Butterfliers,
Nine determined and intrepid lepsters braved heat indices soaring well
into the hundreds on Sunday (8/21/2005) to scour some key areas of Durham
to turn in a very successful Durham Butterfly Count this year. Many
thanks to butterfliers Parker Backstrom, Will Cook, Brian & Amy
Counterman, Tom Krakauer, Harry LeGrand, Jeff Pippen, Roger Rittmaster,
and Richard Stickney for their participation!
Thanks also to Tom Krakauer, Uli Hartmond, and Roy Griffiths for making
facilities available for us at the NC Museum of Life and Science. After
surveying the wild butterflies of Durham, we met at the end of the day in
the outstanding Magic Wings Butterfly House to enjoy such tropical
delights as various longwings, Scarlet Peacocks, and Paper Kites and to
compile our sightings of the day.
Here are some bulleted trends, highlights, and points of interest from the
survey, based now on 6 years of data from annual surveys in mid-August:
-- 55 species total (avg=56); 2316 individuals (avg=3828). Numbers of
each species were generally pretty average. The reason the total
individuals number is so far below average is due to the fact that in some
years, a few species have major "boom" years and elevate the total
individuals count (e.g., 1380 E. Tiger Swallowtails in 2000; 2707 Sachems
in 2002, etc.). This year, there were really no "boom" species.
-- Record low numbers (due in part to non-coverage of a two areas usually
covered due to Randy & Brian being out of town -- we missed you guys!)
for 6 species: Black Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Hackberry
Emperor, Hoary Edge, Southern Cloudywing, and Horace's Duskywing.
-- Record high numbers for the 6 years of this count for 5 species:
Painted Lady, Crossline Skipper, Southern Broken-Dash, Little Glassywing,
and Delaware Skipper.
-- Our record high 84 Southern Broken-Dash is very close to the all time
national record of 85 recorded on a TX count in 2003.
-- For the first time ever, Painted Lady outnumbered American Lady (by an
impressive ratio of 10:1)! Most of these individuals were fresh,
indicating that they were offspring of the individuals that migrated here
this spring. Painted Lady does not overwinter in NC.
-- Cloudywings and duskywings were in very short supply this year, however
Wild Indigo Duskywings continue to do well in the Duke Gardens, where
their host plants (Baptisia spp.) grow. Duke Gardens is a great place to
easily see lots of butterflies nectaring on a variety of garden plants.
-- Morning conditions were in the low 80s, sunny, and humid, and with very
little wind. Afternoon temps in mid 90s deg. F., and partly sunny and
HOT!
Here are the results:
Total Species
4 Pipevine Swallowtail
9 Black Swallowtail
132 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
21 Spicebush Swallowtail
2 Cabbage White
19 Orange Sulphur
138 Cloudless Sulphur
142 Sleepy Orange
32 Gray Hairstreak
95 Eastern Tailed-Blue
38 Summer Azure
2 American Snout
59 Variegated Fritillary
1 Great Spangled Fritillary
5 Silvery Checkerspot
96 Pearl Crescent
3 Question Mark
6 Eastern Comma
2 American Lady
20 Painted Lady
6 Red Admiral
168 Common Buckeye
50 Red-spotted Purple
21 Viceroy
4 Hackberry Emperor
25 Tawny Emperor
14 Northern Pearly-eye
7 Appalachian Brown
2 Gemmed Satyr
255 Carolina Satyr
3 Common Wood-Nymph
29 Monarch
185 Silver-spotted Skipper
3 Hoary Edge
1 Southern Cloudywing
2 Horace's Duskywing
5 Wild Indigo Duskywing
16 Com. Checkered-Skipper
2 Common Sootywing
29 Swarthy Skipper
28 Clouded Skipper
29 Least Skipper
77 Fiery Skipper
2 Tawny-edged Skipper
51 Crossline Skipper
84 Southern Broken-Dash
5 Northern Broken-Dash
75 Little Glassywing
152 Sachem
11 Delaware Skipper
61 Zabulon Skipper
7 Dion Skipper
19 Dun Skipper
1 Eufala Skipper
39 Ocola Skipper
1 Colias sp.
20 grass skipper sp.
Non-Adults:
1 Black Swallowtail
55 Total Species
2316 Total Individuals
Good Butterflying!
Jeff
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jeffrey S. Pippen
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Rm A-241 LSRC Bldg, Box 90328
Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
PH: (919) 660-7278
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/nature.htm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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