The Southern Lake Norman Butterfly Count was held Sunday August 14, 2016 under extremely hot and humid conditions. Starting temps were in the low 80’s, with an afternoon peak of 95 F. Despite this, 15 participants in 6 parties counted 1773 individuals of 61 species. The species count equals the all-time high for this count from 2012.
Good finds included White-M Hairstreak in Rob Van Epp’s yard at the end of the day, Juniper Hairstreak, Painted Lady, Long-tailed Skipper and Eufala Skipper. Notable misses were Tawny Emperor and Eastern Comma.

Thanks to everyone for volunteering their time under harsh conditions.

Pipevine Swallowtail 17
Zebra Swallowtail 37
Black Swallowtail 4
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 146
Spicebush Swallowtail 4
Cabbage White 1
Orange Sulfur 12
Cloudless Sulfur 32
Little Yellow 1
Sleepy Orange 28
Red-banded Hairstreak 2
Juniper Hairstreak 1
White-M Hairstreak 1
Gray Hairstreak 4
Azure 2
Eastern Tailed- blue 96
Am. Snout 10
Gulf Fritillary 2
Variegated Fritillary 24
Great Spangled Fritillary 6
Silvery Checkerspot 4
Pearl Crescent 29
Questionmark 2
Painted Lady 1
Am. Lady 3
Red Admiral 2
Com. Buckeye 118
Red-spotted Purple 15
Viceroy 14
Hackberry Emperor 9
N. Pearly-eye 10
Creole Pearly-eye 2
Appalachian Brown 1
Gemmed Satyr 2
Carolina Sa. 455
Com. Wood-Nymph 5
Monarch 6
Silver-spotted Skipper 74
Long-tailed Skipper 1
Hoary Edge 3
S. Cloudywing 3
Horace’s Duskywing 17
Com. Checkered-Sk. 11
Com. Sootywing 8
Swarthy Sk. 1
Clouded Sk. 50
Least Sk. 16
S. Skipperling 1
Fiery Sk. 99
Tawny-edged Skipper 1
Crossline Sk. 1
S. Broken-Dash 4
N. Broken-Da. 3
Little Glassywing 35
Sachem 156
Delaware Sk. 32
Zabulon Sk. 96
Dun Sk. 11
Lace-winged Roadside-skipper 2
Eufala Sk. 2
Ocola Sk. 42

Taylor Piephoff
Matthews, NC
PiephoffT@aol.com