Midlands Chapter Trip Report
Audubon’s Wannamaker Preserve
St. Matthews, SC
April 6, 2008
Our trip originally scheduled for April 5 was rescheduled for April 6 due to
inclement weather. Four people were able to make it on April 6. They were:
trip leader, Robin Carter, Elaine Stonecypher, and Dave and Marty Kastner.
The day began with very overcast skies. After 10:00 the sun began to break
through. Wannamaker Preserve has a trail that winds through a mostly wooded
area. Our targeted butterfly was the Harvester. We found nine adult
Harvester butterflies in three separate areas of the preserve. One was a tattered
female who appeared to be ovipositing eggs on smilax. The Harvester
caterpillars feed on Woolly Aphids on or near beech and alder trees. Though we found
beech trees, we did not see any Woolly Aphids on them. An internet site had
alerted us to the fact that Woolly Aphids and Harvester caterpillars may be
on smilax (also known as catbrier and greenbrier). Smilax was abundant, but
we did not see any Woolly Aphids on it either.
During our walk, we saw many low flying duskywing species, satyr species and
dark swallowtails that did not stop for us to obtain an accurate
identification. Even with a digital camera, at times it was difficult to distinguish
between the female Horace’s Duskywing and Juvenal’s Duskywing.
The following are the totals that we could count:
Harvester 9
American Lady 4
Carolina Satyr 10
Gemmed Satyr 6
Tiger Swallowtail 6 (1 was a dark female)
Spicebush Swallowtail 5
Black Swallowtail 2
Horace’s Duskywing 2
Juvenal’s Duskywing 3
Cloudless Sulpher 5
Pearl Crescent 1
Silver-spotted Skipper 2
Red-Banded Hairstreak 1
Comma or Question Mark species 1
Morning Cloak 1
Total species: 15
Total Butterflies: 58
Marty
Kastner
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Gemmed Satyr
Harvester on a Bud
Harvester
Horace's Duskywing
Juvenal's Duskywing