2004

Quino Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) Monitored Reference Site Information

Updated: May 6, 2004

Please check this page frequently for updates.  Note that this website may be subject to closure without notice, please rely on the CFWO Quino checkerspot butterfly hotline (760-431-9440 x252) for information should this page not be accessible.

Link to weekly weather forecasts for southern California: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sandiego/index.shtml

Link to map of Quino checkerspot butterfly monitored sites

Post-season (45 day) reports should include a signed affidavit from all contributing permittees confirming that their data was accurately incorporated.

Some surveyors have expressed confusion with regard to the number of recommended surveys once Quino checkerspot butterflies have been detected. As stated in bullet #2 on page 4 of the protocol, complete surveys are to be conducted "...once per week for a minimum of 5 weeks... even if Quino checkerspots are observed on an earlier visit."

We observed two adult male Quino checkerspot butterflies on a hilltop during our last monitoring visit to the Anza reference site on Wed, May 5.  Large numbers of Quino checkerspot butterflies were reported flying in the Anza area following peak emergence this season, possibly due to conditions similar to historic "outbreaks" of resilient irruptive populations throughout the species former range.  The relatively high numbers of adult Quino checkerspot butterflies reported this season from the Anza area may be a result of high white snapdragon abundance and butterfly reproductive success last season.

The adult flight season has apparently ended at all regularly monitored reference sites except Anza (see two paragraphs below; no regular monitoring at Wilson Valley this season).  No Quino checkerspot butterflies were observed at the Jacumba reference site during the most recent monitoring survey on April 29.  No butterflies were found during a one hour survey of the reference site at Lake Skinner on April 18.  One worn adult Quino checkerspot was observed during a survey of the Marron Valley reference site on 4/22. 

Post-fire monitoring of occupied Quino checkerspot butterfly populations within the Otay (Mine) Fire footprint has revealed continued occupancy of most monitored sites.  Quino checkerspot butterflies have been reported from the Alpine area again this season. Surveyors have reported white snapdragon in the occupied burned area at Rancho Jamul, and larval clusters have been recorded on white snapdragon in the burned area near Lake Skinner. 

The reference sites listed below are not monitored on a regular basis, they are monitored as often as staff are available, and information is posted as soon as possible (not on weekends).  The sites visited most regularly are Lake Skinner, Anza, Rancho San Diego, and Marron Valley.  The flight season may start in any given area before we report Quino checkerspot butterfly adults at the nearest reference site.  Monitoring is primarily for phenological information and to document continued presence.  Search efforts are not always equal, but negative surveys under unsuitable weather conditions (weather suitability per protocol) are not reported. 

Permittees must use the best available scientific information to decide when to initiate surveys and their duration.  The 2002 protocol states, "If butterflies are not detected during the first 5 surveys, weekly surveys should continue until the end of the flight season to maximize likelihood of detection of low-density populations."  The best scientific methodology includes consideration of our ability to accurately determine the timing of the flight season.  

The Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office currently monitors nine reference sites occupied by the Quino checkerspot butterfly in western Riverside County and southwestern San Diego County. Three of the nine reference sites contain specific larval host plant patches where we have been able to consistently find larvae and focus monitoring efforts (Table 1). The larval host plant patches are located at the Lake Skinner site north of Temecula in Riverside County, the Anza site in Riverside County; and the Marron Valley site east of Otay Mountain in San Diego County.

Table 1.  Post-diapause larval Quino checkerspot butterfly monitoring information 2004.  Click on underlined text to see additional notes.

Monitored Site Descriptions:

Link to map of Quino checkerspot butterfly monitored sites

There are six primary monitored sites in southwestern San Diego County (Table 2), located as follows: 1) on a ridge top above Marron Valley at an elevation of 2,000 feet (ft); 2) the Rancho Jamul site, in the vicinity of the intersection of Otay Lakes Road and State Route 94 between 800-1,000 ft in elevation; 3) northeast of the Sweetwater Reservoir between 500 and 800 ft in elevation (Rancho San Diego/SDNWR); 4) the western slope of Otay Mountain at an elevation of 2000 ft; and 5) the vicinity of Jacumba Peak between 3000-3300 ft in elevation.  We added a site southeast of Otay Lakes in 2004 (elevation to be posted).  All monitored reference sites in San Diego County are generally coastal sage scrub dominated by buckwheat and chamise, with the exception of the Jacumba site.  The Jacumba site is "high-desert" open juniper woodland dominated by yucca, cactus spp., Mormon tea, and jojoba.  Monitored primary host plant populations in San Diego County consisted of dwarf plantain (plantago, Plantago erecta) thread-leaved bird's beak (Cordylanthus rigidus), and woolly plantain (Plantago patagonica).  White snapdragon (Antirrhinum coulterianum) also occurs in San Diego County, but is not known to occur at any of the monitored sites. 

There are four monitored sites in Riverside County (Table 2), located as follows: 1) peaks and red clay flats surrounding Lake Skinner between 1,500 and 2500 ft in elevation; 2) the vicinity of Oak Mountain northwest of Vail Lake at an elevation between 2,000 and 2,600 ft; 3) west of Wilson Valley at an elevation of between 2,000 and 2,300 ft; and 4) south of the town of Anza between 4,200 and 4,600 ft in elevation.  All monitored sites in Riverside County are generally riversidean sage scrub dominated by buckwheat, with the exception of the one near Anza. The Anza site is primarily redshank chaparral, with interspersed open areas dominated by buckwheat and great basin sagebrush.  Monitored primary host plant populations in Riverside County consisted of dwarf plantain (Plantago erecta), white snapdragon (Antirrhinum coulterianum), woolly platain (Plantago patagonica), and  thread-leaved bird's beak (Cordylanthus rigidus).

Table 2.  Adult Quino checkerspot butterfly monitoring information 2004.

Additional Larval Monitoring Notes

1/11 Lake Skinner

    We visited a site that had burned in the Mountain Fire, in the hills east of Lake Skinner on the edge of the preserve.  It had been Riversidean sage scrub and chamise chaparral, the soil had a high sand content.  We noted abundant white snapdragon sprouting in the area (Figure 3).  Plants had 6-10 leaves, and many showed signs of herbivory.  White snapdragon can be very abundant after fire, and is the apparent preferred primary host plant for the Quino checkerspot in the Anza area (higher elevations) where it is found on granitic soils in a more open woody-canopy habitat than usual.  Back to Table 1

2/6 Marron Valley

    We visited another larval host plant patch where we have found larvae in the past in Marron Valley (west of regularly monitored site), and found 23 larvae in 10 minutes.  Larval length statistics for the second site were a range of 18-30 mm, mean 25 mm.  Larvae appeared to be very abundant at both larval host plant patches. 

    We also searched for caterpillars at a small hilltop on the edge of the the Otay Fire burn footprint in western Marron Valley (eastern mountain foothills), where adult Quino checkerspot butterflies have been observed on multiple occasions in the past (Figure 4).  The fire had burned up to the road, to within approximately 30 meters from the top of the hill.  Plantago was abundant, and the soil was moist, habitat conditions appeared similar to the other two eastern patches.  We were able to locate two caterpillars, 26 and 24 mm in length, approximately 15 meters from the edge of the burn.  Larval abundance appeared lower at this patch compared to the other two eastern patches.  We detected plantago and popcorn flowers sprouting together in the burned area adjacent to the caterpillar locations (Figure 5).  Back to Table 1

Additional Adult Monitoring Notes

3/4 Marron Valley

There were many small caterpillars at Marron Valley that appeared to have just come out of diapause, indicating the possibility of an extended flight season at that site.

3/12, 3/18, and 3/23 Marron Valley. 

The regularly monitored larval host plant patch location was not searched, adults were detected at two other more western locations nearby.  On 3/18 only sites on the perimeter of the Otay burn at the west end of the valley was visited, some adults were observed within the burned area.  On 3/23 only one hilltop at the west end of the valley was searched.

3/22 and 3/24 Anza.

Monitoring was not done at the regularly monitored reference site of larval host plant patch, instead surveys were done at a nearby site with public access where adult Quino checkerspot butterflies are apparently more abundant than at the reference site.  Over 100 adults were reported on 3/22, and 54 were observed on 3/24, weather conditions and differences in survey effort likely account for the difference in the number of butterflies obaserved.  One adult male was observed on a hilltop at the reference site on 3/24 where they are commonly found, however that observatioon was a result of a "spot-check," standard monitoring activities were not conducted.

3/30 Marron Valley

Surveys were not conducted at the standard reference sites, they were in the burned area at the west end of the valley.

3/30 Rancho Jamul

Survey was not at the standard reference site north of Otay Lakes Rd., it was south of the road.  Doug Allen reported that 5 of the 8 adults observed looked relatively fresh (bright colors, no wing wear).

3/30 Lake Skinner

Gordon Pratt noted that one adult was a freshly emerged male, and he reported 3 larval clusters and 13 egg clusters.  Based on the age of the larval clusters he estimated that females had been laying eggs (flying) for at least 17 days.

3/31 Otay Lakes and Rancho Jamul

Weather was overcast, cool, with occasional light precipitation, however Quino were still detected.

3/31 Jacumba

Gordon Pratt reported that he probably would have seen more adults if the weather were better.  He said habitat conditions were "absolutely marvelous" compared to everywhere else he has looked.  He found an egg cluster, and the fresh appearance of the adults he saw suggesting it was still early in the flight season at this location.

4/05 Marron Valley

Quino permittee conducting a gnatcatcher survey reported one incidental observation.  Other permittees monitoring in the area reported owl's clover "coming up in the burned area" (no date).

4/7 Anza

This report came from the vicinity of Bautista Road in the town of Anza, north of the reference site.

4/8 and 9 Rancho Jamul

The three adults on the 9th were reported from Hollenbeck Canyon adjacent to the Rancho Jamul reference site.  The one on the 8th was reported to be "worn."  Buckey butterflies were reported ovipositing on plantago.

4/8 and 4/9 Marron Valley

The regularly monitored larval host plant patch location was not searched, adults were detected at two other more western locations nearby, and within the burned area west of the valley.

4/13 Marron Valley

Quino permittee conducting a gnatcatcher survey reported one incidental observation.

4/15 Marron Valley

All 10+ adults were observed at the highest elevation location within the Marron Valley site (approx 720 ft higher in elevation; larval host plant reference patch area); also all the green plantago, thread leaved bird's beak, and larval clusters.  At the lower elevation site, all the plantago was dead, and there was owl's clover in flower.  All adults looked worn and older (e.g. missing scales, tattered wing edges).  Gabb;s checkerspot butterflies were abundant and fresh in appearence (bright colors, no sign of wear).

4/21 Anza 

No live white snapdragon has been observed during monitoring activity and surveys of extensive habitat areas south of the Cahuilla Tribal trust lands (hundreds of acres, including our reference site; K. Osborne pers. comm.).  So many Quino checkerspot butterflies have been observed this season during surveys in the Anza area that on some dates they were hard to count (G. Pratt and K. Osborne pers. comm.).  Surveyors reporting Quino checkerspot butterflies from sites north of Cahuilla Tribal trust lands also did not find white snapdragon.  The only place we have been able to find live, flowering white snapdragon this season in the Anza area is in the north-eastern foothills of the valley (at a site that was not being surveyed for butterflies; Fig. 6).

5/6 Anza

The only adult Quino checkerspot butterflies observed were two males on a hilltop above where the monitored larval host plant patches are.  We did find white snapdragon this visit, a total of 6 plants, but 4 of the 6 were very small, approximately 1/8 to 1/16 the typical observed height and mass (plants observed at Lake Skinner this year were typical, i.e. 2-3 feet tall).  Qualitative estimate of white snapdragon density compared to last year is approximatly 1/50.  One medium sized white snapdragon observed had a single pre-diapause caterpillar on it, no larvae were observed on plantago. Weather conditions were ideal, California patch and Leanira checkerspot butterflies were also observed.

Back to Table 2

Figure 1. Larvae at Marron Valley on 1/22 (click to see full-size).  Back to citation	Figure 2.  Quino checkerspot butterfly - Marron Valley  Back to citation
Figure 3.  White snapdragon sprouting near Lake Skinner in Mountain fire burned area on 1/20 (click to see full-size). Back to citation	Figure 4. Hilltop site on eastern edge of Otay Fire burn footprint on 2/6 (Click to see full-size. Back to citation
Figure 5.  Plantago and popcorn flowers sprouting in burned area adjacent to caterpillar locations on 2/6.  Back to citation	Figure 6.  White snapdragon blooming north of Anza April 21.  Back to citation.

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