Hermes Butterflies and Wright's Field

San Diego entomologist Michael Klein is working with Alpine students in a project to better understand a rare butterfly called the Hermes copper butterfly.

The Hermes only lives in San Diego County and some small areas in Northern Baja. It's a tiny butterfly, which Klein, who has studied butterflies since age 8, calls a 'diva butterfly'. "It only flies in late May and June and the caterpillar only eat one host plant - the spiny redberry - that has to be very mature. On top of all of this, they will not fly with temperatures below 70 degrees and they stop flying when it gets over 95 degrees. What a diva!," he says.

According to Klein, Wright's Field offers prime territory for the Hermes because of its mature stands of its host plant, the spiny redberry, which are necessary for the caterpillar stage. Wright's Field also contains plentiful flowering shrubs like California buckwheat that the butterfly prefers for nectar. However, populations fluctuate each year depending on the rainfall, with the ongoing drought conditions and the 2003 wildfires greatly reducing their populations

As a result, Klein is working on gathering research to help get the butterfly listed as a protected species. One thing that is unknown is their dispersal pattern, so Klein and students are capturing and marking butteflies, and then capturing them again to see how far they travel. He estimates they do not go far, perhaps several hundred yards, but documentation is needed to find out. Both students from JMMS science teacher Brendan Casey's classes and Alpine Fish Camp students have assisted Klein in this important research.