2. NABA is a not-for-profit organization formed to educate the public about the joys of non-
consumptive, recreational butterflying including listing, gardening, observation, photography,
rearing, and conservation. Membership in NABA is open to all who share our purpose.
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oVOLUME 19, ISSUE 1 SPRING 2014
4 Butterfly Musings
5 Jr. Rangers to the Rescue!
Counting Butterflies in Broward County.
by Barbara DeWitt, Sandy Koi, Jenni Leve,
Janice Malkoff, and Zen WhiteCloud
8 The Butterfly Eye:
How Butterflies Choose Flowers
by Lenora Larson
12 Eastern Redcedar for Juniper Hairstreaks
by Mary Anne Borge
15 Book Review
by Jane Hurwitz
Front cover photo: Juniper Hairstreak with Mountainmint. Credit: Mary Anne Borge
Back cover poem: "Indra Swallowtail" by Pat McCulloch.
Back cover photo: Indra Swallowtail in Northern California by Dennis Holmes
Butterfly Gardener www.nababutterfly.corn 3 Spring 2014

3. Jr. a
Counting
gers to the escue!
utterf ies in Broward County
By Barbara DeWitt, Sandy Koi, Jenni Leve, Janice Malkoff, and Zen WhiteCloud
Members of the Broward County Butterfly Chapter (BCBC) of the North American Butterfly
Association (NABA) and the Park Rangers at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park (HTBSP) in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, participated in the Annual Broward County North Spring butterfly count in May
2013. When a rain shower temporarily stopped the count, the participants took shelter in one of the
park's buildings. Inside they met a group of 14 aspiring young biologists between the ages of 8 and
14 known as the Jr. Rangers. The Jr. Rangers shared their snacks with the damp count participants,
who in turn told the Jr. Rangers about the count.
The Participants
The Jr. Ranger program is entering its fourth year and most of the children have been in the program
since it was created by Zen Whitecloud and her daughter Teakahla. Recognizing that butterflies are
an important part of the ecosystem, the children were given a "working knowledge" of butterflies and
their caterpillar food plants by HTBSP Senior Ranger Mark Foley and Park Manager Jim Gibson,
and have subsequently identified a total of 15 species at the park.
Inspired and excited by the chance meeting with the NABA count participants, the Jr. Rangers were
able to start counting butterflies with organizing help from Park Ranger Jenni Leve and leadership
from Zen Whitecloud. They were able to monitor butterfly populations for several more months, from
June until the chapter's Fall count in October! South Florida has the advantage of being able to
count butterflies year-round and SCSC holds counts in spring, summer, and fall.
Butterfly Gardener www.naba.org 5 Spring 2014
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4. The Project
Part of the Jr. Ranger's monitoring project included keeping count of the Atala butterfly population
for Sandy Koi, a former BCBC member. Sandy, who recently completed a Master's degree at the
University of Florida in Gainesville, researches the ecology and conservation of the Atala, clarifying
its lifespan, the development of immatures in different environmental conditions, and caterpillar food
plant choice and consumption. Sandy has monitored the Atala colonies in southeast Florida for 10
years and she continues to do so in specific locations via the help of volunteer Citizen Scientists from
Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. These volunteers are taught how to perform long-
term data collection, which helps scientists follow the peak-and-crash population dynamics. The data
gathered will benefit conservation planning for the State-imperiled Atala, and potentially for other pine
rockland butterfly species as well.
Led by parent volunteer Zen Whitecloud, the Jr. Rangers counted Atala eggs, larvae, and pupae
for five months. The data that the children collected became part of Sandy's research, as they,
too, became Citizen Scientists for the counts. Jim Gibson also took an active role in reviewing
the projects and progress of the Jr. Rangers. In October, at the conclusion of the five-month
monitoring project, and after the Fall NABA count, Jim Gibson also gladly officiated at a celebration
congratulating the diligent and dedicated young Jr. Rangers/Citizen Scientists for their efforts in this
valuable research project.
The Party
BCBC President Janice Malkoff designed
a certificate of appreciation to honor the Jr.
Rangers' hard work and dedication. Sandy Koi
inscribed each certificate with the child's name
in beautiful calligraphy. Janice also baked a
cake, which was happily devoured by all. Zen
Whitecloud presented Janice, Barbara DeWitt,
and Jenni Leve with butterfly pins, which were
immediately declared to be "Little Metalmarks."
The children were also given a beautiful Atala
patch, designed by Zen and funded by the
Scholey family, parents of Jr. Ranger Vanessa.
Photo above right: Zen
WhiteCloud presents
Barbara DeWitt with a "Little
Metalmark" butterfly pin
while Ranger Jenrii Leve
and Park Manager Jim
Gibson observe.
Photo right: Luke Lorenz
receives his "Certificate of
Appreciation" and Atala
patch from Park Manager
Jim Gibson while other Jr.
Rangers await their call.
Butterfly Gardener www.naba.org
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6 Spring 2014

5. Few people know that HTBSP was the site
of the original rediscovery of the Atala back
in 1959! This colony has actually been fairly
secure for many years now, since it was
re-introduced again in the 1980's. It has
persisted virtually without human intervention
since, although there have been years
when it has not been present. However,
as a barrier island complete with coontie
(the Atala food plant), shade trees, ocean
breezes, fresh water, and plenty of wild
nectar sources, HTBSP has proven to be
a fairly stable habitat for not only the Atala,
but for many other species as well. Statira
Sulphur, Zebra Heliconian, White Peacock,
and Ruddy Daggerwing are a few of the
other species that have been documented at
the site by the Jr. Rangers.
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The data collected by the Jr. Rangers
exhibit the classic "peak-crash" cycle typical
of many insect species. Watching the
population fluctuation in a persistent colony
like this is a great lesson in the complexity of ecological systems that researchers haven't entirely
figured out even yet.
In the case of Atalas, abundant food and nectar may be available for both immatures and adults
even when the population appears to crash, so other factors that may be at play have yet to be
discovered. A similar cycle is evident in all of the colonies being monitored by NABA volunteers
in southeast Florida, but some operate on different timetables, so that one colony may crash
while another peaks. Adult Atalas may abandon a site in search of mates, for example, if males
and females do not eclose simultaneously. Likewise, adults may self-establish a colony in a
completely new location if the density of adults is high or if their nectar or caterpillar food plant
resources are reduced in the current site. Complicating the monitoring of some colony sites is
the fact that people also re-Iocate Atalas for many reasons, including scientific decisions to move
them for the health of a colony.
Because the Atala is
considered an imperiled
species by the State of
Florida, and is being
monitored by Florida Natural
Areas Inventory as well as
by data submitted by Sandy
Koi's research, the Jr. Rangers
were also given a beautiful Atala patch, designed by
Zen WhiteCloud. Photo: Janice Malkoff.
Butterfly Gardener www.naba.org
"Little Metalmark"
pin. Photo: Barbara
DeWitt.
7 Spring 2014