Butterfly Transect at Brukner Nature Center...Some Results from the 2016 Season

The 2017 Ohio Butterfly Transect Monitoring begins, weather permitting, on April first.  I have been seeing butterflies on warm days so I know they are on the move.

Last year we saw a greater number of species than we saw in previous years.  I like to think it is because our eyes are sharper now that they are practiced at finding butterflies.

We saw 38 species in 2016. The species we saw most often was the Silver-spotted Skipper.  2016 was a bumper year for Silver-spotted Skippers.  Officially, we saw 424 which was 44% of all butterflies we saw.  By comparison, in 2015 we saw only 54 which was 9% of all the butterflies we saw.

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

The Cabbage White was the second most often seen.  Most years, it is the most common seen.  A non-native, it thrives in our area.

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)

Coming in third in numbers seen in 2016 were the Pearl Crescents. They are one of our common butterflies though not always in the top three.

Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)

In 2016, we didn't see any butterflies that have never been sighted in Miami County but we saw eight that we had never seen before on the Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transect.

Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius)

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
.

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

The others, for which I don't have labeled photos were Zebra Swallowtail, Common Sootywing and Tawny-edged Skipper.

If the temperature is warm enough, the minimum being 60 degrees and almost full sun, we will start the 2017 season this weekend.

I hope you are seeing butterflies wherever you are.

Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transit, September 11, 2016

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) Wingspan 1.75-2.40 inches (4.4-6.1 cm)

Thank you, Jim for this photo.

When I looked at my photos I realized I had not taken one photo of a Silver-spotted Skipper.  I could not believe it.  There were so many Silver-spotted Skippers that I didn't think of taking a photo of one.  It didn't seem important.  There would always be one more.  And then I entirely forgot to get that one photo.

"Oh, well, Phil probably took a photo."

But, no, he didn't.

There were lots of Silver-spotted Skippers the week of  September 3, and also the week of  August 28. But on September 11 there were so many that we were overwhelmed by their numbers.  The final number decided on for these skippers was approximately 127.  There could have been many more.  Every time anyone moved a few steps along the lane, he or she would report, "Another Silver-spotted Skipper, No, there are four, five, six."When a vehicle was driven up or down the lane, the skippers rose in uncountable  numbers from the vegetation.

Though we saw a multitude of Silver-spotted skippers, we saw only one of each of the following.

Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) Wingspan 2.25-3.0 inches (5.7-7.6 cm)

The butterfly is named for the two tiny silver markings on the underside of its hind wing, a curve and a dot.

Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)  Wingspan 2.0-2.4 inches (5.1-6.1 cm)

The comma has a commar shaped silver line on the underside of its hind wing.

American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) Wingspan 1.75-2.40 inches (4.4-6.1 cm)

This is a butterfly we rarely see.  I think it is the first one we've seen this year.  Ruth circled the distinguishing dot on the underside of the front wing.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)  Wingspan 3.5-4.0 inches 8.9-10.2 cm)

We are beginning to see a few Monarchs in the area.  They are arriving a little later than usual.

Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) Wingspan 1.4-2.0 inches (3.6-5.1 cm)

This was a new butterfly to me when I started helping on the Butterfly Transit.  Its habits are similar to those of the Pearl Crescent (below) and looks much like it.  However the Pearl Crescent doesn't have the white spot surrounded by white on the hind wing.  Ruth marked the spot witrh an arrow.

Pearl Crescent(Phyciodes tharos) Wingspan 1.25-1.6 inches (3.2-4.1 cm)

This Pearl Crescent has a shadow across its hind wings but it is clear that it doesn't have the white spot encircled by black as the Silvery Checkerspot does in the photo above this one.  The Pearl Crescent is much more common in our area than the Silvery Checkerspot.  We saw 6.

We saw 2 Gray Hairstreaks.  We don't see them often and often we  see only 1.

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) Wingspan 1.0-1.5 inches (2.5-3.8 cm)

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Wingspan 1.5-2.0 inches (3.8-5.1 cm)

This is a butterfly we often see in the fields and on fallow land as we drive by.

Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Wingspan 0.80-1.25 inches (2.0-3.2 cm)

Our final count...
   Silver-spotted skipper...approximately 127
   Pearl Crescent...6
   Summer azure...2
   Silvery checkerspot...1
   Gray hairstreak...2
   Eastern comma...1
   Question mark...1
   Monarch....1
   Clouded sulphur...3
   Cabbage white...3
   American Painted Lady...1

We three photographers managed to get at least one photo of each one except for the Clouded sulphur.  I am pleased.

Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transit, July 31, 2016

We saw nine different species including one we have never seen before on the transit, a Harvester.

Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius) Wingspan1.1-1.3 inches (2.8-3.3 cm)

The butterfly is in the middle of this photo above the rusty brown curled leaf.  It is a tiny bit larger than an Eastern Tailed-blue or a Summer Azure and blends in with the mulch on the path. Both Jackie and I took a half-dozen photos. None of them were in focus.  The butterfly constantly flitted from one spot to another.  On this photo, as we looked at it on Phil's camera screen, we could see the black spots outlined in white on the ventral (bottom) side of the hind wing.

Ruth spotted the tiny butterfly.  She has been looking for it.  It has an interesting life cycle.  Its larvae (caterpillars) eat Wooly aphids (Family-Aphididae). This makes it North America's only carniverous butterfly.  The adult butterflies feed on the honeydew exuded by the aphids.  The butterflies are often found along stream corridors and other moist places and on nearby trails where they sip for minerals in damp earth and puddles.

Below are photos of other butterflies we saw.

Eastern Tail-blue (Everes comyntas) Wingspan 0.75-1.00 inches (1.9-2.5 cm)

Northern Pearly Eye (Enodia anthedon) Wingspan 1.75-2.60 inches (4.3-6.6 cm)

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) Wingspan 4.5-5.5 inches (11.4-14.0 cm)

Hackberry Butterfly (asterocampa celtis)  Wingspan 2.0-2.6 inches (5.1-6.6 cm)

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) 1.5-2.0 inches (3.8-5.1 cm)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) Wingspan 3.5-5.5 inches (8.9-14.0 cm)

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)  Wingspan 1.75-2.50 inches (4.4-6.4 cm)

We didn't get a photo of the Peck's skipper.

But, someone spotted this walking stick and we did get photos of it.

Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma denticrus)

Picture showing length of Giant Walkingstick.  Click on to see it better.  Red arrow points toward its head.

Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transit, July 9, 2016

The prairie plants along the drive were planted a few years ago and have taken hold nicely.  The butterflies come to the purple coneflowers, wingstem, common milkweed, and other flowers.

The former porch of the Interpretive Center has been enclosed to create a larger meeting place for school groups and a new smaller porch added.  During the construction process, the native plant flowerbeds on either side of the porch were torn up.  Up until this year these were good places to find butterflies. Next year there will flowers again.  They have been planted.  But, this year the number of butterflies around the entrance has been sparse.

Our count for July 9 was
7 Cabbage whites
3 Pearl crescents
2 Great spangled fritillaries
1 Summer azure
1 Red admiral
and one unknown dark brown skipper

We did  get some photos.

Pearl Crescent seen at the top of the amphitheater.

Pearl Crescent seen along the drive.

The unknown dark brown skipper

The Summer Azure

A worn Great-spangled Fritillary

And a less tattered Great-spangled Fritillary

We are finding more caterpillars as we have learned to look for them.

Found on a Redbud leaf

Found on Indian Hemp

Found on Black-eyed Susan.

Brukner Nature Center...Butterfly Transit Update, July 1, 2016

I have been lax in putting up Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transit blogs for a number of reasons...partly due to rainy days and partly due to other activities that have come up.

The group is still plugging away.

We have had a couple nice finds...the first Least Skipper that has been recorded at Brukner (June 19), probably because no one has been looking for them and on June 24, a Banded Hairstreak.  We have seen Banded Hairstreaks other years but we don't see them often.

Least Skipper

Banded Hairstreak

Butterfly weed was found blooming on June 19...

and on June 24, Phil photographed this Great Spangled Fritillary on  a butterfly weed.

We have been finding caterpillars...

found on willow on June24.  No ID

This one was found on June 19.  I didn't go on that walk so I don't know what it is.

I learned a couple things, one thanks to the Ohio Butterfly site and the other thanks to the Ohio Wildflowers and Fauna site.

This is a moth I saw on June 24.  It is either a Virginia Ctenucha ( Ctenucha virginica) or a Yellow-collared scape moth (Cisseps fulvicollis).  To know positvely, I needed to get a photo of the thorax.  Maybe I'll see another one.

This is Enchanter's Nightshade.  It is widespread throughout the Brukner wet woods.  The plants with the tiny white flowers have always overwhelmed me.  There are lots of them this time of year and I never knew where to start looking in the field guides.  All the tiny flowers were too tiny for me to distinguish.

Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transit Walks for May 1 and May 12, 2016

May 1

The Brukner Nature Center's front entrance is in the process of being updated.  All the plants we found butterflies on last year have been torn out.  The good news is that more will be put in.  Now, however, the lack of plants mean that we aren't seeing butterflies in an area where we usually find quite a few.

 Our best sections for finding butterflies on May 1st turned out to be on the sections just beyond the meadow on the Hickory Ridge trail.  There we saw seven Red Admirals.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)  Wingspan 1.75-2.50 inches (4.4-6.4 cm)

We also saw four Eastern Commas in the same area.

Two Eastern Commas ( Polygonia comma)  Wingspan 2.0-2.4 inches (5.1-6.1 cm)

Jim found this American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis).  They are similar to a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). Seeing the underside makes the identification easier.

American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) Wingspan 1.75-2.40 inches (4.4-6.1 cm)

The Henry's Elfins (2) were found flitting around the redbud blossoms just as they were on
April 24.  This photo is from April 24.

Henry' Elfin (Callophrys henrici) Wingspan  0.9-1.2 inches (2.3-3.0 cm)

Other butterflies that we saw were Cabbage Whites (4) and a Pearl Crescent.

May 12
The transit group attempted to monitor the trail on May 7 (Saturday) but it was not a good day for seeing butterflies...spitting rain, wind gusts, temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  The group gave up on counting butterflies.  Nancy and Phil went out on Thursday, May 12,  which was a nicer day.  They found butterflies but they were elusive so Phil didn't get photos of them.  They counted a Red Admiral, a Silver-spotted Skipper, a Pearl Crescent, 5 Cabbage Whites.  In addition, two orange butterflies flitted by so fast, neither Nancy nor Phil got a good look at them.

However Phil did get these photos of turtles who live in Cattail Pond.

Painted Turtles (Above)

I'm not sure which turtle this is.  I know Snapping Turtles live in the pond but there may be other species, too.  I'm not sure the back is lumpy enough to be a Snapper.

I am reporting this on May 14.  Neither today nor tomorrow will be a good day for counting butterflies.  Today the high is predicted to be about 50 degrees Fahrenheit and there is a frost warning tonight.  Weather forecasters are suggesting that delicate plants should be covered.

We have had a few nice spring days but many more days when May has felt like March.  All of us are hoping for a few weeks of spring before the hot days of summer show up.