Butterfliers,
The NABA Durham Butterfly Count on 8/20/2006 was a big
success due to a great turnout of folks helping out. Because of higher
than average coverage (21 observers comprising 7 parties), we found higher
than average numbers of butterflies (over 4500 individuals), but our
species diversity was exactly at our 7-year average of 55 species. Most
folks mentioned the droughty conditions and general lack of nectar flowers
compared to past years as likely causes. Also of note was that we found
NO rarities, again despite better coverage than ever.
Conditions were great for butterflying: hot and mostly sunny all day. The
humidity was high, making conditions a bit rough for us humans, and at
least one party ran into an impressive batch of seed ticks, where all
party members spent nearly a half-hour with duck tape removing several
hundred tiny ticks from pants & socks, but even that didn't damper
enthusiasm. We had several expert leaders and many brand new folks, and
everyone had a great time. My hat is off and thanks extended to all the
intrepid volunteers: Bob & Nancy Baldwin, Charles Cameron, Derb Carter,
Will Cook, John Dole, Wendy Elliott, Randy Emmitt, Clinton Jenkins, Tom
Krakauer, Harry LeGrand, Allison Leidner, Merrill Lynch, David McCloy,
Michael McCloy, Meg Millard, Karen Oberhauser, Jeffrey Pippen, Roger
Rittmaster, Richard Stickney, Sharna Tolfree, Roger Willington, Chad
Shoen, and Barbara Beaman.
In general, we found average numbers of individuals of most of the species
we saw. A few exceptions, however, were higher than average numbers of
all species of swallowtails, highlighted by a single Zebra Swallowtail
found by Randy Emmitt's group, only the second time this species has been
reported on the Durham count. Also record high counts for the Durham
Count were set for Cloudless Sulphurs (214), Fiery Skipper (633), and Dun
Skipper (32). Relatively insignificant were record low counts only for
Summer Azure (6), and Common Sootywing (1).
Here is the list for the count, mostly in Durham Co., but a bit in Orange
Co.:
18 Pipevine Swallowtail
1 Zebra Swallowtail
18 Black Swallowtail
608 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
108 Spicebush Swallowtail
3 Cabbage White
13 Orange Sulphur
214 Cloudless Sulphur
109 Sleepy Orange
19 Gray Hairstreak
3 Red-banded Hairstreak
70 Eastern Tailed-Blue
6 Summer Azure
10 American Snout
359 Variegated Fritillary
4 Great Spangled Fritillary
15 Silvery Checkerspot
85 Pearl Crescent
8 Question Mark
4 Eastern Comma
4 American Lady
2 Red Admiral
256 Common Buckeye
32 Red-spotted Purple
29 Viceroy
22 Hackberry Emperor
11 Tawny Emperor
8 Northern Pearly-eye
10 Gemmed Satyr
92 Carolina Satyr
3 Common Wood-Nymph
137 Monarch
135 Silver-spotted Skipper
5 Hoary Edge
1 Southern Cloudywing
31 Horace's Duskywing
1 Zarucco Duskywing
5 Wild Indigo Duskywing
28 Com. Checkered-Skipper
1 Common Sootywing
16 Swarthy Skipper
13 Clouded Skipper
40 Least Skipper
633 Fiery Skipper
3 Tawny-edged Skipper
92 Crossline Skipper
50 Southern Broken-Dash
5 Northern Broken-Dash
34 Little Glassywing
1389 Sachem
6 Delaware Skipper
19 Zabulon Skipper
1 Dion Skipper
32 Dun Skipper
16 Ocola Skipper
Non-Adults
3 Pipevine Swallowtail cats
15 Black Swallowtail eggs
11 Black Swallowtail cats
1 Red Admiral cat
1 Common Buckeye cat
17 Monarch cats
55 Total Species
4577 Total Individuals
Good Butterflying!
Jeff
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/nature.htm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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
Return to Carolina
Butterfly Society Home Page