The 8th WBA Annual Conference was the best yet. We were at the Tierra Learning Center, a lovely 300-acre non-profit retreat in the Cascade foothills near Leavenworth. The weather was super and everyone seemed happy. The Tierra Center was wonderful, set in a woodsy area reminding many of us of camps attended in earlier years. The central lodge with its huge deck was a special hit.

Both evenings featured top speakers. On Friday, Dr. Don Rolfs, who has long been known as an authority on the butterflies of the Leavenworth area, talked about the best places to find them. The next day we all followed his routes to some of his favorite spots: through the Derby Canyon and along the Chumstick Ridge to the top. That mountaintop is surely one of the most dramatic places in our beautiful state.

On Saturday evening, keynote speaker Dr. Merrill Peterson from Western Washington University gave us a series of fascinating comments on the question “Why are caterpillars such picky eaters?” We also gave enthusiastic thanks to the WBA officers who had worked so hard and so well for WBA since last year’s conference, and elected a new slate under the leadership of President Al Wagar.

And butterflies? Yes! We saw lots of butterflies – 39 on just the first full day. Our total must have been around 50 for the weekend. The “best” butterfly we found? Dave Nunnallee said it was one found by a small group of us led by Dave on the Tierra Center’s own land, late Sunday morning: a Thicket Hairstreak. Modesty nearly prompts me to refrain from naming the member who netted this lovely butterfly but you, dear reader, deserve to know that it was I. (Reports that I nearly killed it in the process are greatly exaggerated.)

There was a new spirit at this conference. There were certainly a number of reasons for its energy – the superb weather, the charming Tierra Center, etc, but I thought it might have come from the sense that some new people, many of them younger, are beginning to be felt. For those of use who had been “present at the creation” this seems like a very healthy development. I heard our number one founder, Idie Ulsh, applauding it. There were more really young people, one baby and a number of “kids”. Hooray!

Species List for 2007 Study Weekend

Leavenworth Area – 2007 – Species List Derby Canyon and Chumstick Mountain June 30, 2007

SPREADWING SKIPPERS

• Persius Duskywing- Erynnis persius

GRASS SKIPPERS

• Colorado Branded-skipper – Hesperia colorado

BLUES

• Western Tailed-Blue – Cupido amyntula
• Square-spotted Blue – Euphilotes sp.

PARNASSIANS

• Mountain Parnassian – Parnassius smintheus

SWALLOWTAILS

• Anise Swallowtail – Papilio zelicaon
• Western Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio rutulus
• Two-tailed Swallowtail – Papilio multicaudatus
• Pale Swallowtail – Papilio eurymedon

WHITES

• Cabbage White – Pieris rapae
• Sara Orangetip – Anthocharis sara
• Becker’s White – Pontia beckerii
• Western White – Pontia occidentalis
• Large Marble – Euchloe ausonides

SULFURS

• Western Sulfur – Colias occidentalis

COPPERS

• Purplish Copper – Lycaena helloides
• Lilac-bordered Copper – Lycaena nivalis

HAIRSTREAKS

• Western Green Hairstreak – Callophrys affinis
• Gray Hairstreak – Strymon melinus

ELFINS

• Brown Elfin – Incisalia augustinus
• Dotted Blue – Euphilotes columbiae
• Arrowhead Blue – Glaucopsyche paisus
• Silvery Blue – Glaucopsyche lygdamus
• Greenish Blue – Plebejus saepiolus
• Boisduval’s Blue – Plebejus (Icaricia) icarioides

FRITILLARIES

• Coronis Fritillary – Speyeria coronis
• Zerene Fritillary – Speyeria zerene

TRUE BRUSH-FOOTS

• Hoffmann’s Checkerspot – Chlosyne hoffmanni
• Northern Crescent – Phycoides cocyta
• Field Crescent – Phycoides pulchella
• Anicia Checkerspot – Euphydryas anicia
• California Tortoiseshell – Nymphalis californica
• Mourning Cloak – Nymphalis antiopa
• Milbert’s Tortoiseshell – Nymphalis milberti
• Satyr Comma – Polygonia satyrus

ADMIRALS AND RELATIVES

• Lorquin’s Admiral – Limenitis lorquini

SATYRS

• Ochre Ringlet – Coenonympha tullia
• Small Wood-Nymph – Cercyonis oetus
• Common Alpine – Erebia epipsodea

Additional Species July 1, 2007

Eagle Creek

HAIRSTREAKS

• Thicket Hairstreak – Mitoura spinetorum

BLUES

• Anna’s Blue – Plebejus (Lycaeides) anna

FRITILLARIES

• Callippe Fritillary – Speyeria callippe

SATYRS

• Great Arctic – Oeneis nevadensis

Tumwater Campground and Nearby Areas

GRASS SKIPPERS

• Roadside Skipper – Amblyscirtes vialis

PARNASSIANS

• Clodius Parnassian – Parnassius clodius

TRUE BRUSH-FOOTS

• Green Comma – Polygonia faunus

BLUES

• Echo Blue – Celestrina echo

Tierra Learning Center – Sunitsch Canyon

SATYRS

• Common Wood Nymph – Cercyonis pegala

TRUE BRUSH-FOOTS

• Red Admiral – Vanessa atalanta (larva on nettles)

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