Stalking Butterflies

I hold very still, my breathing shallow and soft, as a 3-inch California sister daintily steps onto my finger. The butterfly's proboscis, or tongue, explores my skin, gently tickling as it walks across the back of my hand. Slowly, I bring my hand up and examine this beautiful creature watching me with multifaceted eyes. It rhythmically opens and closes brown wings decorated with vivid orange spots and white bands. I move my hand to my face, and the butterfly's tongue laps my cheek while its wings lightly brush my skin. Butterfly kisses. I'm "stalking" butterflies in beautiful Garden Canyon at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona. In the canyon, butterflies flit everywhere-gliding effortlessly around me, lighting quietly on fall flowers and congregating at muddy seeps. Hank and Priscilla Brodkin, from the Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association (SEABA), lead my exploration. They are amateur lepidopterists, a long name for people who study butterflies. A newcomer to butterflying, I listen, amazed, as the two rattle off names and facts. They even identify butterflies I can barely see. Butterfly-watching is quickly becoming a popular hobby, and SEABA's philosophy emphasizes the non-consumptive appreciation of butterflies. The club doesn't collect butterflies on outings; they hunt with cameras and binoculars. "More people are getting interested in photographing butterflies, especially with the new close-up lenses," Hank says. "Butterflying is [PRECEDING PANEL, PAGE 24] Like living stained glass, silky black, azure, orange and white paint the wing of a pipevine swallowtail butterfly.

[PRECEDING PANEL, PAGE 25] Among the largest of North American butterflies, the giant swallowtail may boast a wingspan 4 to 6 inches across. BOTH BY JIM HONCOOP [ABOVE] A vibrant palette of color marks the meeting of purple Woodhouse's phlox and a checkerspot butterfly.

About where birding was 20 to 30 years ago.

The Brodkins and a friend, Bob Stewart, recently wrote a book, Butterflies of Arizona: A Photographic Guide, published by West Coast Lady Press. This proved quite a project, as Arizona has 331 species of butterflies, nearly 45 percent of those found in the United States. Garden Canyon alone shelters 150 species. Priscilla says, "This is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world, and that includes the butterflies."

Studying butterfly populations tells scientists much about the area. Sensitive to pesticides and toxins, butterflies disappear quickly in a polluted environment. Multitudes of butterflies can mean a healthy ecosystem. Besides being beautiful, butterflies pollinate flowers and serve as food for birds and other predators.

A variety of habitats overlap in southeast Arizona, making it an excellent destination for butterflies. The colorful insects can be found year-round, but their prime season is July to September. Because they need to "warm up" before they can fly well, the best time of day to spot them is midmorning to midafternoon. Look for open meadows with a variety of flowers and damp areas.

I notice a small muddy puddle surrounded by blue polka dots. Moving carefully, I get close and crouch down. Scientists think butterflies can't hear, but are sensitive to vibration. Priscilla explains that the blue polka dots are actually spring azures, members of the subfamily of blues, part of the gossamerwing family of butterflies. These tiny blue creatures are "mudding," or replenishing potassium from the puddle's salts and minerals, before mating.

I spot a throng of bright-blue butterflies enjoying a "puddle party." As I near, they take off in a blue cloud, like small blue flowers caught up in a whirlwind. As my eyes become more accustomed to watching for butterflies, I see there are hundreds more than I first thought. Besides mudding or landing on flowers, many are just flying around. This behavior is called "patrolling," and they are looking for mates.

Humans have been drawn to butterflies since antiquity, often seeing them as symbols of freedom, fragility, eternal life and spiritual awakening. As one saying goes, "Butterflies go wherever they please and please wherever they go."

In 2001, Arizona adopted its own state butterfly, the two-tailed swallowtail. Common throughout the Southwest, they're hard to miss when they flit by on yellow and black wings. Spanning 3.5 to 4.5 inches, those wings make them powerful fliers.

The variety of butterfly colors and designs charms and amazes me. Most butterfly wings are actually colorless-it's the covering of tiny scales that provides the spectacular designs as the scales overlap like shingles on a roof. Scales also help repel raindrops, keeping the butterfly's wings dry.

Ever wonder why a butterfly opens and closes its wings while it perches on a flower? A form of temperature regulation, this action heats or cools the insect. Butterflies must warm up to 65 degrees before their wings will work. In the early mornings, they sit with their wings spread wide toward the sunlight, absorbing warmth before they take off. Hank suggests photographing them early in the morning or in the evening because they are less active then.

I notice some small butterflies, their wings only 1 to 2 inches wide. “Oh, those are skippers,” Priscilla says. I've never heard of skippers, only butterflies and moths. It seems skippers belong to the butterfly family, but they have relatively more robust bodies, smaller wings and antennae tips that curve or hook downward. Their rapid, jerky flight motion-making them seem to skip from flower to flower-gave them their name.

A rare species of skipper calls Garden Canyon home. The Huachuca giant-skipper can be found only in Arizona's Huachuca Mountains and in the Sierras Los Ajo in Sonora, Mexico, just south of the Huachucas. I yearn to spot one, but the Brodkins tell me I'll have to be very lucky to see one, as they are very local. Besides, Huachuca giant-skippers are fall fliers, meaning they are out and about only from September through November, when they lay their eggs only on the Huachuca variety of Parry's agave plants.

In midafternoon, the Brodkins return me to the Ramsey Canyon Inn Bed & Breakfast, south of Sierra Vista on the grounds of The Nature Conservancy's Ramsey Canyon Preserve. I relax in a chair on the porch and wait for the delicate creatures to come to me. Again, the number of them on flowers, tree trunks or simply flying about astounds me. They've always been there, but I was not aware of them.

Preserve naturalist Mark Pretti first introduced me to the butterflies of southeast Arizona. I knew the area was famous for its hummingbirds, but the butterflies were a lovely surprise. The visitors center bookstore offers several books on butterflies; “Checklist of Butterflies and Skippers of Southeastern Arizona,” a brochure by Tucson expert Jim Brock, lets me track which butterflies I spot, tells the best months for finding each variety and shows which are numerous or rare.

The next day, I take Mark's suggestion and try butterflying near Leslie Canyon, 16 miles north of Douglas. Nina King, wildlife biologist with the San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon national wildlife refuges, and Sandy Upson, a contracted researcher from Bisbee, take me to the canyon. Refuge manager Bill Radke explains that, while the public can't visit on the preserve itself as protection for threatened and endangered species, visitors can drive Leslie Canyon Road through the preserve. Wildflowers line this route, and visitors stop along the way to enjoy the butterflies.

The road crosses the southern end of the Swisshelm Mountains, and Leslie Creek runs just to the south. We spot monarchs with their orange, white and yellow wings, divided by black streaks called veins. Monarchs, familiar to most people, are mainly seen in the South-west as they migrate. Each year these butterflies make a 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada, but there are a few pockets of breeding monarchs in the Southwest.

Sandy explains that monarchs leave Mexico in the spring and then return in the fall. We are seeing an unusual number of butterflies. "This is by far the most monarchs I've ever seen in this area," she says. "Most are returning to Mexico, but a few do stay in this area all summer. With butterflies, everything is not already known, and I like that. It's conceivable that any day that I come out, I might find something new and incredible."

I like that idea, too. Of course, nearly every-thing I learn about butterflies is new and incredible to me. While I've seen them flying about all my life, I never realized how excit-ing butterflying could be, especially in south-east Arizona. Any hobby appeals to me if it allows me to enjoy the outdoors, whether by hiking, sitting in a chair or driving slowly down a wildflower-lined country road.

I don't expect to discover a new, exotic butterfly or to ever see a Huachuca giant-skipper. There really isn't much chance that I'll discover something new to science, but who cares? Right now I'm content to sit by the side of the road and wait. Maybe another butterfly will land on my hand, and I can lift it up for more butterfly kisses. AH LOCATION: Approximately 200 miles southeast of Phoenix.

GETTING THERE: To reach the Ramsey Canyon Preserve, managed by The Nature Conservancy, take Interstate 10 southeast from Phoenix and turn south on State Route 90, about 35 miles east of Tucson. At the first traffic signal south of Huachuca City, turn left to remain on State 90. At the intersection of 90 and State Route 92, go straight ahead to travel on State 92. Go south for 6 miles to Ramsey Canyon Road and turn right to the preserve. To reach Leslie Canyon, continue on 90 at the traffic signal, then head south at the junction with State Route 80 for about 50 miles to U.S. Route 191. Travel north on U.S. 191 for 18 miles to Davis Road and turn right to meet Leslie Canyon Road.

LODGING: Ramsey Canyon Inn Bed & Breakfast, 29 Ramsey Canyon Road, Hereford; (520) 378-3010 or www.ramseycanyoninn.com.

ATTRACTIONS: Ramsey Canyon Preserve, (520) 3783010; San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon national wildlife refuges, (520) 364-2104.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association, www.naba.org/chapters/nabasa/home.html.

The LIFE AND DEATΗ of Sally Brand PART 2 Will She DIE Defending Her Family and Property?

by Leo W. Banks illustrated by Ezra Tucker In Part 1 last month, "Sally Brand" (actually Lila Randall), in selfdefense, kills Riley Bing, brother of Tombstone's chief of police and nephew to the town judge. Terrified, and knowing she cannot get justice, Sally flees, leaving her Six Springs farm and her twin daughters behind in the care of her good friend, Mary Peel. The shooting inspires a dime novelist to write about her. A legend is created and gunmen testing their skills seek out Sally.

After four years on the run, four years of hard practice with a Colt, Sally hears from Mary that trouble is brewing at the farm. Sally returns disguised as Mary's sister, "Katie Peel." Her 7-year-old daughters, Nell and Jane, don't even recognize her. "Katie" has a chip on her shoulder and two.45-caliber Colts on her hips, ready to face off with Nate Wallace, a scoundrel trying to steal the farm. When Wallace and his sons show up, it looks like there's going to be blood shed-but whose?

Right on schedule, Nate Wallace rode up with his four boys, trailing a ton of Arizona dust with 'em. About an hour before, Mary had taken the girls to Tombstone. I said goodbye to them as Katie Peel and changed into my "Sally Brand" duds. The transformation was so complete it near made me sick. Still on their mounts, the Wallaces spread out. Every one of them was entirely ugly, but Nate was a special case. One big tooth in the