on today's guided walk. Reakirt's Blue and Marine Blue have been spotted recently along with Spring Azure. About a mile west of the Arboretum I spotted what was probably an Acmon Blue two days ago. Our walk today tallied 18 species and 97 individual. Numbers of each were: 12 Pipevine Swallowtail, 3 Giant Swallowtail, 3 Clouded Sulphur, 3 Dainty Sulphur, 7 Spring Azure, 2 Western Pygmy Blue, 11 American Snout, 2 Tiny Checkerspot, 43 Texan Crescent, 2 Empress Leilia, 1 Hackberry Emperor, 1 Common Buckeye, 1 Queen , 2 Checkered Skipper. And a few which were seen prior to the guided walk include one each of Monarch, Gray Hairstreak, Red Admiral and Arizona Powdered Skipper.

From: John Saba
Date: Saturday, March 26 from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm
Thirteen species were observed (112+ individuals) on a day with temperatures in the upper 60's, mostly clear, and intermittent light winds. Wildflowers are good, the best place for butterflies is around the Demonstration Garden, but the Herb Garden shows promise as things begin blooming there. Species and relative numbers today were Pipevine Swallowtail 15, Checkered White 15+, "Pima" Desert Orangetip 1, Dainty Sulphur 13, Spring Azure 20, American Snout 1, Mourning Cloak 2, Painted Lady 30+, Red Admiral 6, Empress Leilia 1, Arizona Powdered-Skipper 3, Common/White Checkered-Skipper 3, Orange Skipperling 2.

2004 - 2004 - 2004 - 2004 - 2004 - 2004 - 2004

From: Chris Kline
Date: Dec. 12, from 1:00-2:30pm
Was such a nice day, I couldn't help but go out and do an improptu butterfly count. Not a lot of bugs, but fun none the less. Three miles west of Superior. Elevation 2400-feet, Sunny, light wind, temp low 70's. Numbers and species were 7 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Southern Dogface, 6 Snout, 10 Queen, and one Monarch -- sporting a light blue tag, couldn't see tag #! Also had a blue of some sort and several little orange ones, but couldn't get close enough to confirm ID (probably orange sulphur).

From: Chris Kline
Date: Nov. 20 from 10:30am - Noon.
The results from today's butterfly walk. Not many bugs, and the few we saw were VERY active (downright hyper!). 4
Pipevine Swallowtails, 4 Cloudless Sulphur, 2 Mexican Yellow, 2 Snout, 1 Empress Leilia, 2 Monarch (one of them recieved tag #C700!), 12 Queen. This was our final walk of the season. We will pick up again in March. Always looking for volunteers to lead these. Once a month, start time at 10:30am. Sign up for one month or several. I'm flexible ;)
Also, anybody traveling to southwest Arizona, Baja, or southern California, please keep an eye out for our tagged monarchs. The tag is circular, light blue, fixed to the lower side of the hindwing, usually the left hindwing.


From: Adriane Grimaldi
Date: Oct. 16 from 10:30am - Noon.
Fifteen visitors attended this month's Butterfly Walk, and we enjoyed great weather. Here are species and total individuals observed: Pipevine Swallowtail 12, Cloudless Sulphur 21, Sleepy Orange 1, Tiny Checkerspot, 1, Checkered Skipper, 1, Snout 4, Painted Lady 8, Empress Leilia 5, Monarch 1, Queen 25.

From: Chris Kline
Date: Sept. 18 from 10:30am - Noon.
Not a lot of variety today, although it had been awhile since we had seen any Blues. I think the weather put a damper on things; here are species and total individuals observed: Pipevine Swallowtail 7, Cloudless Sulphur 7, Marine Blue 1, Western Pygmy Blue 1, Snout 4, Painted Lady 1, Empress Leilia 2, Monarch 3, Queen 61.

From: John Saba
Date: Aug. 21 (8:30 - noon & 1:30 - 3:00, 18 species)
Pipevine Swallowtail 20, Two-tailed Swallowtail 2, Orange Sulphur 3, Southern Dogface 1, Cloudless Sulphur 30, Lyside Sulphur 1, Sleepy Orange 2, Marine Blue 2, Palmer's Metalmark 1, Fatal Metalmark 1, American Snout 5, Painted Lady 2, Empress Leilia 12, Hackberry Emperor 1, Queen 50, Hammock Skipper 6, Funereal Duskywing 4, Fiery Skipper 1, (144 individuals)

From: Chris Kline
Date: July 17
This morning's butterfly walk at the Arboretum was led by Adriane Grimaldi. Thanks Adriane, Great work! The walk was conducted between 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. with conditions partly cloudy and temperatures in the upper 80s, and winds calm. Species and totals are as follows: 1Pipevine Swallowtail 7, Sleepy Orange 2, Cloudless Sulfur 2, Southern Dogface 3, Fatal Metalmark 1, Empress Leilia 1, Common Buckeye 1, Queen 30, Funeral Duskywing 1, Arizona Powdered Skipper 3, Black-tailed Rattlesnake 1. About an hour prior to the walk, an Acacia/Gold-costa Skipper was spotted. Not sure which it was. Two reminders:
1. I ALWAYS welcome guest leaders for our butterfly walks. If you'd like to lep new territory, give me a shout and I'll plug you into the schedule.
2. BTA will be tagging monarchs again this year, starting late August. Last year we got about 75 tagged statewide. Would like to increase that number markedly. Especially looking for more taggers in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties. For details please email ckline@Ag.arizona.edu or call 520.689.2723

From: Chris Kline
Date: June 19
We tallied 13 species and a total of 78 individuals during today's walk from 10:30 a.m. until noon. Weather was sunny, temperatures in the mid-90's. Most numerous specie today was the Queen Butterfly, with 30 individuals counted around the grounds. Other species (and numbers) were Pipevine Swallowtail 10, Sleepy Orange 10, Cloudless Sulfur 2, Southern Dogface 4, Dainty Sulfur 6, Gray Hairstreak 1, Reakirt's Blue 5, Marine Blue 3, Fatal Metalmark 1, Texan Crescent 1,
Common Buckeye 1, and one Funereal Duskywing.

From: John Saba
Date: May 15
The trip adds Ceraunus Blue to the checklist and upgrades Mormon Metalmark from "rare" to "infrequent." Depending on what's blooming, maybe next time we should take a stroll through the herb garden -- the flowering thyme was full of activity, with five or more species. Species - and totals - April 28 include Pipevine Swallowtail 15, Checkered White 45, Orange Sulphur 1, Southern Dogface 15, Cloudless Sulphur 1, Sleepy Orange 12, Dainty Sulphur 15, Gray Hairstreak 2, Leda Ministreak 2, Spring Azure 1, Reakirt's Blue 7, Ceraunus Blue 1, Marine Blue 15, Mormon Metalmark 5, American Snout 35, Texan Crescent 5, West Coast Lady 1, Red Admiral 1, Common Buckeye 4, Empress Leilia 6, Queen 12, Funereal Duskywing 4, Common/White Checkered-Skipper 3, Orange Skipperling 1. (209 individuals).

From: Kurt Radamaker
Date: Saturday, May 8
20+ American Snout, 2 Sleepy orange, 4 Common Buckeye, 2 Empress Leilia, 1 Leda Ministreak, 2 Dainty Sulphur, 10+ Pipevine Swallowtail, 5+ Checkered White, 1 Tiny Checkerspot, 3 Texan Cresent, 3 Common Buckeye, 5 Queen, 2 Western-pygmy Blue, 4 Mexican Yellow, 4 Sulphur(sp) 4 Blue (sp)

From: John Saba
Date: April 28
Pipevine Swallowtail 20+, Checkered White 25+, Clouded Sulphur 1, Southern Dogface 3, Cloudless Sulphur 1, Sleepy Orange 7, Mexican Yellow 1, Dainty Sulphur 15+, Gray Hairstreak 2, Spring Azure 1, Reakirt's Blue 3, Marine Blue 2, Western Pygmy-Blue 10, Mormon Metalmark 1, American Snout 60+, Tiny Checkerspot 3, Elada Checkerspot 1, Texan Crescent 2, Mourning Cloak 1, Red Admiral 2, Common Buckeye 3, Tropical Buckeye 1, Empress Leilia 16+, Hackberry Emperor 4, Queen 3, Arizona Powdered-Skipper 1.

Read more about Boyce Thompson Arboretum weekend nature walks and EVENTS