tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15215834003473676402024-03-06T12:02:09.185-08:00Paul Opler's BlogEntries about Paul's interests and trips relating to his interests in butterflies, moths, and birding.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-35094684638073599852012-02-04T10:14:00.000-08:002012-02-05T09:14:31.392-08:00I have included information on our classes here that may be sent as widely as<br />you wish.<br /><br />The dates are July 13-15 for Moths of California workshop taught by Jerry<br />Powell and myself, while Evi and I will teach the Butterflies of the Sierra<br />Nevada from July 9-13. The NABA-sponsored Yuba Pass butterfly count will be on<br />Saturday, July 7, 2012.<br /><br />Reservations and deposits for the workshop and class must be made with J.R.<br />Blair of San Francisco State (<a href="mailto:jrblair@sfsu.edu" target="_blank">jrblair@sfsu.edu</a>).<br /><br /><br />Moths of California<br /><br />An<br />informal introduction for studying and observing moths. Emphasis will be on<br />collecting and processing adult moths and recording observations based on the<br />techniques described in our book, Moths of Western North America. The<br />workshop is recommended for persons interested in moths or those studying<br />insect/plant relationships, or managing biodiversity conservation.<br /><br />P. Opler & J. Powell July 13-15 $250<br /><br /><br />Biol 315<br />Butterflies of the Sierra Nevada<br />(1)<br /><br />Introduction to the natural history and ecology of butterflies. Lectures and slide talks cover the fundamentals of butterfly biology. We travel (carpool)to a<br />wide variety of local Sierra Nevadan habitats to identify and observe adult<br />butterflies and their behavior, their larvae, and their host plants.<br /><br />P. Opler & E. Buckner July 8-13 $348<br /><br />If you wish to participate in the butterfly count on July 14, please make arrangements with Paul Opler, <a href="mailto:paulopler@comcast.net" target="_blank">paulopler@comcast.net</a><br /><br />PaulPaul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-80297518867147878952009-08-26T12:43:00.000-07:002009-08-26T12:47:13.910-07:00Book signing in Fort CollinsBook Signing and Presentation Event<br /><br /><br /><br />Paul A. Opler, Professor,<br />Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University<br /><br /><br />"Moths of Western North Americaā€¯ book signing and presentation<br /><br />Lory Student Center, Room 220-222, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, 80523<br /><br />Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 3-4pm<br /><br /><br />This new book authored by Jerry Powell and Paul was published by the University of California Press earlier this year. It will be available for purchase. Paul will sign your copies of this book and any other of his previously published books. Paul will have a supply of other books available for purchase. This new book is now available for purchase at the CSU student store in Lory Student Center.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-89807930948704829042009-06-15T10:13:00.000-07:002009-06-17T09:29:01.082-07:00Books and related products by Paul Opler
<br />1. Butterflies of North America, an activity and coloring book
<br />[artist Susan Strawn] ISBN 1-57098-435-2 paper, $ 9.95 retail
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<br />Order from Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706 [www.roberts-rinehart.com]
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<br />2. First Guide to Butterflies and Moths, Peterson First Guide
<br />With Amy Bartlett Wright, ISBN 0-395-90665-2 paper, retail $ 5.95
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<br />3. Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies
<br />(artist Vichai Malikul) ISBN 0-395-90453-6 paper, retail $ 20.00
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<br />4. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies
<br />(artist Amy Bartlett Wright) ISBN 0-395-79152-9 cloth, retail $32.00
<br /> ISBN 0-395-79151-0 paper, $24.00
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<br />5. Butterflies, Peterson FlashGuide
<br />ISBN 0-395-82996-8, retail $7.95 U.S.,
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<br />Order # 2, 3, 4, & 5 from Houghton Mifflin Co.
<br />Wayside Road, Burlington, MA 01803
<br /> 1-800/225-3362; [www.hmco.com]
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<br />7. Audubon Videoguide to Butterflies: Essentials for Beginners and Gardeners (DVD), (with Jim Ebner), Retail $40.00
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<br />8. Audubon Videoguide to Butterflies: Common & Endangered
<br />(DVD), (with Jim Ebner), Retail $40.00
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<br />Order both DVDs from MasterVision, 969 Park Ave., New York, NY 10028
<br />212/879-0448; 410/516-6994; www.mastervision.com
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<br />9. Moths of Western North America
<br />(with J.A. Powell), ISBN- 0-520-25197-0, Retail $95.00 [cloth]
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<br />Order from California Princeton Fulfillment Services, 609-883-1759, FAX 609-883-7413, www.ucpress.edu
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<br />Note: You can view some of Paul Opler's and Evi Buckner-Opler's images on the world-wide web home page at <www.butterflyfotos.com>
<br />or contact Paul or Evi via e-mail: evi_bavaria@webaccess.net
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<br />Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-89140945141778536242009-06-14T13:23:00.000-07:002009-06-17T09:29:01.085-07:00Jocelyn Gill, Agriculture Canada, work on color platesWe wish to acknowledge the work of Ms. Jocelyn Gill, Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, Biodiversity Program, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Ottawa, Canada for her expert work on the color plates for our book Moths of Western North America. Jocelyn did all of the photography, digital manipulation, and plate assembly for all of the Macromoth specimen plates and did some clean-up and assembly for the Micromoth plates. She also advised on the layouts for our plates. Some of her work was performed under contract to the University of California Press, but she also carried out much of the work on time donated by her supervisor Dr. J.D. Lafontaine. We feel that the high quality of the plates is the most attractive feature of our book and will be useful to many readers for many decades. We are grateful for Joce's dedication and expertise. Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-65303404390540206522009-05-28T08:34:00.000-07:002009-05-28T08:41:40.164-07:00Moths of Western North America publishedThe official publication date for our book was yesterday, May 27, 2009. Books have not yet arrived at the University of California Press' warehouse, but they may be ordered from the University of California - Princeton distributor at 1-800-822-6657, BioQuip, Inc for 10% discount at 310-667-8800, Amazon.com, or many other book sellers that may be found on google.<br /><br />Jerry and I will be pleased to sign your copy.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-31078941691245761842009-05-28T08:29:00.000-07:002009-05-28T08:33:59.099-07:00Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas III have been participating in the current atlas project and have been working on 15 priority blocks with my wife Evi and a few good birder friends. My blocks are in Larimer and Weld Counties, Colorado. I really enjoy this and it contributes significantly to kno0wledge about our state's avifauna. The web site is www.cobreedingbirdatlasii.com. <br /><br />The Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas II Project (Atlas II) was initiated in 2007 by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) and the Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership (CBAP). Atlas II is a 5 year project, comprised primarily of volunteer field staff, to collect data on the distribution, abundance, habitat use, and breeding phenology of the avifauna breeding in Colorado. The first Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas was initiated in 1987, and the results were presented in the publication Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas (Kingery, editor 1998). The results of Atlas II will be compared to the results of the first Atlas and will provide information on potential changes in distribution and population status of Colorado's breeding birds. This information will be important for wildlife managers/biologists that are making decisions on land management practices throughout Colorado.<br /><br />Atlas II data are being collected throughout Colorado, per U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle maps (quads). Each quad has been divided into halves vertically, and thirds horizontally, resulting in six equal blocks (Figure 1). The southeast (SE) portion of each quad is the Atlas II priority block for which field volunteers are first collecting data. The second priority block is the quad's central-west (CW) section, for which data may also be collected after completing the SE block.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-90991799776912526502009-03-18T14:14:00.000-07:002009-03-18T14:42:10.721-07:00Audubon videoguide to Commmon and Endangered ButterfliesDear Colleagues and Friends,<br /><br />I just wanted to let you know about Audubon's VideoGuide to Butterflies Common and Endangered, a two-and-a-half hour DVD that I worked on that is coming out now.<br /><br />I'm very excited by the finished product, which has much more (and much more beautful) moving footage of scores of common North American butterflies than any other DVD or video. <br /><br />In addition, and this makes it all the more special, the VideoGuide has moving footage of all the listed endangered butterflies in North America save one (<em>Lycaeides argyrognomon lotis</em>), as well as a couple of threatened species and a couple of other candidates for future listing. Each species has moving footage taken in its habitat, the result of Jim Ebner's years-long quest to video all of them, and an informative voiceover that facilitates identification and an understanding of the conservation issues at stake. It is a truly amazing achievement.<br /><br />The attached sheet has more information about the program, and you can learn more at www.mastervision.com/mv-bfly.html <br /><br />Thanks for listening!<br /><br />PaulPaul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-82474143670633819742009-02-10T19:51:00.000-08:002009-02-10T20:15:54.975-08:00Butterflies of the Sierra NevadaThis is the 11th year that my wife Evi and I will teach our class on Butterflies of the Sierra Nevada for San Francisco State University. The class will be taught from July 13-17 at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus [www.sfsu.edu/~Sierra] near Bassetts, Sierra County. At this point, registration for the class is open and we have 8 persons already registered. We usually find at least 60 butterfly species during the week during our daily hikes to different localities and habitats. For each butterfly we find we provide information on behavior, nectar plants, caterpillar plants, and life hisotry. Our longest walk is about 1.5 miles in length. We have a combination of morning and evening lectures and day-time trips, usually at least a short distance by car, sometimes on gravel roads. We are also somewhat knowledgeable about other animals and plants and point out quite a few of these during the week. We are sensitive to the goals of our students and try to help each person learn the information. Students have the option of taking the class for credit.<br /><br />We recommend that our students have one good book on western butterflies, either Brock and Kaufman or Opler. It is not required but students may wish to have either Sierra Nevada Natural History or Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada. We invite any inquiries about the class and encourage folks to take any of the high quality classes that might be still available.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-76840195491479788452009-01-25T08:21:00.000-08:002009-01-27T10:09:39.452-08:00Participation in First Mazatlan Birding FestivalOn January 11, 2009, Evi and I flew to Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico. From January 12-24, we helped lead field trips and gave a 2-hour workshop to Festival attendees about the Butterflies of Sinaloa and the Monarch's Michoacan overwintering sites. The Festival was organized and run by Carolyn Felderhof and husband Paul Beckman, of Sendero Mexico. The principal speaker and leader was Peter Alden, noted ornithologist, author, and tour leader. There were roughly 50 registrants for the Festival and several local visitors.<br /><br />In preparation for the Festival, I revised the draft list of Sinaloa butterflies by Andrew D. Warren [www.MariposasMexicanas.org]. There are now roughly 500 species of butterflies and skippers documented for Sinaloa. Local experts may contribute to this effort. The master list of Mexico butterflies is maintained by a group of Mexican scientists at UNAM. We hope that in future fesivals there may be some specific field trips for butterflies and that tour leaders may begin to bring groups to the available facilities in Sinaloa.<br /><br />Most of the effort was geared to showing birds to the registrants and more than 200 species were located during the Festival and associated field trips. Highlights included visits to the new Tufted Jay Preserve in the Sierra Madre Occidental near El Palmito. There are now several guest cabins in the preserve that facilitate visits to the area. Highlights in the preserve were of course viewing of many flocks of the Tufted Jay, as well as location of the Eared Quetzal, Stygian Owl, Blue-hooded Euphonia, and large mixed species flocks of warblers, tanagers, woodcreepers, and other wintered birds. More than 20 warbler species were seen there including Red-faced, Townsend's, Hermit, Black-and-white, Crescent-chested, Golden-browed, Painted Redstart, Slate-colored Redstart, Colima, and a new state reecord for Black-throated Blue (P.A., C.F., P.B., P.O.).<br />Other sites visited featured coastal estuaries and lagoons with many thousands of waterbirds. In the lowland and intermediate elevations a rich mixture of wintering and resident landbirds and raptors were observed. These featured West Mexican Chachalaca, Purplish-backed Jay, Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Yellow-winged Caciques, and Military Macaws. The Mazatlan Birding Festival web site [www.mazatlanbirdfestival.com] will feaure lists of species observed and more details of the Festival's program, speakers, leaders, and tour destinations. Plans are already proceeding for the planning of the 2010 meeting.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-4910840774413978192008-12-28T17:15:00.000-08:002008-12-28T17:34:11.417-08:00Pre-publication discount offers<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCV5dpCs6SHS018AuFlZZYl_mfATJG-uHYv3HXnr9fs-1HCwLMwcbp5DzH66SsYGEclC9gPCjJQkOYP86pWmJcUgThn7pkBRn4FF2aWIgzBuQKBb9zRkAtOmJZWnnNjocGktIpwIlpqpBW/s1600-h/Powell&Opler_FORTH-newest-%5B2%5D.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285019186613385986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 247px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCV5dpCs6SHS018AuFlZZYl_mfATJG-uHYv3HXnr9fs-1HCwLMwcbp5DzH66SsYGEclC9gPCjJQkOYP86pWmJcUgThn7pkBRn4FF2aWIgzBuQKBb9zRkAtOmJZWnnNjocGktIpwIlpqpBW/s320/Powell&Opler_FORTH-newest-%5B2%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Persons from the entomological community who wish to order the book may receive a discount. The University of California Press is offering a 20% discount for orders received by April 30, 2009. A special code must be included with the order form [09m5991]. The retail price of the book will be $95. Interested persons may visit the book's site [http://go.ucpress.edu/Moths]. It is also expected that BioQuip, Inc. may offer a discount for pre-publication orders. </div>Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-44825620319411146612008-12-28T17:02:00.000-08:002008-12-28T17:15:32.273-08:00Book almost there!Jerry Powell and I received the page proof for our book around November 11th just before my travel to the Entomological of America meetings in Reno, Nevada. During the 5 days in Reno, I spent a few hours each day reading through the proofs of the text and answering queries from the copy-editor. The entire stack of draft pages and plates was on view during the meeting at the California Agriculture Extension display.<br /><br /><br /><br />On returning to Colorado, I spent a large amount of time each day going through the proofs. Both Jerry and I managed to get our respective portion of the proofs returned to Aptara in York, PA right on their deadline of December 12th. However, proofing and correcting the three indexes (moth, plant, and general) has taken by far the greatest amount of time. These are due to Aptara by January 2. We expect to meet that deadline. After that the corrected pages will be sent electronically, and we'll have 1 week to go through them and get them returned. Then the book will be sent to the printer. We expect to see preliminary copies of the bound book in March, but the expected release date will bee in May.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-79379845243223304462008-10-05T18:49:00.000-07:002008-10-05T19:13:14.000-07:00Richard Holland Butterfly Collection donated to Colorado State UniversityOn the weekend <span class="">of </span><span class="">October </span><span class="">4th & </span>5th , I drove with Dr. Boris Kondratieff from Fort Collins, Colorado to Albuquerque, New <span class="">Mexico </span>in order to receive a major portion of the Southwestern Butterfly Collection of <span class="">Dr.</span> Richard <span class="">W.</span> <span class="">Holland. </span><span class="">This </span>collection is especially rich in samples from throughout New Mexico and northwestern New Mexico. It is probably the most valuable survey of New <span style="font-size:+0;"></span>Mexican species. The collection will be an important addition to the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity in Colorado State University's Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-22236532435998036382008-10-05T18:13:00.000-07:002008-10-05T18:49:10.981-07:00Visit to Finca Hilde, El Mirador, Veracruz, MexicoDon Bowman and I recently returned from an 8-day trip to Finca el Hilde, El Mirador, Veracruz, Mexico. This part of a research study being conducted on Mexican butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) with Dr. Manuel Balcazar-Lara of the Universidad de Colima. We survey moths each night at several sites at the Hacienda or the coffee plantation. We were hosted by Jorge Muller and his gracious talented staff. Each night we set up 4-5 ultra-violet or mercury vapor lights and studied the moths that were attracted. We found a stunning diversity of moth species, especially tiger moths (Arctiinae), prominents (Notodontidae), geometers (Geometridae), and others. We roughly estimated 200 species of moths of all families each night at each sheet. On four of the nights we ran ran lights within the coffee plantation. This plantation has been certified as a bird-friendly, organic, shade coffee plantation. We found the moth species at the plantation were as diverse or more diverse as at the Haciendaa itself. Thus, we can assert that the plantation is also "moth friendly." We plan to expand on this notice by preparing a listing of the Arctiinae, Saturniidae, and Sphingidae for publication. We have studied moths in other Mexicaan states such as Nuevo Leon, Sonora, and Tamalipas, but we found this to be the most diverse area. We highly recommend this area to any biologist or naturalists who wish to have a pleasant tropical experience and intrigueing studies.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-61577876694521503932008-09-18T19:27:00.001-07:002008-09-18T19:35:57.515-07:00Western Moths color proofsToday I received most of the color proofs for the Moths of Western North America as well as the proofs for all of the black and white line art. This all looks really great! Can't wait to see the book!Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-82871200755331304892008-09-18T19:27:00.000-07:002008-09-18T19:33:49.829-07:00Washington Weekly interviewYesterday, September 17, I was interviewed on the Washington Weekly radio program. I was asked several questions about current protection of endangered species, and the about the politics of endanagered species protection. You may find out about the program at <a href="http://www.washingtonweekly.com/">www.washingtonweekly.com</a> or download it from I-Tunes. The interviewer did mention several times that I am contributing to a DVD being produced by MasterVision "Butterflies: Common and Endangered." This is a double DVD with one part of common North American Butterflies and the other on all U.S. Endangered and Threatened Species. Jim Ebner and Peter Kreutzer are doing all of the technical editing. It should be a wonderful contribution!Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521583400347367640.post-41056407736813142062008-09-04T17:52:00.000-07:002008-09-04T18:00:06.849-07:00Paul Opler's blogFinally, in early August, 2009, all of the chores in preparation of our book Moths of Western North America were submitted to the editors at the University of California Press in Berkeley.<br />The book is now offically in production and is in the process of being copy-edited and put into pages. The book is anticipated to be published in May 2009 at a price of $75. Jerry and I both feel the book will be an overwhelming bargain at this price! More than 2000 species of western moths are discussed and illustrated. There will be 64 color plates, most of which were prepared by Jocelyn Gill in Ottawa, Canada. She is a master at preparing such masterpieces, and several other moth books have benefited from her expertise.Paul Oplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00783575363018041889noreply@blogger.com1