PriusChat Forums

Calfornia State Butterfly, it's host plant and me.

F8L — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:12:06 GMT

Quote:

�I�d say only one of every 10,000 Californians has ever seen the butterfly in the wild,� Shapiro said.
�People rarely see them because their habitat isn't exactly densely inhabited and they tend to fly high up in the trees,� Shapiro said. �People aren't familiar with them and don't really know what to look for, or where�which is perhaps just as well for the butterfly AND for people who get poison oak!�

This was the quote that got me so interested in this insect! I just couldn't imagine something so colorful and not "endangered" would be so rarely seen. A local birdwatcher and volunteer for the Sierra Foothills Audubon Society remembered seeing the host plant, the sole food source for the larval form of the dog-face butterfly, on one of our small nature preserves and expressed interest in looking for signs of the butterfly.

Last summer we took a trip to the preserve which is only several miles up the road but requires entry through multiple gates and private property. In addition to it's remote location the road leading to the preserve requires the use of a 4wd vehicle to make it through the rocky gulleys. Once there we were greeted with a small handful of female dog-face butterflies and the host plant, Amorpha californica (False indigo). It was a great day and very exciting to get to see this creature in the wild instead of pinned to a piece of mounting board.

Fast forward to a week ago.... We revisited the site with my colleagues and a local wholesale plant nursery owner and his wife. The plan was to obtain seeds from the Amorpha californica (False indigo) plant so that we could grow them out at the nursery and transplant them onto a more accessible preserve located in the city of Auburn so that children and other nature lovers could have an easy access site to view these wonderful species.

During this visit we left speechless when before we could even get out of the vehicle properly we saw a male dog-face fluttering by then settle onto a coyote mint flower! I was awestruck but reached for my camera and crashed through the brush heedless of the poison oak I may catch but hellbent on getting a photo. I was rewarded with a clean shot for ID purposes and I don't think I touched any poison oak. See pic 1 for the shot

For the next two hours we wandered on and off the trail attempting to collect any Amorpha californica seeds that were left on the plant. We were a couple weeks late for collection but so little information is available on this plant I am happy we found any seed at all. During this time were were surrounded by mostly male dog-face butterflies with the occasional female. There were so many that at any giving time there was at least one in sight. This, according to the literature, is not a common occurrence at all.

At this point I have to admit to a secret agenda. I know scientists and land preservationist are supposed to be altruistic and all about the data but I had a self-serving mission in mind.... You see, the dog-face butterfly lands and feeds with it's wings closed. It does not open and close them as most butterflies do and so one cannot get a decent picture of on with its wings open. It only opens them when it flies away and thus makes picture taking VERY difficult without an expensive camera and a lot of luck as these butterflies are generally "high fliers" and are not usually seen below 12'-20' in the air. In an email conversation with one of California's great butterfly experts Dr. Art Shapiro, a UC Davis professor of evolution and ecology, he stated that if I got a good picture of the male dog-face with its wings open he would buy me a beer. Yes, I know it is sad to think that this secret mission all comes down to a beer but hey, when someone as renowned as Art offers you a beer for a picture I consider it a call to action and not just for the satisfying first swallow of Alaskan Summer Ale!!! :rockon:

The following are pictures taken during our visits to the preserve. While not as high quality as I would like, they still paint the picture much better than my feeble words can. :)

Attached Thumbnails

Using the AUX on the Sound System

Astrobubbers — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:51:30 GMT

Hello, I am new....I love my 06 Prius. I want to use the AUX- I have the plug and connected my little MP3 player...the system says "AUX is in PLAY MODE" . NO sound or anything. The player says it is playing. It is an audio cable.... I have checked the manual but it says nothing about acceptable types of AUX....

Can anyone help with this?

Thanks Diana:o

A/C while in Park ... is it OK?

damack1 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:26:55 GMT

Newbie question here: I picked up my 2010 on Tuesday, and this is my first hybrid, so please bear with me.

Today I took my mother out shopping. After making several stops at various stores, she told me she'd rather wait in the car with the A/C on while I ran in for one more errand. I was stumped. Was it okay to run the A/C while parked, or not? I finally decided not to risk it, and she came in with me.

Probably silly, right? Would it have been okay?

remote start: geesh you guys

fgp — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:25:49 GMT

geesh you guys i thought youd jump to the questions when i stated i got my remote start put in today. oh well. just to review. the install was about 3 hours. one of which was to install the unit with all the wiring harness changes and the next two were to program and telll the car that this was legit. it seems to work well but i have not figured the remote distance. just push lock twice fast and then hold it down again. parking lights flash. and voila . it is running and the ac or heat is on . pretty cool

Handling differences between 15" and 17" wheels

creativeguy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:23:38 GMT

I'm trying to decide between the IV and V. I'd like the sunroof, but I think I'd also like the 17" wheels. Obviously I can't have both in a stock purchase so I need to decide which I'd miss least.

I'm well aware of the difference between the sunroof/no sunroof. Beyond all the technical overkill of a solar sunroof, it is nice to open the roof on a sunny day.

Can people who have experience with models with 15" and 17" wheels comment on whether there is enough of a difference in handling to make a difference?

I test drove both today and the IV seemed to be a bit 'mushier' in quick lane changes but it was a really short drive and there weren't a lot of turns to get a good gauge.

thanks

The World According to Google on PBS

cwerdna — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:23:22 GMT

I just finished watching this on PBS after a friend pointed me to it. Some of the stuff they showed was scary to him (presumably from a privacy point of view).

At least 1/2 of it wasn't new/news to me since I work in technology but I figure it might of interest to others who don't follow the company/technology world that much. I gave it 2 thumbs up on TiVo. :)

Real Estate Blog - "The World According to Google" Interesting Video is someone's blog entry on it.

YouTube - Google: Behind the Screen (IJsbrand van Veelen VPRO 2006)

should have the whole thing (~47 minutes).

This One Really Pushed the Prius � A Four-Day Family Getaway!

a priori — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:18:07 GMT

This past week we took our 2010 Prius V out for a real tester: A long trip where we filled the car to the limit, drove it in some hilly terrain, went directly against heavy winds and through rain (on the way out), ran the A/C on Auto the entire time (temp in the 90s with high humidity), and used the cruise control to pace our speed at between 62 and 74. (When I say �filled� I mean we had more than 700 pounds of people and luggage, and the cargo space was pretty well jammed with stuff.)

This was the fourth time I�d taken my new 2010 out for a fairly long highway trip. The first two were on fairly flat land at speeds between 55 and 65, with mainly good weather. The third trip was in hillier terrain, against winds and at speeds mainly above 70. In those first three trips, I was on my own. Mileage? First two trips: 57.1 & 58.8 MPGs; third trip: 53.0 MPGs; this recent trip: 52.7 MPGs.

I was highly disappointed with the mileage on the outbound trip. Looking back on it, however, I suppose I only can be amazed at the car�s performance. I wasn�t going for high mileage, though I wasn�t completely ignoring the effects certain actions would have on MPGs. Even so, I ran the A/C on Auto the entire time. We drove at the highest speeds I was comfortable driving (no more than 5 to 8 mph above speed limit), and I used cruise control for comfort, even when driving in very hilly terrain. Because we were driving in the heat of the day and into very strong winds, I expected we�d lose out on mileage, but I was still a bit upset it turned out to be only 50.1.

When we left for our return trip, the mileage started out at either 50.1 or 50.0, and it didn�t start increasing for many miles. Still, things were markedly different on the return trip. We had some cross-winds at the outset, but no headwinds. We used mainly the same roads, but I avoided a 60-mile stretch of Interstate Highway, opting instead for a divided U.S. Highway. The only difference was the posted speeds of 70 on the Int. and 65 on the U.S. Hwy. It was just as hot on our return, but we had no rain. Also, we weren�t quite as pressed for time, and I drove at a more leisurely pace (usually right around 65). We stopped about � of the way home to fill-up. The last 264 miles showed the FE at 58.7 MPG, and this was enough to bring the entire Round-Trip mileage up to 52.7 MPGs.

Isn�t it interesting how mileage numbers like these can seem so disappointing? I suppose this type of fuel economy for a fully packed car (exceeding 700 lbs, not including gasoline), given the weather conditions, is really pretty good. It exceeds the published numbers anyway!

My long-distance trips to date (in the 2010, that is) have been solo trips. This is what accounts for the better mileage, of course. Traveling with my whole family, though, gives an opportunity to have additional evaluations of the car. Aside from earlier comments I�ve made elsewhere, here are some more recent observations:

Plus: A/C is very effective throughout the car. The cargo space is enormous for the size of the car. Back seat legroom is great. Sound system is much improved over the 2007 (XM radio helps, too, as does the streaming audio under Bluetooth). Lumbar support is a nice addition. A/C doesn�t seem to be nearly as big a drag on FE as it was in the Gen2.

Minus: Though noise separation from the engine compartment is fabulous, the tire noise at 60+mph started to be bothersome (not so big a deal while alone, because the radio covers it). My wife found the passenger seat no more comfortable than the 2007 (once we got beyond about 200 miles or so). The Nav is much improved, and it found even really remote addresses, but it would announce that it couldn�t give voice commands in really rural areas � weird, really, because if we watched the screen, it showed us exactly we were going and all of the streets showed up.

Dreaded MFD on 2006 Prius with Lockpick3+

nal67 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:54:00 GMT

I recently started having the error �External system not connected.� when trying to switch to my nav system. I have a 2006 with 34500 miles but am outside of 3 years so not under warranty. I took the car in and told them that it was a known problem, gave them the service bulletin, told them it was being called the "dreaded MFD" on PriusChat, etc.

They took the dash apart and took out my lockpick and it started working properly so they are claiming that it is related to lockpick. They also said they called Toyota and the service bulletin was related to older vehicles and they have fixed the problem that caused it in my year. I've had lockpick installed for more than 2 years now with no issues am thinking it is a scapegoat. However, I just picked it up and sure enough it is working ok.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen errors caused by lockpick. I figure it is some kind of a lose connection that got reconnected when they moved the harness and unit around and it will likely fail again down the road but I just wanted to check if anyone else has seen this situation.

Cazman's Whitey

krauzac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:07:06 GMT

Order Date:6/10/09
Dealer : Steet Toyota, Yorkville, NY
Timeframe for Delivery: July/Aug 09
Color: Blizzard White
Option Package:V
# on Dealer Waitlist : 5

i'm off to the dealer to make my purchase.last minute suggestions

danny kessler — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:19:13 GMT

I have most of the deal done, but I thought if anyone had any last minute suggestions, that would be great. I'm getting a Prius 2, with blu tooth factory installed.

Question regarding posting

DanG 01 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:01:37 GMT

This is a dumb question, but I have looked all over the site trying to find out how a poster highlights part of a reply in a blue box.

Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated.

NE Region V Availability

Winglet — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:58:54 GMT

Hi,

I am waiting, very patiently, for a loaded Prius V with AT package. Currently, my dealer is telling me that there are none available in my region, (Rochester, NY). I was wondering if any of the Toyota experts have any information as to why this is and when they will become available.

Thank you

Just pee in your tank

bredekamp — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:30:16 GMT

Producing hydrogen from urine

This is a cool idea. We used to joke about actually being able to do this one day....Truth is stranger than fiction.

Prius wristwatch?

DianneWhitmire — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:11:01 GMT

OK - I have Googled. I Bing'ed. Can't find. Am out of ideas.

Anyone seen or find a Toyota Prius watch? Send me link(s)? I need to find one for someone!!!!

Dianne

Ordered a Zenn

chap0223 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:25:52 GMT

I was tired of waiting for EESTOR. A couple of questions for those with a Zenn.

When I test drove, I noticed the regenerative brakes took a ton of speed away. It seems like it would do more harm (slow too fast and make you accelerate again) than good (recharge the battery).

Would you recommend disabling the regenerative braking?

Anyone replace battery packs yet?

Supposedly I'll have it in two weeks, so I'm getting pretty excited.