On Friday, April 10 the Sabino Canyon Spring Butterfly Count was run and compiler Greg Greene reports that 27 people divided into 14 parties recorded a record high count of 68 species! This count covers much of the Santa Catalina Mountains and foothills from Agua Caliente and Sabino Canyon up to Mt Lemmon. The summer version of this count will be run in late July.
This is also a heads-up about the 5 SE Arizona counts which will be run in late July and early August. Counts are open to all. They are fun, but importantly, the data compiled helps to give us an idea of how our butterfly populations in SE AZ are doing, especially with the effects of climate change. Please mark the dates down on your calendars and feel free to contact the compilers if you wish to participate.
-Friday July 24 Sabino Canyon Summer (Santa Catalina Mts and foothills) Compiler Greg Greene (greenecycle at hotmail.com)
-Tuesday July 28 Ramsey Canyon (covers east side of Huachuca Mts and San Pedro River) Compiler Doug Danforth (dougofbis at gmail.com)
-Friday July 31 Santa Rita Mountains Summer (Madera, Box, Florida, Montosa Canyons) Compiler Gerry Wolfe (azgervic at yahoo.com)
-Tuesday August 4 Patagonia Compiler Rich Bailowitz (rbailowitz at gmail.com)
-Friday August 7 Portal (covers east side of Chiricahua Mountains) Compiler Lori Conrad (lconrad6853 at gmail.com)
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CAZBA had a wonderful field trip last Saturday, April 18 to Rackensack Wash and Sears Kay Ruins. Myself and Dr. Ron Rutowski helped lead this fun and engaging hike. We had great weather and almost as many people attended as we saw # of species of butterflies. Great to see so many new faces. 19 people in all attended. We saw 21 species of butterflies. - Adriane Hopkins
Pipevine Swallowtail, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Checkered White, Dainty Sulphur, Orange Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Sleepy Orange, Marine Blue, Gray Hairstreak, Empress Leilia, California Patch, Common Buckeye, Queen, Variable Checkerspot, Variegated Fritillary, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Arizona Sister, American Snout, Funeral Duskywing, Fiery Skipper.
Also, we saw larvae of the Pipevine Swallowtail and the Variable Checkerspot.
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Nine butterfliers headed up the Beeline Highway into the Mazatzal Mountains on Saturday, March 14, 2026. There were a few clouds but it was mostly sunny and warm. We stopped first at Round Valley (RV) and walked around in the mesquite bosque but spent quite a bit of time watching mud puddlers along the banks of Sycamore Creek. We observed 17 species at that location. The group then moved up to Upper Sunflower Valley (USV) walking from the gate down the Old Beeline Highway to the USFS work camp. This higher elevation site produced 11 species several of which were not seen at Round Valley. We identified a total of 21 species on the trip. It was a great day for spring butterflies and to refresh our identification skills for the coming year. Here is a list of what was seen and where.
Pipeline Swallowtail RV USV, Southern Dogface RV, Dainty Sulphur RV USV, Orange Sulphur RV USV, Checkered White RV, Sara Orange Tip USV, Marine Blue RV, Empress Leila RV, American Snout RV, Variegated Fritillary USV, Red Admiral RV, Buckeye RV USV, Sagebrush Checkerspot USV, Variable Checkerspot RV USV, Painted Lady RV USV, California Patch RV (pictured), Weidemeyer’s Admiral USV, Queen RV, Funeral Duskywing RV, Arizona Powdered Skipper RV, Common/White Checkered Skipper RV USV
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Visit Butterfly Wonderland’s Annual Spring Plant Sale March 13 (9am-5pm), March 14 (9am-5pm) and March 15 (9am-2pm)and choose beautiful spring plants to create butterfly, hummingbird, and bee-friendly gardens. Individual plants range from $15-$30. “Grab & Go” Plant Kits available at special pricing featuring 1-gallon host and nectar 4-pack of plants for $55. Butterfly Wonderland Master Gardener Adriane Hopkins will be on hand to answer gardening and butterfly questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale support the mission and programs of the Butterfly Wonderland Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to conservation-based education and initiatives.
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Several of CAzBA's board members will be leading butterfly walks at Boyce Thompson Arboretum this spring, which are included with admission ($24.95) and free for members. Limit 15.
March 28: Marceline VandeWater
April 11: Gail Morris and Della Killeen
April 25: Adriane Hopkins
May 9: Ron Rutowski
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The Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation published a report earlier this year entitled State of Butterflies in the United States. The report presents an analysis of 20 years of data from community science programs across the USA that monitor butterflies, and it reaches some startling and disturbing conclusions, like this one: “Overall, butterflies across the U.S. are declining at a rate of 1.3% per year – leading to a 22% reduction in combined abundance over the 20-year time period.”
This report is freely available here: https://xerces.org/publications/scientific-reports/state-of-butterflies-in-united-states. It includes specific conclusions about declines in southwestern butterflies (e.g. the Empress Leilia shows one of the highest rates of decline among butterflies in the region) and a lengthy list of positive actions people and organizations can take to help recover butterflies.
Everyone interested in butterflies is strongly encouraged to read this report.
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Fifty years after the startling discovery that monarch butterflies spend winters in the forests of Mexico, photographer and National Geographic Explorer Jaime Rojo reveals this winged wonder of the insect world in new ways with never-before-seen visuals. Tag along with conservationists and citizen scientists who are helping this species avoid catastrophic threats, all through Jaime’s beautiful photos and videos.
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CAZBA led the 2025 fall butterfly count at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum on Saturday, September 6. Although we had only 5 participants in the count this year, we managed to get it done. All our usual locations were counted: the grounds of BTA, the Picketpost Trailhead, Queen Creek (aka Apache Tears) riparian area, the town of Superior, Oak Flat, and Upper Devil’s Canyon. Up to the time of the count the monsoonal rainfall in the count area had been disappointingly low. So, we did not expect to see high numbers of butterflies and the results met that expectation. The compiled tallies revealed that we saw only 83 individuals in 15 species, but there have been previous years when we have seen fewer. Most abundant were Sleepy Oranges and Empress Leilias, and there were notable sightings of Tailed Oranges by Marceline VandeWater on the grounds of BTA. For more details, please attend the 2025 summary of Central Arizona counts that will be presented by Ron Rutowski on Saturday, October 18. The time and place for that summary is here: https://cazba.org/Events_view.aspx?Eventid=3295. Hope to see you there!
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Pivot Rock Canyon was warm and humid Saturday morning 8/23/2025. According to campers there was substantial rain the night before, but there was no flowing water in the Canyon in places where we have seen it in past years and overall conditions were still very dry. Although five avid trip participants gave it their best shot, the butterflying that morning was not great. The group saw only about a dozen individual butterflies representing six species: Two-tailed Swallowtail, Spring Azure, Painted Lady, Northwestern Fritillary, Mourning Cloak, Taxiles Skipper. Pray for more monsoon rain this year and next!
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Ten butterfliers met at Aspen Corner on 26 July 2025 for a walk led by Gail Morris and Marianne Jensen. The day was a tad windy but otherwise beautiful with wonderful views of the high San Francisco peaks to the south and Hart Prairie and various old volcanoes to the north. We identified more than 15 species of butterflies although some ID’s awaited close inspection of photos back at home. Highlights included Pine Whites (pictured) – one landed on Marianne’s pants! – and three species of Skipperlings. It was a very enjoyable and engaging morning and here is the full list of what we identified: Two-tailed Swallowtail (probable), Pine White (6), Dainty Sulphur (3), Orange Sulphur (1), Marine Blue (1), Melissa Blue (1), Silvery Blue (6), Greenish Blue (1), Boisduval Blue (2), Northwestern Fritillary (10), Mourning Cloak (1), Garita Skipperling (8), Russet Skipperling (1), Edward’s Skipperling (1),Taxiles Skipper (>20), Pacuvius Duskywing (1), Northern Cloudywing (1).
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