WEBVTT

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[sil.]

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There is unlike us as any
animal could possibly be.

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Yet, there\'s such a part of our world they\'ve
become a metaphor for so many things human.

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Their jittery flight characterizes
our nervousness for performing.

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Their metamorphosis recounts
a hopeful transformation.

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Their elusiveness depicts a boxing style.

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Even their gossamer flight has come to
characterize the chaos theory of physics.

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Our fascination with butterflies

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probably stems from the belief that
they\'re everything people aspire to be,

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carefree, flying from garden to meadow,

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soaring on currents of air all the while beautifying the
environment with their bold colors and flashy markings.

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But they\'re seemingly idealic
life is an illusion.

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They spend half their lives as juveniles,

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caterpillars defending themselves
from predators in the foliage.

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Their actions and development
concealed from the casual observer.

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What are they doing well
hiding out in the bushes?

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Why the dramatic change from the shrouded
life to a flamboyant exposed one?

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What are they up to as they saw
around our gardens and fields?

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Well, we may fly for fun,
butterflies fly to survive.

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Every take off, every turn, each hover,

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every landing performed
for a calculated purpose.

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Failure can mean death to the individual
and extinction to the species.

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In reality, a butterfly\'s life is an
unremitting struggle for survival.

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The butterfly cycle of life
evokes a hopeful transformation

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from ugly duckling to graceful swan,
from creepy crawly to angelic flight.

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In spite of their beauty
and benign existence,

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their taxonomical name strikes
horror in the hearts of humans.

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They are the class Insecta.
Insects such as bees and wasps

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that inject us with poison, mosquitoes that
spread diseases like malaria, and yellow fever

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or locusts that ravage cross.

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Butterflies share our world
with two strikes against them.

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They are the casualty of chemical
insecticides that kill pests and herbicides

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to kill weeds and habitat destruction.

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Yet, given the proper conditions, they will happily
coexist with an even more invasive species,

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homosabians, us.

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It\'s the 4th of July but these folks aren\'t
gathering for a picnic or fireworks.

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Butterfly watchers
assemble around the nation

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for the annual North American
butterfly associations count.

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Well, not a rigorous scientific census,
the collected data can indicate

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a healthy population or an endangered one.

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This group meets on Mount San
Bruno, South San Francisco.

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Its objective in addition to county members
of the extensive common species of butterfly

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is to find the elusive Mission Blue.

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(inaudible). We got our first mission blue.
That was a mission, not an (inaudible).

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No, it wasn\'t an (inaudible). Pressures
from residential development

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combined with the butterflies unique life
cycle make it survival questionable.

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Within the nucleus of each and every cell of
a butterfly, the DNA contains information,

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blueprints for two entirely
different animals.

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One crawls on 16 legs.

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She is the larval or
immature nonsexual stage.

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The other flies on rainbow colored
wings, she\'s the adult sexual stage.

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She dines on the nectar, a flowering plants

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with a long tube like
tongue called a proboscis.

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Well, the immature stage crushes its
food plants using powerful mandibles.

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The adults attract attention with their bold flashy
displays as they flatter through our gardens

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while the caterpillar hides in the foliage

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employing several forms of camouflage.

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How do two entirely different animals exist
within one body? How does one become the other?

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After all, most animals we encounter

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have the same basic body shape
from immature stage to adult.

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However, as different as the adult
butterfly is from the caterpillar,

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they do share the same
basic insect body parts.

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Butterflies like all insects
have three basic body segments.

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The head which has the eyes
and antenna and mouth.

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The thorax which contains
the legs and wings,

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and the abdomen which contains the
digestive and reproductive organs.

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At the tip of the abdomen are the
adult butterfly\'s genitalia.

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In addition to the six true legs,
a caterpillar has on its thorax,

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it has ten fleshy low. Eggs on
its abdomen called prolegs.

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The prolegs have velcro like
hooks on them called crochets

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that the caterpillar uses
to cling to foliage.

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The six true legs which have a harder
exoskeleton often function like hands.

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Butterflies like all
insects are cold blooded,

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that is their metabolism
and circulatory system

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is insufficient to maintain a
constant body temperature.

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Butterflies have no lungs
and the circulatory fluid

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called hemolymph does not carry oxygen.

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Instead, oxygen defuses directly
to the butterflies organs

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through a system of tiny
tubes called trachea.

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They maintain body temperature by exposing
more or less of their body to sunlight.

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On overcast days, they shiver to increase their
temperature sufficiently to be able to fly.

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The butterflies journey from egg

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to caterpillar to chrysalis
to adult takes about a month.

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A life cycle few people have had
an opportunity to fully observe.

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The maturation is long in torturous

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punctuated with convulsive transformations.

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From our perspective, their behavior
appears bizarre grotesque often repulsive.

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At times, they cannibalize their own flesh,

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disempowered themselves, and force
their brains from their skulls.

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Well, butterfly flight might appear fanciful and
aimless. It is performed for a very specific purpose.

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That purpose is to mate and
create a new generation,

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everything else, nectaring,
sunning, resting is secondary.

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Since females carry a lady eggs,

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their genes are already present in the
next generation of their species.

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The same is not true for the males.

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They must purposefully insert their
genes into the egg with sperm,

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but before they can do this, they must
actively pursue a bride like this buckeye.

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They use three basic strategies to do this.

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[sil.]

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One is humorously called bar hopping,
hanging out at the watering hole.

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Adult butterflies like these Anise Swallowtail use
their long tongue to siphon nectar from flowers.

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Males will loiter at nectar plants

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waiting for the opposite
sex to get thirsty.

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The problem is there are lot more nectar
flowers in town than available females.

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A more useful strategy is to
search out the host plant.

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Every species has a preferred plant
the female lays her eggs on.

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What biologists call a host plant.
Red admirals like (inaudible)

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Cabbage white butterflies
have adopted nestor shuns.

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Anise Swallowtails prefer fennel. Gulf
fritillaries utilize passion wine.

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Painted Ladies lay on weedy mallow.

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These plants are the food
source for the caterpillars

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since the caterpillars do not wander far
before metamorphosing into an adult.

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A persistent male searching and inspecting
host plants will be first on the scene

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when a female emerges from her pupil case.

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Most cabbage whites you see on a summer\'s day are
males perusing the landscape for virgin females.

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When two or more butterflies
of the same species

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arrive at the same host
plant at the same time,

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they engage in a brief scrimmage to establish
dominance and these clashes can result

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in injuries to the butterfly\'s
wings which if not major

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don\'t hinder the animal\'s
flying ability very much.

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A third strategy is to stake out the
high ground. Usually, a hill or tree

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and defend it against other males.
Such territories usually on the route

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between host plants.

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Monarchs have an additional method that can
best be compared to a college winter break.

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From all over North America, monarchs
gather at overwintering sites in Mexico

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and along the California coast.

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They survive the cold and storms
by clustering in huge clumps

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but before they leave their
overwintering sites, they will mate.

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The females then lay eggs on the milkweed
they find on the northern migration.

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Butterflies mate by joining their genitalia
in a posterior to posterior position.

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During copulation which lasts between
a half an hour and two hours,

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the male transfers a clump of sperm

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called a spermatophore to the female.

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The male quickly becomes active again
searching for another female to fertilize.

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The female then flies away searching for the
specific plants on which to lay her eggs.

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Recognizing the oviposit impostor

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is a sure fire way to
identify female butterflies.

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Females lay eggs using an
organ called the ovipositor

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located at the tip of her abdomen.

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She glues an egg to the host plant by arching her abdomen
as she touches her ovipositor to the vegetation.

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They can do this sitting on a leaf

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or hanging from the plant to attach
the egg to the underside of the leaf.

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She\'s guided to the host plant by
leaf shape, habitat, and smell.

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If it appears right, she\'ll land
and scratch her pounded leaf

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with her claws and four
legs to get a taste.

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Butterflies have olfactory or smelling
organs in the hairs of their four legs.

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One way to tail a female anise
swallowtail butterfly from the male

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is by the extra smelling hair
she has on her four legs.

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Sometimes, markings distinguish males from females. The
male cabbage white has one black dot on its forewing

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while the female has two.

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The male monarch appears to have a swollen
wing vein on each wing that the female lacks.

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Monarch gender can also be
determined by their behavior.

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At overwintering sites receptive females

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send themselves on the ground.

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Males then pounce on them to begin a
forced copulation but the ground is unsafe

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especially if caught in
the shade or after dark.

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Most butterflies cannot fly if the
temperature drops below 55˚ Fahrenheit.

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So the male will fly as
mate to a higher perch.

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Sometimes, to the tree tops holding on to her
with barb like hooks called abdominal claspers

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while she hangs below him.

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[music]

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Once a female has found
the right host plant

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she may spend several hours flying
around in among the foliage laying eggs.

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[sil.]

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Before each egg is laid, it is fertilized
with sperm released from the spermatophore

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stored in the female\'s body.

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Most butterflies carry a
fertilized egg in there over duct.

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Pre-fertilization reduces the time she
must spin motionless over positing

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when predators can attack her or
parasites can attack her egg.

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Swallowtail however fertilize egg

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and then coat it with
nutrients well over positing.

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Occasionally, a female will lay a small percentage of
her eggs on foliage that is not her species host plant

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like this girl fritillary
laying on a sycamore leaf.

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Most of these caterpillars
are doomed to death

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but the ones that survive expand the
range and diversity of the family

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and a swallowtail switched almost completely
from native yampah plant to fennel.

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Butterfly educator, Barbara Deutsch.

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A fennel is used by Anise Swallowtail butterfly
whose name comes from a paredoredo(ph)

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which was called wild anise. And so the butterfly that
put its eggs on it was called the Anise Swallowtail

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and then Italians brought fennel

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and the butterfly adapted to the fennel.

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In this way, cabbage whites adapted from
cabbage plants to nester shun leaves.

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Up to 2,000 eggs which are
about the size of a poppy seed

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may be laid by a single female
though not all of them hatch.

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Many are unfertilised, develop
abnormally, or parasitized by wasps.

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On average, less than 1% of eggs laid

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becomes an adult butterfly.

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A fertilized egg takes about five
days to develop into a caterpillar.

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As the caterpillars about to hatch, the egg
shell called a korean(ph) becomes transparent,

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so the larva\'s movements
become visible inside the egg.

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The caterpillar must chew
it\'s way out to hatch.

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[music]

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[music]

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Some like the Anise Swallowtail
and the Gulf Fritillary

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return to consume the rich nutrients
in the egg shell as its first meal.

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Others like the Red Admiral

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chew a hole but don\'t return for a meal.

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[sil.]

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Still others like the Painted
Lady chew themselves a hatch.

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[music]

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The caterpillar has but one job, to eat.

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It must increase in weight 2,500
fold in two to three weeks.

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If humans grew the same proportion,
we\'d weigh ten times as adults

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but the caterpillar faces a problem.

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Unlike us, a caterpillar has its bones on
the outside of its body, an exoskeleton.

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To grow must move or shed this outer skin.

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Because her head capsule is extremely hard
compared to the rest of her exoskeleton,

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her head will mold in a manner
different from the thorax and abdomen.

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The process begins with the caterpillar

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weaving a silk pad on a branch.

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Like spiders, caterpillars can produce a
filamentous material made of protein.

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Unlike spiders, caterpillars produce their silk
from a structure near its mouth called a spinneret.

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She then locks herself into the silk

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with her crochets on her prolegs.

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As enzymes digest the exoskeleton from the inside,
she enters an extremely vulnerable state.

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She must not announce her
condition to predators.

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Her soft partially digested excess skeleton
makes her an easy target for wasps

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who use their needle like ovipositors
to inject eggs into caterpillar hosts.

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To keep her condition private,

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caterpillars perform a
remarkable act of deception.

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Take a close look at the skull fritillary.
Her head is not where it appears to be.

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If you thought her head was the shiny black object
at the end of her body containing her eyes,

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her central nervous system, and other sensory
organs we dissociate with the brain,

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you were fooled like so many predators.

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So where is her head?

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A few hours previously, her head was in fact
inside the hard black shell called a head capsule.

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In preparation for multing,

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she actually pushes her head out of the head capsule
through the neck opening using a pumping action.

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[sil.]

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You can observe her eyes
move to the new location

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between the head capsule and the thorax
and actually see through the head capsule

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at the transparent area where
her eyes were once positioned.

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All that remains inside the head
capsule is her new mouth parts.

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Why does she do this?

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The rigid head capsule cannot grow, so the only place
for the expanding head to go is out through the neck.

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During the next step of the mult,

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the caterpillar begins contracting rhythmically
forcing its body forward towards its head.

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The pressure tears the skin
covering the real head

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and the insects body is pushed out
like a sausage from a casing.

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[music]

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With the old skin called an exuviae attached to
the silk pad by the crochets of the old prolegs,

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she literally walks out of
the few remaining segments.

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[music]

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Beyond head capsule remains attached to the mouth
parts until the old skin is completely removed.

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The caterpillar then rubs the old
head capsule against the plant

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
until it falls away.

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
Now the insect\'s body is free to
expand right before our eyes.

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
Perhaps, doubling its size before the
new exaskeleton sclerotizes or harden.

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
But she now faces a serious problem.

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
She must remain motionless while
her new epidermis hardens

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
She\'s at the complete mercy of birds
who would have her for dinner

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
or wasps that would use her body
as a host for its offspring.

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
Her only defense fearsome appearing spine she
discarded with her old too small skin or did she?

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
Folded against her new skin, she
carries new spines ready for action.

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
She pumps fluid into these new spines
growing them to their full size

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
and unfolding the fearsome
barbs within minutes.

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
They acquire their deadly black appearance which
warn potential predators of her toxic body

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
and keep a wasp ovipositor at bay.

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
After her new mandibles have sclerotized,

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
she consumes her nutrient
rich old skin, the exuvia

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
before she resumes eating the host plant.

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
The insect will repeat this process about six
times before becoming an adult butterfly

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
sometimes making dramatic changes in color.

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
The interval between
mults is called in star.

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:58.000
[music]

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
But undergoing this repeated multing is
only one challenge the caterpillar faces.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
Its biggest problem is that she\'s
at the bottom of the food chain.

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
Predators from spiders

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
to birds to other insects
want to make a meal of her.

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
Some caterpillars use camouflage
to make themselves invisible.

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
The anise swallowtail in the early
in stars looks like bird droppings.

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
Some butterflies make
themselves toxic to predators.

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
Their host plants produce a poison
to protect them from herbivores.

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
These butterflies have evolved
an immunity to the toxins

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
and retain the poison in
their bodies even as adults.

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
Monarchs incorporate the poison found in
milkweed to protect them from bird attacks.

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
Common cabbage whites also
employ a chemical deterrent.

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
The tiny hairs carry droplets
containing a fatty acid

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
that ants find repulsive.

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
Some butterflies like the anise swallowtail
contain an organ called an osmeterium.

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
When threatened, the caterpillar
exposes these horn like organs

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
which emit a noxious odor.

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
Other butterflies like the Red Admiral
hide from predators in ingenious ways.

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
Using its silk, it stitches
the edges of leaves together

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
to make a house hiding itself from
attackers then dines on its own house

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
even nibbling on the main stock
so that it falls downward.

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
Well, such behavior protects
it from some predators,

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
it announces its presence to humans who may
want to raise the Caterpillars to butterflies.

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
Capturing and collecting adult butterflies

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
has become as unexceptable
as picking wild flowers.

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
However, rearing butterflies from
wild laid eggs or caterpillars

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
and releasing the adults increases the
number of butterflies in the wild

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
since survival of caterpillars
in nature is so low.

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
The Painted Lady protects herself
by constructing a house of silk

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
and then eating the leaf from her protected
confines. Anyone wanting to devour her

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
must first eat through
her feces decorated Web.

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
Most caterpillars however never make it
to adulthood like this Anna swallowtail

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:30.000
whose body became a host for a wasp larva.

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
For their final mould into an adult butterfly, most
caterpillars will attach themselves to foliage

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
either right side up or upside down.

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
They do this by first spinning a silk button
that is firmly attached to the vegetation.

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
Before attaching the crochets of
her anal prolegs into the silk,

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
she performs one final task.

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
While the chrysalis, the butterfly will
be unable to eliminate intestinal waste.

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
With her anal prolegs firmly
embedded into the silk button,

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
[sil.]

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
she releases her pro legs in
pairs until she hangs freely.

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
Caterpillars that pew pate upright
make a second structure out of silk.

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
A girdle that functions much
like a lineman\'s harness.

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
This Anna swallowtail constructs her
girdle weaving it across her chest

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
between her first and
second pairs of true legs.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:48.000
[sil.]

00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
After several passes, she squeezes under and leans
back against her girdle to begin the metamorphosis

00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
that will turn her into an adult butterfly.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
[sil.]

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
The next day or so, powerful and sematic processes
separate her exoskeleton from her body.

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
Her abdomen and thorax begin
to constrict rhythmically

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
forcing her body toward her head.

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
This time however, her skin
splits vertically on her back.

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
The division elongates
until it reaches her head.

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
The pressure divides the head
capsule into three sections.

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
Two outer parts that covered the eyes and a
center pointed piece called, \"The ponds.\"

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
The moulding process also
removes the mouth parts

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
and gut of the caterpillar
which she no longer needs.

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
Adult butterflies consume only liquid.

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
Whether the caterpillar moulds
into another caterpillar

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
or into winged adult is governed by the
concentration of juvenile hormone.

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
High concentrations of this hormone in
the caterpillar inhibit metamorphosis

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
causing the caterpillar to mould
into another caterpillar.

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
However, as the caterpillar grows the
hormones concentration decreases

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
below a threshold level
causing the caterpillar

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
to mould into an adult.

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
All the cells that will form the adults features like wings and
antenna are present in the earliest in stars of the caterpillar.

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
If a caterpillar\'s juvenile
hormone is artificially reduced

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
[in the early in stars then a miniature
winged butterfly]will result.

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
[sil.]

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
When the exoskeleton becomes crumpled around her
posterior she withdraws her abdomen from it

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
revealing a new structure
called the cremaster.

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
Like the crochets on the prolegs, the cremaster
at the tip of the abdomen has velcro like hooks

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
which she embeds into the silk button.

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
After she\'s made the new attachment with her
cremaster, she wiggles to break the old connection

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
between the anal prolegs of her
discarded skin and the silk button.

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
The cast off skin then falls away.

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
Her new exoskeleton now sclerotizes
and she becomes a chrysalis or pupa.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
The anise swallowtail like other species
can make different color chrysalises,

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
green or brown depending on the
environment she was in when she moulded.

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
How do butterflies pupate
upside down perform this mould?

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
What keeps them from falling on their head

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
since their connection to the vegetation is
via their old skin which they\'ll discard?

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
It seems as though they need an extra
grasper to keep them connected to the plant

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
while they make a new attachment
with their cremaster.

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
This extra connection is a breakaway filament
that keeps their body attached to their old skin

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
while they make the transition.

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
The old skin remains attached to the silk button by the
anal prolegs preventing the butterfly from falling.

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
After the cremaster is firmly
embedded into the silk button,

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
the butterfly Wiggles violently
to break the filament

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
that attaches her to her discarded exoskeleton
like this gulf fritillary is doing.

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
The wiggling also dislodges the
old skin from the silk button

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
allowing it to fall away.

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
You can see several other features that
will be part of the adult butterfly,

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
the antennae, the wings, the
proboscis and the eyes.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
[sil.]

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
While encased in this structure for several weeks,
the pupa metamorphosis into a winged butterfly.

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
Don\'t confuse a chrysalis with a cocoon.

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
A chrysalis is a butterfly in an immobile
state as it metamorphosis into an adult.

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
A cocoon like this one
luna math is spinning

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
is a silk enclosure in
which an insect pupates.

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
As the butterfly completes
its transformation,

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
enzymes digest the pupil case from the
inside making it transparent enough

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
that the butterflies wing
colors show through.

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
[music]

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
The butterfly then forces body fluids to her
head in thorax expanding the pupil case.

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
[music]

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
The pupil case cracks along specific weak
points allowing the butterfly to climb out.

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
[music]

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
But she still has some
important tasks to perform

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
before she flies off to find a mate.

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
She pumps fluid into her soft wings
through veins to stiffen them for flight.

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
She also knits the two
halves of her proboscis

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
or tongue together to form a tube so
that it can function to collect nectar.

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:38.000
[music]

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:45.000
Waste that she has accumulated as a chrysalis is now
eliminated as a reddish liquid called meconium.

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
Several species of butterflies have adapted this
typical lifecycle to survive in specific niches.

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
One way or another, butterflies
must survive the winter

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
when host plants are dormant or dead

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
and cold weather makes flying impossible.

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
One method butterflies accomplish this
is by entering a state called diapause

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
in which the butterfly stays in a specific
in star for an extended period of time.

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
Only about three quarters of
the anise swallowtail pupate

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
will emerge as adult butterflies
the same season they pupate it.

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
The remainder over winter
to emerge the following

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
or subsequent springs some remain in
the pupil state for five years or more

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
before emerging as winged butterflies.

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
Endangered mission blue butterflies survive
the winter as second in star caterpillars

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
in the litter beneath the
host plant the blue lupin.

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
They are protected in their dormant state
in a symbiotic relationship with ants.

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
The caterpillars secrete a honey
do through specialized glands.

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
Since they rely exclusively
on the lupin as a host plant

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
which lives for only a few summer months, the
species produces only one generation per year.

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
This low reproduction rate makes it
a ready victim for human pressures.

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
Even inclusion in a
National Wildlife Refuge

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
does not always guarantee protection.

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
The Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge is
located on the banks of the San Joaquin River delta

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
between San Francisco and Sacramento.

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
The refuge was created to
protect the Lange\'s metalmark

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
plus two endangered plant species. The
endangered plants evening primrose

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
and contra costa wallflower

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
are threatened by invasive
non-native weeds and grasses.

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
Ecologist, Jerry Powell.

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
This used to be the home of about 25 or 30 species of butterflies
that you could most what you would get at this time of year

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
and now today, we\'d be lucky to
see a dozen maybe 10, 8 kinds.

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
The reason is that it\'s become sort
of consummately weedy throughout.

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
The cure herbicides in prescribed burns

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:38.000
both of which can be deadly to the endangered Lang\'s metalmark. After an
exhausting day of identifying and counting hundreds of species of butterflies,

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
butterfly counters reconvening
to tabulate their observations.

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
The results are discouraging.

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
We didn\'t get Sarah, (inaudible),
we dint get (inaudible).

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
Din\'t get Eather or (inaudible).

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
Most species show a decline
from previous years.

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
The cause, residential and
commercial development.

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
There were lots of butterflies here in uh… and
using host plants that are of a weedy sort

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
but not necessarily alien plants,
native plants that act like weeds.

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
You could see probably 15 species a butterfly\'s
here today and now there\'s very little left.

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
The smallest plot of often
unused land private or public

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
can often be a haven for butterflies
provided it is cared for properly.

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
In the heart of the Mission
District in San Francisco,

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
a few individuals got an
un used strip of city land

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
between a fence playground and the sidewalk
replanted with butterfly host and nectar plants.

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
Neighborhood organizer Deirdre Elmansoumi.

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
There was nothing here under
these trees on both sides.

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
There was really nothing here except for
the shrubs that you see and the trees

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
and the gardener that was here
just kept it very sterile.

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
They would not want mallow
and fennel, pellitory

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
planted on their, in their
garden, in their parks.

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
You know, those are plants that they would usually
be trading their gardens to take out of the parks

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
however they. Finally granted us permission

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
to let to plant them here because we
convinced them that there\'s no harm,

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
it\'s between a sandy playground and a road. So
there… there is no possible harm that can be done.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
Barbara Deutsch helped design the garden.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
So the fact that this is umm…

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
a large like gap in a low area

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
with water of course. Guarantees
butterflies will be here.

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
For a butterfly, you have to have sunshine,

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
you have to have a larva food
plants, and then water and nectar

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
are important and protection from wind
and protection from chemical confusion.

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
Here\'s the plantain,

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
this is a level food plant for buckeye
butterflies. Around the aster are the mallows,

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
the adventitious mallows

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
that are everywhere along here and
they\'re used by the west coast lady,

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
the checkered-skipper.

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
I don\'t know if they grow tall enough
here for the gray hair streak to use them

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
and I don\'t know if grey hair
streaks are here or not.

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
And they will be used by the painted ladies during
the times when painted ladies migrate through.

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
Butterflies give us so much.
They beautify, entertain,

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
educate, and enrich our lives.
Yet, they ask for so little.

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
But without positive steps
to attract and protect them

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
they could fade from our environment. If you love butterflies
and want them to be a part of your neighbourhood,

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
you have to accept the weed like
plants the caterpillars feed on,

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
tolerate the leaf damage they cause
and adopt a chemical free garden.

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
Like the journey of a thousand miles,

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
environmental protection,
ecological awareness,

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
and even habitat restoration begin with
the smallest steps in our own backyards.

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:48.000
[music]

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:18.000
[music]