SPOKANE, Wash. — Butterflies are more than just another pretty bug.
They’re pollinators and indicators of a healthy environment. They play a role in natural pest control as well as being nourishment for birds and bats.
Of course, they’re also beautiful. No getting around that.
John Baumann has an infectious enthusiasm for these colorful masterpieces that he’s eager to pass on.
“It’s the antithesis of the REI ad that advocates experiencing the outdoors ‘at top speed,’ “ the Spokane lepidopterist said.
“I came back to butterflying out of the blue — a childhood passion rekindled nine years ago at a butterfly gathering in the Blue Mountains.”
Last year, Baumann was named president of the Washington Butterfly Association.
“I didn’t have to campaign very hard,” he said, noting that the group welcomes new members.
A recent Baumann-led program revealed butterflies as more than a flight of fancy. Sponsored by the Dishman Hills Conservancy and Inland Northwest Land Conservancy, a classroom session was followed by a walk in a natural area with a group that included seniors, couples and parents with kids ranging from teens to a gaggle of fascinated elementary schoolers.
He prepped them as he waited for the late-morning sweet spot of a summer day. Temperatures should be warm enough to enliven butterflies. But when it gets too hot they seek shade, he said.
A butterfly’s life cycle begins as an egg and hatches into a larva (caterpillar), which does most of the feeding. The chrysalis (pupa) is the cased transformation stage. The adult emerges with wings, sometimes to migrate in the butterfly’s destiny to court, mate and produce eggs.
Some species will go through several life cycles in a summer, Baumann said.
Yarrow is a favorite butterfly enticements to have in a yard with other flowering plants, he noted as he highlighted what lures the insects. The pink flowers of droopy-leaved spreading dogbane are one of many native attractors in the Dishman Hills.
Monarch butterflies and caterpillars are linked to milkweed. Their distant cousins, the frittilaries, take violets as larval hosts and are hungry for the nectar of thistles as adults.
The ethics of collecting butterflies for scientific study and hobbying are debated among experts. Habitat loss is the main threat to butterflies, but too many zealous collectors could have an impact in some cases, Baumann said.
“Some species are difficult to tell apart from a photo,” he said, referring to one of the benefits of scientific collecting.
Some species are abundant and some are rare, he added as factors to consider before killing a butterfly.
“I take very good care of the few specimens I do collect and minimize harvest from any locality,” he said. “Just enough for a record.”
A lot of fun is derived from simply being able to identify species by sight, he said. For instance, the green comma butterfly, which has a burnt-orange appearance looking down at it with wings open and more camouflaged with wings folded, appears as though a slug nibbled on the edges of its wing.
Butterfly families tend to be named for visual clues. They include blues, whites, sulphurs, coppers, fritillaries, wood nymphs, skippers, crescents and checkerspots.
They generally find their niches in different areas at different times. For example, silvery blues (the females are brown) are fond of lupine.
More than 60 species have been documented in the Dishman Hills, and Iller Creek rising up to Tower Mountain, Baumann said.
Among the several guidebooks to butterflies and moths in his library, Baumann quotes often from “Butterflies of Cascadia” (2001) by Robert Michael Pyle.
The Moss’s Elfin butterfly is uncommon in the region but commonly found at Iller Creek, he said.
Head for higher elevations at the top of Tower Mountain for the best chance to find a mountain parnassian.
Sara orange tips are common especially in spring. They’re easy to spot in flight with their namesake wings.
The Anise swallowtail is reasonably common in the higher Rocks of Sharon area, but they’re skittish, he said.
“Males will stop on a damp spot to recharge with moisture and nutrients for mating.”
Western tiger swallowtails thrive in towns where willows, aspens, cottonwoods and plane trees are potential local larval food plants.
Spring or echo azure butterflies often are seen flitting along moist spots on the ground. Not to detract from their beauty, he said, “these azures often are found on poop.”
The mourning cloak butterfly, found throughout the Dishman Hills, has antifreeze in its system to allow adults to get an early start in the year.
“Finding about 20 different species out there would be considered a good day,” Baumann said as everyone headed up from the Dishman-Mica Road to the conservation area.
The Lorquin’s Admiral, which also is attracted to poop and moisture along trails and roads, was abundant at the Iller Creek Trailhead.
“They need open spaces and warmth, which might come from a gravel road,” Baumann said.
Equipped with nets and nifty observation jars with built-in magnifying glass bottoms, some of the kids had a few butterflies netted in no time.
The discussion of whether to collect specimens for mounting, study and display was quickly decided by several elementary school-age children who made it clear they would engage only in catch, observe and release.
Children who don’t take to birding so well can be fascinated by a butterfly in a jar, he said. The Latin terms might fly over their heads, but every kid on the walk had a butterfly briefly perched on a finger before the walk was over.
And they became more observant. Two boys brought back butterfly parts they found on the ground. The carnage — wings but no bodies — was likely the remains of butterflies that had become prey.
“They’re very vulnerable to birds,” Baumann said. “And I’ve seen bald-faced hornets take them and eat them on the spot.”
“Here!” one kids yelled from nearby. “Oh, never mind. It’s just a moth.”
Another teaching moment.
“A lot of people have said, ‘Oh, it’s just a moth,’ “ Baumann said. “But look closer. Moths are really cool.”
