The Iredell Count yielded 40 species without many surprises Outside of Eastern Tigers, there were only two other Swallowtails, a single Pipevine, and a Spicebush. Like in the other local counts in August this year, the skippers carried the day and larger butterflies where at a premium. The best find was an Eufala Skipper by Charles Cameron. There were well over 200 Sachem in one large field of Bermuda Grass, and the main blossoms were Bicolor Lespedeza and the dreaded Kudzu vine along field edges.

Pipevine Swallowtail 1,
E. Tiger Sw. 17,
Spicebush Sw. 1,
Cabbage White 3,
Clouded Sulphur 1,
Cloudless Su. 10,
Little Yellow 1,
Sleepy Orange 7,
Gray Hairstreak 2,
Red-banded Ha. 1,
E. Tailed-Blue 54,
‘Summer’ Spring Azure 8,
Am. Snout 1,
Variegated Fritillary 7,
Gr. Spangled Fr. 6,
Silvery Checkerspot 12,
Pearl Crescent 25,
E. Comma 1,
Am. Lady 1,
Com. Buckeye 51,
Red-spotted Purple 9,
Hackberry Emperor 1,
Tawny Em. 2,
N. Pearly-eye 9,
Appalachian Brown 2,
Gemmed Satyr 2,
Carolina Sa. 95,
Silver-spotted Skipper 29,
Horace’s Duskywing 2,
Com. Sootywing 31,
Clouded Sk. 2,
Least Sk. 11,
Fiery Sk. 2,
Crossline Sk. 1,
S. Broken-Dash 13,
Little Glassywing 2,
Sachem 212,
Delaware Sk. 4,
Zabulon Sk. 56,
Dun Sk. 1,
Eufala Sk. 1,
Ocola Sk. 2

Total 42 species, 699 individuals.

I would like to thank Shelley Rutkin for compiling this year’s count and all who participated!

Gene Schepker