1956-1991: California Insect Survey “Spring Trips”

Compiled by J. A. Powell (2007)

According to Paul Hurd, the annual “Spring Trip,” sponsored by the Department of Entomology & Parasitology, was held every year beginning in 1949, when he was still a graduate student. I believe all of the early trips were held in desert areas during spring break in the academic schedule, but I do not have details on them. As I recall, participants included Larry Quate, Jerry Rozen, Marius Wasbauer, Gordon Marsh, and Bob Schuster; the latter two were undergraduates.

My participation began in 1956 during my first year of graduate school, when I was a Lab Assistant and Wasbauer was the museum Research Assistant. I have fairly complete records from then on. In the late 1950s we would go to Victorville, where Hurd’s father lived in railroad housing, and stay overnight. Then to Riverside to pick up P. H. Timberlake – who was 75 or 76 years old, had a history of heart trouble, and we were instructed to keep an eye on him. That proved impossible; he would escape and not be seen until dinner time. In those years we traveled in one station wagon, with two top racks holding the gear and camped out.

1956

April 27 to May 6 – CIS Spring trip to Cronise Valley; New York. Mts.; Borrego Valley; then Desert Springs after overnight at Riverside V.5 & Victorville. Drive home V.6 – with Paul Hurd, B. Adelson, M. Wasbauer, P. H. Timberlake. I collected 2,400+ specimens, incl. 800+ moths, 54 butterflies.

1957

April 19/27 – CIS Spring Trip to Surprise Canyon, Panamint Mts. & Kramer Hills. With Hurd, G. Stage, Timberlake. IV19 lv. 0600, 0830 from San Leandro, to Victorville, met Timberlake, overcast the whole way. IV.20, lv.1230, cloudy, showers all day, to Surprise Cyn 1600. camp at Chris Wick cabin – tarps over holes in roof; V.20/25, good weather after 1st day. Hiked up to Panamint City, 6,200′. all day IV.24. Lv. 0830 IV.26, coll. at Kramer Hills 3 hrs., to Riverside. IV.27 drive home. I tallied ca. 2,000 specimens, 20 butterflies, 1,073 moths.

1958

April 11/20 – CIS Spring Trip to “Hopkins Well” Riverside Co., with Hurd & Timberlake. Lv. San Leandro 0730, stop W of Victorville to coll. yucca moths rom Joshua tree; stayed Victorville, coll. moths off store fronts. IV.12 to Riverside to pick up Timberlake, lunch at Indio & reach “Hopkins Well” [Wiley Well Rd.], 18 miles W of Blythe ca.1500. Coll. there 5 days.(+ E. G. Linsley, J. MacSwain, joined us midweek). Up at 0400, 0500 to observe Colletes nest site with PDH, we later published. IV.18 broke camp & left1330, arr. Riverside by 1700. IV 19 at Citrus Exp Sta. AM, lv.1330; coll. Kramer Hills., dinner at Kramer Jct., & back to hills to light coll.1930-2100; then to Victorville, pinning till 0130. IV.20 drove home 0730-1630. No summary of collections, but it was very productive collecting.

1959

May 1/10 – CIS Spring Trip, Chuchupate Ranger Sta., Mt. Frazier, Kern Co. With Hurd, C. O’Brien, J. Powers, Stage. Use of US Forest Service fire crew barracks initiated, and we began aiming trips at areas of the state that were showing gaps in collection records in the early CIS Bulletins. Also, this was the first trip scheduled other than during spring break, which was always the week before Easter in those years, so full moon. Coll. at Mt. Pinos; Hungry Valley, L.A. Co. A lot of windy weather.

1960

Hurd was on sabbatic leave in South America, leaving me in charge of the CIS and Pan-Pac. Entomol. editing & mailing, in addition to writing thesis, which I did mainly eves. Curtailed field work; obtained a blacklight for the first time and ran it on windowsill 2nd floor Agr. Hall. Tried in the field at Corral Hollow IV.6 but couldn’t get generator going.

April 18/24 – CIS Spring Trip, with John Lawrence & Powers, to desert. Dates selected for new moon & coll. mostly at lights, incl BL run off generator, but a late storm swept over the desert and mostly poor after 3rd night. Lv. 0700, dinner at Daggett, camp Ord Mtn., windy poor for moths. IV.19 to Chino Cyn above Palm Springs, which had only a rocky rd. passable by pickup truck into palm-poplar-sycamore forest overgrown with wild grape. Excellent coll. lights 2 nights [later the tram lift, parking lots etc. built and all of this was wiped out by the time I next saw it in 1987]. IV.21 to Borrego, camp at St. Park, strong winds; IV.22 went east try to escape winds, to Colo. River, camped N of Earp, coll. there IV.23, then W to Amboy Crater, windy & storms to N. Very cold, low 40s. Coll. at Crater IV.24 AM & near Bagdad, broke camp & headed for Walker Pass area, but by 1700 very cold and windy so drove home. About 7,100 specimens.

1961

Assume Jr. Entomologist staff position, 50% California Insect Survey, 50% research, start of Academic ladder rank career. Began a comprehensive rearing program for microlepidoptera.

March 23 to April 1 – CIS Spring Trip, Descanso Ranger Sta., S. D. Co.; Lakeside, Laguna Mts., desert edge, plagued by stormy weather. With Hurd, E. Lindquist, R. Langston, W. Steffan, Timberlake. Clear & warm for the first time April 1, when we drove home 1000 to 2300.

June 17 to July 9 and July19 to 22 – Ent. 49 course in White Mts., Mono/Inyo Co. Hurd came down with encephalitis, possibly contracted from mosquito bite on Spring Trip, so could not take the summer course as planned, and I took over, aided by Howell Daly during latter half. HQ at Crooked Cr. Lab, 10,100.’ No precip in June, driest conditions they could remember since starting the lab here in 1949.

June 17 – Lv. Berkeley with two H. S. students. Some kind of special program we participated in – and a 3rd picked up at Manteca; in a fully loaded pickup truck, one riding on top of the load. Reached Big Pine 1730 & coll. there; lv.1845 to White Mts. There were ca. 10 students, incl Doug Miller, G. Frankie, R. Litzinger, W. Foster, all of whom went on to Ph. D. positions, and Steve Buckett and J. Drew. Jerry Stage was the T.A. We collected locally most days, using a large weapons carrier vehicle left over from WWII days when the Navy occupied this station, which Buckett exhumed from discard equipment & got running. Several side trips, to Big Pine to pick up late arrivals VI.19 & coll. E & W of Westgard Pass; to Mt. Barcroft Lab VI.20 (patches of snow). VI.29/VII.1 side trip to Sierra Nevada, camp NW of Parchers Camp 2 nights, Round Valley; Antelope Springs on the way back VII.1. Picked up Daly in Big Pine V!!.3, when a storm hit, 0.65 inch at lab and snow on the upper ridges. Mt. Barcroft VII.5. Another side trip to Sierra Nevada VII.6/8, camped at lower Whitney Portal & we all hiked up the Mt. Whitney trail varying distances VII.7; I went only as far as Lone Pine Lake, 9975′. Coll. in camp & N of Lone Pine VII.8 on the way back.

I drove back to Berkeley VII.9, 0800-1830 FREE [don’t recall how that worked for vehicle at camp]. Return with Hurd & D. Rentz VII.19, coll W. of Lee Vining & at lights W. of Lone Pine (Acroplectis haemanthes!), camped at Whitney Portal. Drove to Crooked Creek VII.20 by noon. VII.21 to Mt. Barcroft. Left for Berkeley VII.22 1300 after course mop up, packing.

1962

April 27 to May 6 – CIS Spring Trip, HQ at Pozo Rgr. Sta., SLO Co. We took two vehicles, a station wagon and a pickup truck, which greatly increased flexibility in the diversity of habitats sampled (everybody did not have to go only to the places Hurd liked for bees). Hurd, J. Drew, Langston, R. Thorp, and Kady Toschi, who broke Hurd’s only policy. We ranged widely from La Panza to the coast at Morro Bay – La Panza; Black Mtn.; above La Cuesta Pass; Santa Margarita; Morro Rock & Bay. Last night overnight at La Panza to collected Onagrandrena 0545-0615; oranges & beer for breakfast on Sunday, Kady observed, then packed & drove home 1300

1963

April 4/14 – CIS Spring Trip; HQ at Boyd Desert Res. Sta. near Palm Desert. IV.4 lv. with Kady, Steffan to sites SLO Co., Pozo & Cuesta Pass en route; stayed at motel Santa Maria. IV.5 we coll. Topanga Cyn. & NE of Morena on the way to Deep Cyn. Hurd, D. Bright, Langston, G. Tamaki arrived separately; coll. 9 days in San Jacinto Mts., Joshua Tree Nat. Mon. IV.8/9 side trip to Kofa Mts., Yuma Co., AZ. [This was Paul Hurd’s 16th & final spring trip, although he continued on the faculty for another six years, during which he acted as co-P.I. of the California Insect Survey and curator of Hymenoptera.]

June 15 to July 20 – Summer field course at La Jolla UC campus. [Paul Hurd was in charge, with Langston, who was Sr. Museum Scientist with the museum, as T.A. I went along to collect for CIS & help out in lab.] Left with family driving two cars, ours & a University station wagon, VI.15, lunch & coll. near Pinnacles; stayed Pismo Beach. VI.16 lunch & coll. Topanga Cyn. & on to Pacific Beach, where we rented a unit in an old court. Family stayed about two weeks, and I continued to live at the same apt. for duration of the course. We collected around vicinity (UC San Diego was fledgling campus built around the Scripps Institute of Oceanography), with numerous single day side trips to Solana Beach, Laguna Mts., VI.21 & VII.5; and most memorably, VII.8 to Baja Calif., coll. at Rio San Ysidro, N of San Telmo 1230-1530 (15 spp. butterflies); Bedford Cyn (L. hermes spot had been graded to a blind end in cyn., still a lot of redberry up slopes but no hermes seen VI.24); Mission Bay St, Park; Scissors Crossing VI.26 & VII.13, lv. 1430 to coll. at lights, returned after midnight; Mt. Palomar (VI.28, 725 spms. pinned, 25 spp. leps) & VII.17 PM overnight; Del Mar; With Thorne VII.10 to Lyons Peak, Barrett, Tecate Peak looking for hermes, too late; to Anza with RL & T. B. Mitchell, series Melittia gloriosa. Also, a two-day trip VII.2/3 to UC Riverside & Deep Cyn Res. Ctr., stops at Pinon Flat & Temecula on the way back. Course finished VII.19; left S.D. 0700 VII.20, stops Frazier Park area yucca & Synnoma larvae; left 1300, home by 1840 [calculated 9 hrs.10 min, driving time, which was a remarkable record at the time].

1964

CIS Spring Trip – Kernville. Lv. 0630 with JTD & Bill Turner, to New Idria & La Panza , where we camped. IV.25 lv. camp. 0930, coll. at summit E of Simmler. HQ at Kernville Rgr. Sta.; where we joined Bob Langston, who worked with the CIS 1964-67, Paul Rude, and Kady Toschi. We collected at Walker Basin; Kern River Cyn.; Havilah, Johnsondale [holotype Decodes catharinae Powell,1980], & Woffard Hts., Tulare Co. – April 24 to May 2. V.3 cleanup barracks, packed & lv. 1000. Coll. 1 mi W Woody 1100-1400 [types of Adela eldorada Powell,1969]. Home by 2030 [I recall we filled 36 Schmitts, ca. 6,000 specimens].

July 7 to August 12 – Mexico with Chemsak. We departed July 7 and drove a UC garage Van to El Paso, collecting along the way, primarily at stands of yucca. Crossed the border at El Paso July 10, and July 10/16 drove through Chihuahua to Durango, making forays to the west into the mts. along the way, camping out. I developed severe dysentery July 12/16, became too weak to work, so we stayed a day at motel in Durango, where John obtained a strong medicina from a pharmacia, which killed the gut flora. July 17 to Aug. 5, we worked along the transect from Durango to Mazatlan, camping out with the CNC group 10 mi. W of El Salto, at 8800′, where they had established camp all summer. We worked with Henry Howden much of the time, including a July 24/29 trip to Mazatlan. Broke camp, packed & back to Mazatlan VIII.5. The summer rains had begun about August1, and everything had turned green. VIII.6/9 worked our way up the West Coast, hitting spots where Ethmia had been collected, with enormous catches at lights; and overnight stops in motels. Aug. 10/12 driving home from AZ, with yucca stops in so. Calif. We drove 6,077 miles and label estimates were for 32,270 specimens.

1965

April 9/18 – CIS Spring Trip to Lytle Creek Rgr. Sta., San Bernardino Co. Lv Walnut Creek 0730; left Bakersfield 1245, lunch & coll. near Caliente; light snow at 2000′ before Tehachapi & sleet up the grade above Desert Springs to summit, heavy rain south of Cajon. Reached Lytle Creek Rgr. Sta. by 1700; with Doyen, Langston, C. Slobodchikoff, P. Turner, Toschi, D. Veirs. Bad weather the first few days, worked out to desert, Whitewater, Morongo Vy., Granite Mts etc, & several trips to Yucca Vy., RR Canyon & Sage, Riverside Co. during the week. [some nice collections in areas that were soon to go to housing]. Not much light collecting, steady rain eves. IV.18 broke camp, packing & left by 0915, home by 1830. I filled only 5.5 boxes, but ca. 34 boxes by the 8 of us [probably 5,000-5,500 specimens].

June 21 to July 24 – Ent 49, summer field course HQ at UC Santa Barbara. Steve Buckett was T.A., arr. early and ran BL trap 3 mi up cyn to N from Refugio Beach, which we continued to do most nights [this was my introduction to all night trapping]. We collected around campus and some nights BL, but most days on trips locally, to San Marcos Pass (incl. 2 or 3 nights BL), Los Prietos, Lake Cachuma, Figueroa Mtn.., Jalama Beach twice. VII.1 /2, trip to Mt. Pinos; 2nd overnight trip VII.14/15, to Oso Flaco Lake and camped at Aliso Cyn. SW of New Cuyama, Quatal Cyn, Cerro Noroeste & Mt. Pinos. VII.24, graded collections; lab clean up, packing & left for home 1500. I filled 22 boxes [ca. 4,000 specimens]

1966

January 12/18 , April 22 to May 2 – CIS Spring trip to Santa Cruz I. [This was my first Channel Is. field trip, of more than 30 by 2005]. Lv.0600 with Langston & Slater for 3 days collecting along the mainland coast before going to S, Cruz I.: Oso Flaco Lake, Jalama Beach, Lompoc, Los Prietos, Gaviota Pass, Ventura River. IV.24 eve rendezvous with Rude, G. Frankie & J.Wolf at Oxnard. IV.25, 0900 loaded gear & supplies on Coast Guard launch for SCI (7 days). Rude & Frankie returned IV.29 [after Gordon injured when he jumped from International Scout when the brakes went out and we plowed through a gate – after which I drove several days without brakes], while we worked 3 more days over the weekend – collected widely diurnal, from Eagle Cyn to Christi Beach, but battery was not charged so BL only at the Station. Recorded about 240 spp. of Lepidoptera and started the inventory of Channel Islands leps. V.2, packed and coll. at Prisoners Harbor before leaving 1100.

July 25 – To La Paz, B. C., Mexico. Chemsak drove with the Linsleys, arriving at Mazatlan midday July 29. They took the ferry to La Paz July 30 eve overnight, and picked up Paul Hurd at the airport, collected in the La Paz area and as far as Todos Santos for a week. Hurd flew back with the Linsleys Aug. 7]. John Doyen and I flew to L.A. on August 8, then by Aeronaves to La Paz, arriving late PM. The three of us collected widely in the Cape District, using a motel at the south edge of La Paz as a base. BL collecting mostly at sites 14-26 miles west and on the rd. to Todos Santos. It was the beginning of the rainy season, with huge nos. scarabs and other coleop at lights, and the whole area turned from burnt looking to green in a week. They caught the ferry to Mazatlan Aug. 14 PM, and I flew back on Aug. 15. Chemsak & Doyen drove back].

1967

March 12/22 – CIS Spring Trip to Santa Barbara area and Tajo Canyon, Baja Calif. Lv. III.12 1030, with Paul Opler; stormy, to Oxnard. III.13, to Coast Guard boat 0900 but denied boat access to Santa Cruz Island. To San Marcos Pass Rgr. Sta. (6 nights): worked at Los Prietos, Ventura River, Jalama Beach, Casitas Reservoir, Sta. Monica Mts. III.17, pinning, packing & lv. 1030, lunch stop, coll. at yesterday site E of Lake Sherwood, Ventura Co.; late day stops 4-6 mi E San Juan Capistrano (S.D. Argyrotaenia); stayed motel Pacific Beach. III.18, lv. rearing lots at Harbison’s house, depart 0730 for pack in trip to Cantilljas Cyn., Sierra Juarez, Baja Calif. with C. F. Harbison & SDNHM group; arr. El Topo Ranch 1030, reorganize packs & left at trail head “El Progesso” by truck; lost trail, but 2 hr. 15 min. down once we found it (2 nights at each of 2 sites); III.21, packed & on trail by 0800, ca. 3 mi. down to The “Narrows” coll stop 1.5 hrs., then on out to desert to meet vehicles at 1315 at ca. 640′ elev., back to S.D. by 1900 [after lengthy delay at bad accident E of Tecate]. III.22, pinned AM, off by 1100, stops at Cardiff, San Juan Capistrano. Left 1500 & drove through L.A. during rush hr., dinner in Bakersfield & home 0130.

June 18 to July 8 and July 10/22 – Ent 109 Field Course at Blodgett Forest. I organized and instructed the summer course, with Bill Turner as T.A. All the students were from Davis, usually they left Saturday eve, returned Monday A.M. We collected in the Blodgett area to Pilot Creek (where Bill and I did the Orussus behavior study, Publ. In Wassman J. Biol.), Pino Grande most days and ran a flight trap and BL trap; made group day trips to Greenwood, Georgetown, Kelsey, Grass Valley, Edson Lake, Robbs Peak, Hope Valley, Slinkard Cr. & Topaz Lake on 395, Ebbets Pass, and I made trips on Sundays to scope out the distant places for field trips. No estimate of specimens recorded, but I recall filling 20 boxes in the 1st 20 days; Bill & I probably pinned 7-8,000 specimens.

1968

April 24 to May 3 – CIS Spring Trip to Paso Robles & Palmdale. With Chemsak, Doyen, Opler, Veirs. We HQ’d in an old motel at Paso Robles (5 nights); coll. Limekiln Cyn. en route; Creston, La Panza, Morro Bay, Oso Flaco. Lv. IV.28 0830, Quatal Cyn. en route; & stayed at a motel in Palmdale (4 nights), coll. Devil’s Punchbowl, S of Valyrmo; Red Rock Cyn. Lv. May 3, with PAO to coll. at Red Rock Cyn. sites (90 scythrids of 10 spp.), Keene for oak samples & Caliente for Tegeticula for Hessel. [I believe we rented two units with kitchens at each site; don’t recall how we worked out the lab space at Paso Robles, but remember a large table we all could sit at in the Palmdale motel].

1969

March 13/17 – Santa Cruz Island. Lv. 0820 Walnut Creek with Opler, intended to do some field work on the way to Oxnard, to meet Daly, Doyen & Middlekauff, but ran out of gas nr. San Ardo & killed 2 hrs. Peachy Cyn. W of Paso Robles coll. misc. & leaf mines + a brief stop on grade down towards Paso Robles. Trip organized by Howell Daly, to look for Ceratina [although we had collected a box full in ’66, which he had overlooked]. I collected some Ceratina in an anise stem at Prisoner’s Harbor after transferring gear from boat to the jeep. PAO & I made extensive early spring lep collections, incl. many diurnal micros & rearing lots & new records for the island. Quite cold nights, low 40s-high 30s.

May 9/17 – CIS Spring trip to Owens Valley. Lv. Walnut Creek with Doyen & Paul Welles. hiway 50 over the Sierra, stop on Spooner grade, lunch & coll , to S extensive snow above 7,500′ We rented two units in a motel at Lone Pine; with Chemsak, J. Haddock, Opler, Rude. Coll 7 days widely in Owens Valley, Mazourka Cyn., Westgard Pass, Darwin Falls; BL, trap colls. at Owens River, Alabama Hills SW of Lone Pine, etc. V.17, pinning, rearing lots, & lab mop up, lv. 1400, coll. stop for oak miners summit of Kingsbury Grade ca. 1900 nr., sundown. Dinner at Stateline; home 0030.

June 22 to July 10, July 14/26 – Ent 109 field course HQ at Humboldt State, Arcata. We set up a lab on the Humboldt State U. campus & rented apts as a group across the street. Con Slobodchikoff was the T.A.; about half of the students UCB & UCD. Fairly good collecting available on and above campus, which abuts conifer woods. Side trips to Samoa dunes & Kneeland several times, Mad River dunes. Ran a BL trap at Fern Lake until light & battery was stolen VI. 25; again in July, and sheet in edge of woods a few times. Contrary to my image of summer weather in Humboldt, it was good, nightly fog, no rain the whole time, but often windy & cool. VII.2 trip to Trinity Co., coll. Bell Creek area PM. VII.3 went up the coast to Big Lagoon & Crannell. VII.8/10 trip to Trinity Co., camped at Big Flat campgr., 5,150′ W of Coffee Cr. Ranch. On VII.9 I, unable to promise anything specific we might collect, hence could not tempt any student to accompany me, hiked 0900 to 1700 S into wilderness area to Caribou Lakes [ca. 9 mi round trip, I seem to recall – topo sheet shows ca. 3 airline mi to Caribou Lake], over a 6350′ saddle; after lunch around a low peak to Brown’s Meadow & Caribou Meadows and the lakes. Return to lunch site by 1530. coll. 14 spp. butterflies & Ethmia albistrigella + misc micros [I recall this hike having been a marvelous day, saw only a few hikers, and VII.11 having pinned 1100 specimens from the trip after return to Arcata, a lot of it swept from Ceanothus VII.10 AM]. VII.11 eve flight to Oakland, return VII.14 AM. VII.16 the group to Eel River, coll. at Bull Cr. at S. Fork Eel, mostly littoral bugs. VII.23 T-storm AM, the only appreciable rain of summer; VII.24 Con and I drove N to Crescent City, up 199 to O’Brien, Josephine Co., OR, and back on graded rd. to Little Grayback Pass, which had been logged & new rds. cut since my 1958 visit. We made several stops N & S of the State line 1200-1830; tallied 40 spp. leps, ca. 130 taken + sight records. Back to Arcata 2130. VII.25 cold & overcast; VII.26 grade collections, lab mop up finished by 1400, pack & left by 1600, home 2200. Con and I coll. 7,000 specimens, filled 40 Schmitts; I filled 26, same as Blodgett ’67.

1970

June 5/14 – CIS Spring Trip, Warner Mts., Buck Cr. Rgr. Sta. Lv. Albany 2:00 with R. E. Dietz IV, Doyen to meet Chemsak, Opler, & Rude, made one stop on Bear Vy. Rd. off Hiway 80, 1600-1700, dinner in Truckee & left Reno 2000 [don’t recall why we left so late and made the coll. stop – notes are detailed, from tape], to Buck Creek 0030, PAO collecting moths from porch light, no BL set up 70°. VI.6 worked locally, some good microlep colls. incl. type series Rhyacionia multilineata Powell, 1976, & Adela flammeusella, 1st record not cismontane, but clouded up & cold eve; succeeding days intermittently stormy, most eves cold, poor at lights. VI.9 dropped to 32° & snow covered Sugar Hill nearby. Group except JAC and I went to the desert VI.11 & did fairly well. We stuck it out the full week, made several side trips to Fandango Pass, New Pine Cr., Alturas, Lassen Cr., beating, coll under bark etc. VI.13 rained heavy in PM, heaviest of week, and we pretty much packed to leave. VI.14 off by 1000, coll. near Milford, Lassen Co. 1300-1400, late lunch nr. Reno & home dinnertime. Nonetheless, filled about 34 boxes & processed 100 rearing lots [reared 58 spp. Microleps I recall – imponderably, my most lasting memory of the trip was snow cover at the Rgr. Sta. one morning, an inch or two, I thought after only a couple of nights, and JTD leaving with Middlekauff soon, but no mention of either in my notes!].

[Sept. 1970 to August 1971 I was on sabbatic leave at Smithsonian and British Museum. Chemsak organized a spring trip to Warner Mts, because we had such bad luck with the weather in 1970, I think with two assistants, maybe Paul Rude and Don Veirs, but I have not been able to confirm and did not find any Chemsak notebook recording the trip].

1972

March 16/24 – Coastal Baja Calif. Norte (4 days); & San Clemente I. (4 days) Lv. Berkeley with Doyen 1100, drove new Highway 5 down W side of Valley; lunch stop nr. Gustine Jct. misc. ex Plagiobothrys, no larvae. Dinner before L.A. & on to Chula Vista, motel. III.17 lv. 0830, but delays in Palm City for white gas & Tijuana finding new Toll Rd., finally off 1000. 1st Stop 11 mi N San Vicente 850′; Yucca whipplei, prodoxids. A lot of butterflies in creek bed, Apodemia common. Lunch stop 1.3 mi towards San Telmo, Agave shawii. Jct. to Meling Ranch is 11.6 mi E San Telmo. 3rd stop top of grade 1750′ 8 mi W Meling Ranch Argemone, Eriogonum, Encelia in bloom, not much flying 1600-1630. 4th stop 3 mi. above ranch 2600′ Adenostoma, Y. schidigera in bloom but no moths.- at Meling Ranch they said they never had a January+Feb. with no rain before – Camped at Rio San Telmo X Observatory Rd. 2200′ Populus just leafing out; ran lights, cool, 6° C but fair nos. moths till we quit 2145. III.18, pinned & off by 0900, up rd. to Las Encinas, 1030-1230, worked at meadow & down trail 0.5 mi, dry but some bloom, fair amount flying. E. arctostaphylella. Y. whipplei & moths. Made two stops on grade back down, 1st at 5300′, 1.6 mi W Las Encinas, 2nd 2.2 mi W; Y. whipplei & schidigera in bloom, no moths from latter. Lunch stop 1.8 mi below creek at Soccoro 3650′ Dendromecon, Y. schidigera full to late, got 2 P. coloradensis. Back to San Telmo, gas, & headed S – could not find the rd. to beach at Colonia Guerrero; up valley past the old mission ruins (ca. 7 mi E of hiway). Camped 1.4 mi E of ruins at side rd. Baccharis viminea, sycamore, windy, much warmer than last night 260′; ran lights till 2300, large nos. moths, not all sampled. III.19, lv. camp 0930, rd. impassable beyond San Quentin, deep sand-silt over whole valley. To Santa Maria Sky Ranch at the beach, coll. 1145-1415, good dunes back of lagoon area. Lithariapteryx; Lycium dominant, flushed small micros. 7 mi E Sta. Maria rd goes over a huge dune, brief coll. 1500 but very dry; gelechiids flushed ex Ephedra. Southward the rd. very bad, no more stops, reach Rosario 1710, decided not to try to get to Idria forest, which starts 15-19 mi E of Rosario. Drove 4 mi E to point where rd. turns S to cross riverbed & set up camp on incredibly dry flat, no greenery or annuals. Stiff wind from W, hung lights on E side of truck, fair amount of stuff coming in, fairly warm, all well sampled. III.20, brief check of Agave uphill from camp, all current yr. stalks have been cut, & nearly all 1971, found one left after cut with Agavenema pupal shells, coll. No pinning [last night catch in dump jar all ruined by jarring on rd.] lv. 0810, gas Rosario, to Sta. Maria dunes 1100- clearing & a lot more flying. PM returned N, no stops – paved hiway starts 62 mi. N Rosario, took ca. 3:45 – last stop 1 mi S Cantamar (nr. Descanso) 1700-1745, large dune W of old rd.; good chaparral veg. on sandstone; A. citrana, Grapholita. Crossed border 1900, stopped at folks – Dad says no measurable rain since Dec, 23 – on to Long Beach to meet H. Daly, S. Szerlip for trip to San Clemente I.

March 21/23- San Clemente Island [my 1st trip to SCl, don’t recall the arrangements, probably made by Daly directly with Navy CO; this was before the Endangered Sp. Act mandates and hiring a biologist to facilitate visiting biologists. Do not know why we flew out of Long Beach rather than North Island. We did not have use of a vehicle, but the Navy drove us to a couple of destinations, until Szerlip fiasco – stayed in barracks at Wilson Cove, ran a BL trap in the yard III.22; BL stolen]. III.21 0745 flight; gear stowed at Wilson Cove & transport back to N end of the dunes by 1000. Very dry, simple plant community, a few moths, large nos. scythrids at Senecio fls. Worked across to stabilized & back. Pickup at 1610. Eve extremely windy, BL trap not tried, coll a few moths at bldg lights. III.22 driven up to Mt. Thirst, high pt. of island, severe sheep damage in dry year 1930-1530, Szerlip slid down to beach & unable to get back up, picked up by fishing boat, which came in close illegally, all under arrest. No more transportation. Eve again very windy. III.22 coll an hour around Wilson Cove, then we hiked over to S end of dunes on W side 1045-1700, better vegetation & misc, colls., several spp. leps, Eucosma, 1 Argyrotaenia, Epiblema, pyralids. Eve less windy, set up trap in yard, but BL stolen after 1200, only 2 Apantesis proxima. III.23 pinning, packed, brief coll. before transport to airport, coll. there 1030-1115. Apantesis nevadensis larvae abundant. Clear, cool drive back from Long Beach Lunch stop E of Buttonwillow 1500-1530, Atriplex flats, Lasthenia in bloom 8 days ago past, similar brush all the way to Avenal. Tallied about 40 spp of leps on the island, incl. a few DOAs in lamps1st good sample since the LACM 1939-41 expeditions.

June 9/17 – CIS Spring Trip – Eel River Rgr. Sta., Mendo. Co. Lv. Berkeley 0900, with JTD, JAC, to meet J. Shepard, Szerlip, Veirs (+ Middlekauff joined us for part of the week); overcast & drizzle, arr. Covelo 1330, had rained here 0400-1000 & set up shop at Eel River Rgr, Sta., 13 mi E Covelo at the Mendocino Natl. Forest boundary. Spent most of the time working locally & N up the graded rd. to N. (Howard Lk., Ham Pass), incl. light traps. Two days to Plaskett Mdws. & Black Butte on VI.10, fog & snow on the way back, much better on VI.14; and one day into So. Trinity Co. (Indian Dick) VI.16 – It was good weather after 1st 3 days & just the right stage of late spring for a lot to be flying, early at higher elevations but got 23 spp. leps at Black Butte. No notes after VI.16, returned Sat. June 17; no summary.

1973

May 18/26 – CIS Spring trip to Hayfork Rgr. Sta., Trinity Co. -Chemsak, M. Bentzien, Dietz, Doyen, Szerlip

1974

Siskiyou Co.: Ash Creek Rgr. Sta. E of McCloud; McBride Spr.; Bartle. – June 7/16. Chemsak, Powell, R. Coville, Deb Green, Lauren Green, J. Sorenson, Szerlip

1975

Wiley Ranch, Salinas Vy., Monterey Co.; Arroyo Seco, Chews Ridge – May 2/10. Chemsak, Powell, E. Rogers, Rude, Szerlip, R. Wharton (+ Doyen, Middlekauff, H. Real, 2 nights only)

1976

Piercy, Briceland, Shelter Cove, Humboldt Co. (4 days); & NCCRP, Mendo Co.; Inglenook Fen (4 days) – May 20/28. Chemsak, Powell, Coville, Dietz, J. Hafernik, Rogers, Wharton

1977

Zzyzx Springs, San Berdo. Co.; Afton Cyn., Kelso Dunes, Saratoga Spr. – April 19/28. Chemsak, M. Buegler, R. Cave, Doyen, C. Kityama, Powell, G. Ulrich

1978

Santa Catalina I. (4 nights) & San Nicolas I. (3 nights) – April 30 to May 8. Chemsak, Doyen, Buegler, Coville, Powell, Sorenson

1979

Tulare Co.: Ash Mtn. HQ, Sequoia Natl Park; Kaweah River – April 27 to May 5. Chemsak, Buegler, Coville, Doyen, Powell (+ J. & K. Sorenson, part)

1980

Sierra Foothill Field Sta., Yuba Co. – May 2/9. Chemsak, Buegler, J. De Benedictis, Doyen, J. Liebherr, Powell, J. Whitfield

1981

[JAP on sabbatic leave, Australia and at Smithsonian. I think no spring trip]

1982

Meadow Valley. Plumas Co.; Quincy; Blairsden, Portola, Buck Lake – May 14/22. Chemsak, De Benedictis, Doyen, Jim Liebherr, Powell, G. Ulrich, D. Wagner

Big Creek, Monterey Co. – June 4/6. Powell, E. Schlinger + group of Ent 106 students. [Only three days, but this trip, along with another April 11/13.1985, was seminal in the Big Creek survey, which occupied much of my field effort for the following 12 years]

1983

Fall Trip: Meadow Valley. Plumas Co.; Quincy; Blairsden, Portola, Buck Lake – Sept. 9/16. Powell, Wagner, Whitfield (3 nights); Doyen, De Benedictis, Buegler (4 nights)

1984

Santa Cruz I. (5 days) & Ventura Co. Mts. (2 days) – May 20/26. Powell, De Benedictis, J.-F. Landry, Wagner

After 1984, there were no more faculty-student group trips of the former “Spring Trip” format, with all participants cooperating as a unit for the museum. Some later trips that included faculty &/or students:

1985

Costa Rica , Turrialba, Santa Rosa NP, Monteverde, Villa Mills – May 10 to June 2. Chemsak, Doyen, G. Krizek, Opler, Powell

1986

Arizona: Hualapai & Huachuca Mts. – April 11/17. Powell, J. Brown, R. Lee, Wagner

Arizona: Chiricauha & Huachuca Mts. (5 days); then drive to Mazatlan & Mts. of Sinaloa & Durango – Powell, J.Brown, Wagner (AZ only) + D. Faulkner from SDNMH (Mexico)

1987

Mexico: D.F., Vera Cruz, Puebla – Aug. 10/26. Doyen, Brown, Liebherr (+ student from Cornell), Powell

1988

Costa Rica: Volcan Poas, Vara Blanca, Turrialba, Monteverde, Sta. Rosa, Volcan Cacao, Villa Mills – June 5/21. Powell, Brown

1989

N Arizona, New Mexico, to White Mts., Huachuca Mts. – July 20 to Aug. 6 – Powell, Y.-F. Hsu, M. Prentice

1991

Arizona: Mingus Mtn., Sierra Vista, Huachuca & Chiricauha Mts. – July 30 to Aug.10. Powell, Hsu, D. Rubinoff (Cornell student at the time)

Trip Participation in the 1980s

During this era both the “spring trips” and Channel Islands survey were put on the back burner. By the late 1980s, Chemsak and Doyen had pretty much given up California field work. Schlinger’s Ent 106 field trips had precluded him from participating in the spring trips, as had Daly’s Ent 100 classes throughout his tenure. However, I think the primary reason the Spring Trip tradition died out was declining student interest in general collecting and insect survey other than their specific research interests. During its time, many graduate students returned for 2, 3, or 4 spring trips, evidence for their interest in participating, as none was urged or paid to do so. Students rarely had the opportunity to do field work related to their thesis research. Virtually all of the specimens taken by these expeditions (4-7,000 specimens per trip) were prepared on site and went to the museum for labeling and deposition.