woodland star ~ 04/08/14 ~ Pinnacles

woodland star

Lithophragma affine

Saxifragaceae

posted 04/15/14 - I double-checked with the CNPS folks 2 days later whether they considered the calyx here as being V-shaped (obconic), not square (bell-shaped) as with the hill star (L. heterophyllum).  Yes, V-shaped, obconic, woodland star, L. affine.  Note the green stem.  It can also be red.

pale swallowtail ~ 04/08/14 ~ Pinnacles

pale swallowtail nectaring on blue dick

Papilio eurymedon nectaring on Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum

for more information click here, here, and here
Themidaceae

Considering how often I am out, I don't often see butterflies totally consumed with nectaring.  My preferred hiking conditions run cloudier, cooler, and earlier than prime nectar flow, aka prime butterfly sipping activity.  My goal this year is to see more butterflies and to get to know, really know, our local spp.  So, I've adjusted my outings to a little later in the day and for warmer temperatures, which include inland locations away from the coastal cool, like Pinnacles National Park.  Thus far, I've had a fair bit of success in finding more butterflies that hold still long enough for me to take a good look at them and a couple of pictures.  I haven't netted in over a decade, because I know I am not a gentle netter and it pained me to injure butterflies just so I could look at them up close.

For Pinnacles, the only 2 reported spp. of striped, yellowish swallowtails are the pale swallowtail (aka Pterourus eurymedon - why?  someone wanted to make it a thing?) and the western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus).  The slightly twisted tail-detail view from on top and from below don't match and can be visually confusing on a quickly moving animal.  Plus, the tails are sometimes broken off. Here's my cheat sheet to tell the two apart:

pale swallowtail                       

true, creamy butter color (real butter, not what you imagine is a butter color)

often with orange coloring in last crescent next to the tail, sometimes yellow

western tiger swallowtail

deeper yellow, like buttercups

always yellow in last crescent next to tail

I've read that the width of their stripes is thicker in pale versus western tiger, but that's tricky to tell when they're not side-by-side to compare.  Although, they reportedly often fly together.

silvery blue ~ 04/08/14 ~ Pinnacles

 silvery blue nectaring upside down

Glaucopsyche lygdamus nectaring upside down
more information

He must have the hiccups he's trying cure?  Or the violet nectar is very potent, and this is a drunk butterfly?  Take your pick.  I was entertained watching this lone blue butterfly land horizontally across the topmost petal, extend his proboscis, turn down towards the center of the flower (either clockwise or counter-clockwise), and stick his head in as far as possible for a long draught (enough for me to get numerous pictures), and then wipe his proboscis off on a petal before moving on to another violet.  Wash and repeat.  So often, butterflies are quite dainty about their sipping, gently using their feet to taste.  Not this fellow, his proboscis led the way, and he was drinking with gusto.  I was a little surprised he didn't ever topple over. 

Johnny jump up / California golden violet
Viola pedunculata
Violaceae

So, naturally, I tried to stick the flash up in there, too, to see what the fuss was all about.  The violets are by no means tall, even though the flowers do, indeed, jump up away from the leaves.  Holding the camera down there facing a 45° angle up is tricky.  I'm starting to rue the day last fall when we discovered the macro feature on our 10-year-old point-and-shoot.  I want to do everything in macro now.  Macro, macro, macro!  Mwahahaha... but, it burns the battery quickly.  The dark nectar guides are stunning.  I bet they taste sweet to little feet (and probosces).

cute butterfly butt (view from above)

As a final note, the famously extinct Xerces blue butterfly is considered by some to have been a ssp. of Glaucopsyche lygdamus.  Then, there's also the federally endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly (G. lygdamus palosverdesensis), which is being reintroduced, as Brent @ Breathing Treatment knows first-hand.

woodland star ~ 04/06/14 ~ Garland Ranch

woodand star

Lithophragma affine

Saxifragaceae

Thanks to Wildflowers of Garland Ranch by Michael Mitchell and Rod M. Yeager, I knew both hill star and woodland star occur here.  It's been a very handy go-to guide for local plants.  Three years ago I photographed the square-calyxed L. heterophyllum, and I've been on the search for this v-shaped L. affine ever since.  Note the pretty red stem.

ps 04/22/14 - I discovered there are other Lithophragma found in our area.  I just noticed the 3-lobed petals shown above have notches, whereas the green one I photographed at Pinnacles does not.  I don't know if that's a common variation of L. affine.  There is a possibility this is a smallflower woodland star (Lithophragma parviflorum var. parviflorum), but I don't know the difference.