Hi all,

On 28 March 2007 18 members and guest of Ogeechee Audubon Society and the Carolina Butterfly Society held a field trip to the Tillman Sand Ridge HP, Jasper Co., SC. The weather was perfect but the Hog Plums were past there peak and their were no other nectar sources; despite this I think we all an enjoyable field trip and we succeeded is seeing 12 species of butterflies.

Pipevine swallowtail – 1 male
Zebra Swallowtail- 10+
Black Swallowtail-2
E. Tiger Swallowtail-1
Palamedes Swallowtail-4
Cloudless Sulfur-4
Sleepy Oange-2
Pearl Cresent-10+
Common Buckeye-1
Carolina Satyr-4
“Viola” Wood-Satyr-4
Sleepy Duskywing-10+
Juvenal’s Duskywing-1 female worn
Zarucco Duskywing-1 female
Zabulon Skipper-1 male fresh

Cheers,

Dennis

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

We had 15 participants on the Cuddo Unit, Santee National Wildlife Refuge trip Saturday, 14 April. We started at ~12:45 pm and drove in a caravan throughout the roadways and stopped when we saw butterflies or flowers (pretty much only toadflax and lyre-leaved sage, also a hawthorn). We finished at ~4:00 pm. The list of species and estimated numbers follows:

Spicebush Swallowtail – 13
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – 3
Pipevine Swallowtail – 1 (female ovipositing on Virginia Snakeroot
(Aristolochia serpentaria)
Cloudless Sulphur – 12
Sleepy Orange – 15
Monarch – 3
American Lady – 7
Pearl Crescent – 3
Red-spotted Purple – 4
Carolina Satyr – 11
Silver-spotted Skipper – 6
Horace’s Duskywing – 3
Broad-winged Skipper – 2
Clouded Skipper – 1
Common/white Checkered Skipper – 1

Billy McCord

Today (Earth Day) Sunday, April 22, Jim Nottke and Charles Cameron joined trip leader Sharon Funderburk at Rarebird Nursery in Castalia, NC, for a scheduled CBS Garden Walk. From 9:30 til 11:30 we toured the nursery area,adjacent field and a wooded path. There had been a lot of butterflies out before the Big Freeze, and numbers are just now rebounding:

Pipevine Swallowtail-6,
Black Swallowtail-three 5th instar larva and two younger instars
E Tiger Swallowtail-8,
Clouded Sulphur-3,
Orange Sulphur-4,
Sleepy Orange-2,
Azures-2,
E Tailed Blue-3,
Pearl Crescent-9,
American Lady-9,
Carolina Satyr-9,
Silver Spotted Skipper-2,
Sleepy Duskywing-1,
Horace’s Duskywing-2,
Wild Indigo Duskywing-1

After a brief lunch and bagels and creamcake provided by Sharon, we moved on to the Shocco Creek Gamelands from about noon to 1:30, where it was hot/dry and showed the effects of considerable logging, which created large unvegetated areas. The great finds there were Gemmed Satyr-3 and numerous Pink Lady’s Slipper orchids, some in clumps of 6-10. We also found a few more Pearl Crescents, Tiger Swallowtails (one dark form female), E Tailed Blue, American Lady and Carolina Satyrs. No skippers on the roadway, but both at the nursery and the gamelands we had a glimpse of an Elfin-esque lep as it leaped up into a tree never to be found again.

Jim Nottke

Hi All,

Ten people attended the CBS and Friends of the Sandhills NWR field trip 10AM-2PM Sunday 29 April 2007. The weather was excellent but the diversity and numbers of butterflies were low probably because of low rainfall and lack of nectar plants. The only nectar source was blackberry thickets. We had the following:

Zebra Swallowtail-1(seen after field trip was over),

E. Tiger Swallowtail-6+,

Spicebush Swallowtail-2,

Palamedes Swallowtail-4,

Cloudless Sulfur-3,

Azure sp.-2,

Variegated Fritillary-2

American Lady-10+,

Common Buckeye-10+,

Red-spotted Purple-1,

Silver-spotted Skipper-4,

Southern Cloudywing-6,

Northern Cloudywing-1,

unidentified skipper-1

Dennis 

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

Hi All,

We had a good time on the Carolina Butterfly Society’s foray in Aiken Co, SC this last weekend despite the low number of butterflies which I feel was because of the late freeze and the lack of rain. Nine people looked for butterflies in parks, heritage preserves, gardens and weedy roadsides in the 2nd weekend foray co-sponsored by the Augusta-Aiken Audubon Society and CBS.

The highlight was a day-long field trip to the Silver Bluff Audubon Sanctuary arranged by the Augusta-Aiken Audubon Society and the Silver Bluff’s staff. About 36 butterfly species including three new Aiken County records were found. Species and approximate number of individuals seen included:

Zebra Swallowtail-1
E. Tiger Swallowtail-1
Palamedes Swallowtail-10+
Cabbage White-1
Cloudless Sulfur-5
Sleepy Orange-3
Oak Hairstreak-1
Gray Hairstreak-10
Eastern Tailed-Blue-2
Summer Azure-1 very worn
American Snout-5
Variegated Fritillary-20
Pearl Crescent-8
Question Mark-1
American Lady-15+
Common Buckeye-15+
Red-spotted Purple-1
Hackberry Emperor-3
Southern Pearly-Eye-4
Creole Pearly-Eye-1
Appalachian Brown-1
Carolina Satyr-5
Silver-spotted Skipper-7
Hoary Edge-5
Southern Cloudywing-8
Northern Cloudywing-1-new county record
Horace’s Duskywing-5
Common/White-Checkered-Skipper-3
Swarthy Skipper-1-new county record
Clouded Skipper-1
Least Skipper-1
Crossline Skipper-2
Whirlabout-4
Northern Broken-Dash-4-new county record
Dun Skipper-1
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper-1
Yucca Giant-Skipper-2-caterpillar tubes

Cheers,

Dennis

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

2007 FIELD NOTES: For the second time in the 15-year history of this coun, it was held in late May. Due to drought (rainfall 7″ below normal) nectar scarce. Butterflies extremely scarce even when nectar was available. Phaon Crescent (after 2 year absence) was found at same beach site on Debordieu Island. Feared our second count (Francis Marion National Forest — to be held the following day) would also be a “bust,” which was NOT the case, thankfully.

2007 Weather: 81 degrees F. 5-10 mph. 100% clear / sunny.
# OF OBSERVERS 4
# OF PARTIES 3

Spicebush Swallowtail 1
Palamedes Swallowtail 4
Eastern Pygmy-Blue 5
Variegated Fritillary 2
Phaon Crescent 1
Pearl Crescent 6
American Lady 1
Common Buckeye 8
Carolina Satyr 1
Little Wood-Satyr 7
cloudywing sp. (N. or Confused) 1
Horace’s Duskywing 5
Swarthy Skipper 1
Clouded Skipper 3
Whirlabout 3
Southern Broken-Dash 1
Broad-winged Skipper 8
Dun Skipper 1
Twin-spot Skipper 1
Salt Marsh Skipper 6

TOTAL # OF INDIVIDUALS 63
TOTAL # OF SPECIES 20

Pat & Clay Sutton

2007 FIELD NOTES: For the second time in the 15-year history of this count, it was held in late May when we hoped to coincide with blooming Chinquapin trees (for hairstreaks), Yellow Thistle (purple form), and Garlic gardens (on old plantations). Due to drought (rainfall 7" below normal) Chinquapin and Garlic were both done blooming. Georgia Satyr was new to the count, bringing the cumulative species total to 85. 1 rag Texan Crescent was seen COUNT WEEK (day after count). There were many opportunities to study and photograph Byssus, Yehl, and Twin-spot Skipper.

2007 WEATHER: 76-81 degrees F. WINDS: ESE 5-10 mph. AM & PM: 80 % sun.
# OF OBSERVERS 12
# OF PARTIES 4

Pipevine Swallowtail 79
Black Swallowtail 17
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 14
Spicebush Swallowtail 1
Palamedes Swallowtail 30
Cloudless Sulphur 44
Little Yellow 6
Sleepy Orange 2
Gray Hairstreak 5
Red-banded Hairstreak 1
Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
American Snout 2
Variegated Fritillary 12
Texan Crescent cw
Pearl Crescent 206
American Lady 33
Common Buckeye 38
Emperor sp. 1
Southern Pearly-eye 3
Appalachian Brown 2
Gemmed Satyr 1
Carolina Satyr 2
Georgia Satyr 4
Little Wood-Satyr 1
Monarch 19
Silver-spotted Skipper 2
Hoary Edge 1
Southern Cloudywing 1
Horace’s Duskywing 67
Wild Indigo Duskywing 1
Com./Wh. Checkered-Skipper 34
Swarthy Skipper 14
Clouded Skipper 1
Fiery Skipper 25
Tawny-edged Skipper 9
Crossline Skipper 11
Whirlabout 33
Southern Broken-Dash 6
Northern Broken-Dash 6
Little Glassywing 8
Delaware Skipper 39
Byssus Skipper 8
Zabulon Skipper 1
Yehl Skipper 5
Broad-winged Skipper 2
Dun Skipper 48
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper 1
Eufala Skipper 3
Twin-spot Skipper 156
Salt Marsh Skipper 10

TOTAL # OF INDIVIDUALS 1016
TOTAL # OF SPECIES 49

Pat & Clay Sutton

Folks,

Five of us* enjoyed perfect butterflying weather on Saturday, June 2, although field conditions were a severe drought, with many plants in a wilted condition. By dint of diligent combing of the area, we did find 30 species of butterfly and one 4th instar Eastern Buck Moth caterpillar, which became 5th instar as we watched. Much of the time was spent at the Allison Woods Estate, with a short walk along part of the Greenway. We thank Lislott Harberts for hosting us at Allison Woods. Find of the day were two American Coppers, a new county record. Surprise of the day was a Dragonhunter catching a Great Spangled Fritillary.

2 Tiger Swallowtails
2 Cabbage White
4 Clouded Sulphur
2 Orange Sulphur
2 Cloudless Sulphur
2 American Copper (new county record)
7 Eastern Tailed Blue
5 Azure
4 Variegated Fritillary
9 Great Spangled Fritillary (not including the Dragon Hunter meal)
3 Pearl Crescent
1 polygonia sp
6 American Lady
5 Common Buckeye
1 Red Spotted Purple
2 Hackberry Emperor
3 Northern Pearly-eye
1 Creole Pearly-eye
1 Carolina Satyr
2 Little Wood Satyr
5 Silver Spotted Skipper
2 Southern Cloudywing
2 Northern Cloudywing
2 Common Checkered Skipper
1 Common Sootywing
5 Clouded Skipper
5 Crossline Skipper
2 Northern Broken-Dash
1 Zabulon Skipper
1 Dun Skipper

30 species, no immature butterflies

* Beth Brinson, Charlie Cameron, Cathy King, Gail Lankford, Jim Nottke

Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC

Hi – The 11th annual Weymouth Count was held on Saturday June 9 under hot dry and clear conditions – temps in the mid to upper 90’s by 3:00pm. 13 folks in two – three parties covered the preserve until noon. After lunch two parties covered The Nature Conservancy’s Quiwhiffle Tract and Slate Rd in the Sandhill Gamelands. We nearly had more counters than total species – 23 total species for the day. I expect diversity to be low this time of year but we usually get in the upper 20’s or low 30’s.

We also saw a couple of hairstreaks that looked like Edward’s but had substantial orange over the blue spot on the hindwing. I have noticed over the last several years individuals that appear to have characteristics of King’s and Edward’s. Hybrids?

Absent were black swallowtail, palamedes swallowtail, cloudless sulphur, variegated frittillary, pearl crescent and satyrs.

We did see lots of cool beetles, damsel and dragonflies. Several Bachman sparrows were singing so all in all it was a fun but hot day. Thanks to everyone who helped.

4 Tiger Swallowtail
4 Spicebush Swallowtail
6 Coral Hairstreak
14 Edward’s Hairstreak
1 Banded Hairstreak
11 King’s Hairstreak
2 Gray Hairstreak
2 Red-banded Hairstreak
6 Eastern Tailed-Blue
4 Summer Azure
7 American Lady
1 Red Admiral
13 Common Buckeye
1 Pearly-Eye sp.
1 Appalachian Brown
3 Monarchs
3 Silver-spotted Skipper
1 Southern Cloudywing
2 Horace’s Duskywing
3 Zarucco Duskywing
3 Fiery Skipper
8 Crossline Skipper
1 Dun Skipper

Scott Hartley
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve
Southern Pines, NC

Hi All,

A butterfly walk, co-sponsored by Cypress Gardens and the Carolina Butterfly Society and led by Dwight Williams took place from 1-3PM on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at Cypress Gardens near Charleston, SC. In spite of the good coverage by the Charleston newspaper, there were only 3 participants. This was likely due to the heat (mid-90s) and the humidity. Apparently the butterflies knew better than to come out in such heat. In spite of abundant nectar sources and host plants few butterflies were seen during the approximately 1.25 mi. walk. Species observed were as follows:

Dark swallowtail-1 probably a Black;
Sleepy Orange-1,
Dark hairstreak-1 probably King’s,
Red-banded Hairstreak-1,
Variegated Fritillary-4,
Pearl crescent-1,
American Lady-1,
Red-spotted Purple-1,
Little Wood Satyr-1,
Little Glassywing-1,
Byssus Skipper-1

Dennis

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

Hi all, On Saturday June 16th Ben, Debi, Mary, Becky and Mary showed up to see what butterflies we could find at Stowe Botanical Gardens near Gastonia/Belmont NC.(Gaston County) The weather was cloudy and warm when we began and by 4 PM when Ben, Debi and I left, hot and sunny. Actually a beautiful day and everybody had fun just exploring the site and viewing all the colors and textures of this outstanding garden. In spite of our drought the gardens were lush because of the soaker hose irrigation system installed. Still some damage showing from the Easter freeze Unfortuately there was not much leps activity or quantity of species but we were able to complile a short list.

Delaware Skipper 2

Fiery Skipper male and females 8-10

American Lady 2

Eastern Tailed Blue 1

Silver spotted Skipper 2

Crossline Skipper 1

Buckeye 2

Cabbage White 2

Carolina Satyr 1 (on woodland trail)

Azure 1

Tiger Swallowtail 1

Horace’s Duskywing 2

Clouded Sulphur 1 (no orange ground on FW and upper wing black edges are narrower)

Gray Hairstreak 1

Red Spotted Purple 1 (?) seen flying fast so it may have been another swallowtail.

Common Whitetail Dragonfly male and female

I) 3 ft plus (not a moccasin) shiny black snake (king snake?) with black and white undersides that was at the back side of the main garden walk, hopefully staying clear of visitors so it will not be prematurely dispatched.

Thanks

Jules Fraytet

Charlotte

Folks,

On Sunday, June 17, six of us (*) carried out the postponed Surry County Count under clear skies, with light breezes, and moderate temperatures. But much of the count circle was suffering from drought and numbers were down from last year. BUT, even in a drought year, one can find new species in a well-studied area. Two weeks ago we found 2 American Coppers after 8 years of counting in Iredell County. On Sunday, we added three species to the Surry County record, after adding 8 species last year. In 2006 3.9% of the butterflies that we found belonged to species previously unreported for the county – in 2007 7.2% of the butterflies we found belonged to previously unreported species! In addition we found 3 Northern Water Snakes, an Eastern Box Turtle, and a large number of toads, along with assorted dragonflies and birds.

1 Pipevine Swallowtail
3 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
1 Spicebush Swallowtail
7 Cabbage White
1 Clouded Sulphur
2 Orange Sulphur
1 albino colias spp
1 Coral Hairstreak new county record
16 Eastern Tailed Blue
5 Azure
9 Great Spangled Fritillary
1 Variegated Fritillary
7 Pearl Crescent
1 American Lady
3 Common Buckeye
1 Northern Pearly-Eye
2 Carolina Satyr
4 Little Wood Satyr
3 Silver-Spotted Skipper
3 Hoary Edge new county record
2 Southern Cloudywing
6 Horaces Duskywing
1 Tawny Edged Skipper
2 Dun Skipper new county record

23 species
83 butterflies

* Charlie Cameron, Gregg Morris, Jim Nottke, Elizabeth Riggs, Gene Schepker, Lois Schneider

Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC

Wow! What a fantastic turn out for the Congaree NABA count. We did have more butterfly species than counters BUT that was potentially hard to do with 48 participants this year! We had 48 counters this year, 49 species of butterflies, and 487 individual butterflies seen. Yipee! Finally a year when the positive influences all came together- good weather, good environmental conditions, numerous counters, wider territory explored, etc. There were significant storms the night before the count with strong downpours. Some individual butterflies seen were severely tattered and likely were not going to survive many more hours. Other butterflies were beautiful fresh specimens that were spared the brunt of the storm effects the night before.

Here’s the list. First number is for Richland county, SC (where most of our counters were), second number for Calhoun County, SC (observations along highway 601,thank to Dennis Forsythe).

36,0 Zebra SW (1 freshly dead)
1,0 Black SW
1,1 Tiger SW
0,3 Spicebush SW
5,2 Palamedes SW
2,5 Cabbage white
3,0 Orange Sulphur
1,0 Southern dogface
3,5 Cloudless Sulphur
1,0 Little Yellow,
3,26 Sleepy orange
1,0 Gray Hairstreak
6,0 Red-banded Hairstreak
1,1 Eastern Tailed Blue
9,0 Snout
2,0 Gulf Frittilary
6,25 Variegated Frittilary
71,2 Pearl Crescent
6,0 Question Mark
2,0 Eastern comma
4,0 American Lady
1,0 Painted Lady
10,0 Red Admiral
32,14 Common Buckeye
21,1 Red-spotted Purple (1 extremely worn soaked individual desperately basking to dry out)
7,0 Hackberry Emperor (2 extremely worn individuals with wings battered to a third of normal size)
7,0 Tawny Emperor
6,0 Southern Pearly-eye
1,0 Appalachian Brown
2,0 Gemmed Satyr
30,0 Carolina Satyr
1,0 Monarch
4,0 Silver-spotted Skipper
25,1 Horace’s Duskywing
4,35 Common Checkered Skipper
1,0 Common Sootywing
1,0 Zarruco Duskywing
3,1 Fiery Skipper
2,0 Whirlabout
2,0 Sachem
4,0 Least Skipper
0,1 Clouded Skipper
1,0 Crossline Skipper
2,0 Zabulon Skipper
1,0 Little Glassywing
27,0 Dun Skipper
1,0 BYSSUS SKIPPER***New to Congaree Count records. Thanks John and Dennis for id help.
1,0 Lace-wing Roadside Skipper
0,3 Eufala Skipper

We were fortunate to have 48 enthusiastic participants, ranging in age from 9 months old to mid 60 years young. Thanks all involved, Robin Carter, Dennis Forsythe, Carol Ash, Roberta Beer, Allison Galassie, Steve and Rita Mislan, Natalie Ashenfelter, Lynn Humphrey, Dee Dailey, Merri Seigler, Nancy Kalutz, Jim Wison Jr., Sudie Daves, Stephanie Douglas, Julie Wilking, Connally and Beth Bradley, Raymond and Emily Bennett, Katrina Thomas, Jared Deville, Alex Entrup, Timothy Marsh, Drew Ignizio, Melissa Deuhr, Kat DeWitt, Dave and Marty Kastner, John Grego, Carol and Elizabeth Cannon, Amy Mills, Kimberly Meitzen, Stephen Glenn, Ron Ahle, Jim Nottke, Scott Walters, Mark Proctor, Theresa Yednock, Theresa Thom, John Torrence, David Shelley, Melody French, Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Trujillo, and children Daniella and Laura.

This will be hard to beat next year…but we’ll try.

Thanks again and sorry it took awhile to get these results out.
Christina

Christina S. Hulslander
Cayce, South Carolina

Ten people attended the 7 July 2007 field trip to Brays Island, Beaufort Co., SC. This trip, co-sponsored by the Brays Island Nature Center and the Carolina Butterfly Society, was lead by Bruce Lampright, the Brays Island Naturalist. From 1000-1500hrs. EDT,Bruce lead us thought a variety of habitats under increasing cloudy skies. As has been true all season, the number and diversity of butterflies seemed low.

Trip list:

E. Tiger Swallowtail-4,

Spicebush Swallowtail-2,

Palamedes Swallowtail-5,

Cabbage White-4,

Cloudless Sulfur-2,

Little Yellow-1,

Sleepy Orange-4,

Gulf Fritillary-6,

Variegated Fritillary-2,

Red Admiral-5,

Common Buckeye-1,

Red-spotted Purple-1,

Hackberry Emperor-2,

Gemmed Satyr-1,

Carolina Satyr-1,

Silver-spotted Skipper-4,

Long-tailed Skipper-1,

Horace’s Duskywing-3,

Zarucco Duskywing-1,

Southern Skipperling-2,

Fiery Skipper-6,

Whirlabout-2,

Dun Skipper-2,

Salt Marsh Skipper-1

Dennis

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

Hi all

We had fun and a good count today at the refuge. Conditions were from not too hot or humid, but sunny to partly cloudy by the time we quit at 3:30 pm.

We observed 37 species and the one that was amazingly abundant was the one I mentioned last week…the Red Admiral… with probably over 150 individuals and that was a conservative estimate! It may be closer to 200 if you take into consideration the ones we could not count in places of similiar habitat of the refuge, but we had no time to visit with just six people counting. Even though nettle is it’s host plant, I don’t think it was more abundant here than in past years. Some enviromental or adaptive condition must be behind the fecundity of some leps species that we see each year.

Many species uncounted were “puddling’ and mineralizing on refuge roads and even the two lane asphalts going through the area. I think recent rains have helped to produce the amount of butterflies we witnessed. Not large quantities in some species but we were grateful for what we saw.

Thanks to the identification skills of Kim and Peter Coffey, Nancy and Bob Baldwin and Jim Nottke and for coming from so far to help me do this count.

Thanks also to the refuge staff and Friends of the Peedee Refuge for hosting us and the work they do to maintain this part of our public natural lands.

Also thanks to the volunteer couple staying on the refuge who opened the restrooms for us(!) and the work they do to help the staff.

Red Admiral 100-200
Zebra Swallowtail 10
Red Spotted Purple 20+
Spicebush Swallowtail 8
Black Swallowtail 5
Pipevine Swallowtail 6
Common Buckeye 10
Southern Pearly Eye 1
Creole Pearly Eye 2
Hackberry Emporer 12+
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 8
Hoary Edge Skipper 2
Silver Spotted Skipper 4
Varigated Fritillary 1
American Lady 3
Viceroy 1
Question Mark 20+
Eastern Comma 8+
Carolina Satyr 20 +
Palamedes Swallowtail 2
Sleepy Orange 40+
Orange Sulphur 40 +
Cloudless Sulphur 20+
Clouded Skipper 2
American Snout 15 +
Least Skipper 2
Little Yellow 2
Eastern Tailed Blue 2
Common Checkered Skipper 5
Pearl Crescent 2
Zabulon Skipper 1
Zarucco Duskywing 1
Southern Cloudy Wing 2
Fiery Skipper 2
Little Wood Satyr 2
Dun Skipper 3
Appalachian Brown 1 (The one we had trouble identifying even though he “posed” for over 5 minutes on a Jewelweed leaf near the edge of a creek because his underside wing markings did not exactly match the photo in Glassburg’s BTB) The consensus was this id though.

A lot of butterflies were taking advantage of many buttonbush shrubs at the edge of the lakes and flooded low ground areas.

Three Red Shouldered Hawks and one Eastern King Snake. Nancy said she had two other water snakes which we were not sure of their id.

I had to watch out for numerous rabbits including some unwary youngsters I saw later in the afternoon on my own as i took a quick trip back on the wildlife drive near Gaddys Covered Bridge.

Dragonflies especially Widow Skimmers were bountiful

We saw about 20 bumble bees acting like water striders with outstetched legs as they used the surface tension of a puddle to sip water that they used in nearby mudholes to make their hives.

Jules Fraytet / Carolina Butterfly Society and South Carolina Association of Naturalists(SCAN)
Charlotte, NC

Hi All,

These are the results for the South Carolina portion of the Augusta-N. Augusta butterfly count held. 21 July 2007. We had 2 parties in the field covering the area from N. Augusta to and including Silver Bluffs. Species list:

Zebra Swallowtail-8, 
E. Tiger Swallowtail-8 (1 dark form), Spicebush
Swallowtail-1, 
Palamedes Swallowtail-1, 
Cabbage White-1,
Cloudless Sulfur-3,
Little Yellow-1,
Sleepy Orange-25,
Red-banded Hairstreak-1,
American Snout-10,
Summer Azure-1,
Pearl Crescent-27, 
Question Mark-1,
Eastern Comma-3,
American Lady-2,
Red Admiral-18, 
Common Buckeye-10, 
Red-spotted Purple-16,
Viceroy-2, 
Hackberry Emperor-24, 
Tawny Emperor-4, 
Pearly-Eye sp.-1,
Silver-spotted Skipper-10, 
Long-tailed Skipper-2, 
Hoary Edge-1, 
Northern Cloudywing-1, 
Southern Cloudywing-2, 
Horace’s Duskywing-6, 
Wild Indigo Duskywing-1, 
duskywing sp.-1, 
Common/White Checkered-Skipper-15, 
Clouded Skipper-4, 
Least Skipper-2, 
Fiery Skipper-15, 
Whirlabout-5, 
Dun Skipper-1,
Eufala Skipper-2, 
Twin-spotted Skipper-1

Cheers,
Dennis

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

Seven participants gathered at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville on Tuesday, July 24th to look for mountain butterflies. The weather forecast called for cloudy skies and possible showers. Everyone was hopeful for sunnier conditions, but even delaying our start until after 11:00AM did not improve our chances for sun and views of butterflies. Only seven species of leps were seen:

Tiger Swallowtail 4
Black Swallowtail 1
Spicebush Swallowtail 1
Summer Azure 60+
Carolina Satr 1
Silver Spotted Skipper 4
Least Skipper 1

Ebony Jewelwings and one Widow Skimmer were spotted and everyone enjoyed studying a number of wildflowers present at the Arboretum.

Participants included Bob and Nancy Baldwin, Gail Lankford, Janie Owens, Shirley and Bob Stidham, and Ruth Young.

Ruth Young

Greetings everyone.

We braved the heat of summer this past Saturday to conduct the Southern Lake Norman seasonal butterfly count. Although the numbers weren’t astounding, we ended up with a relatively good species list, and a total of 371 individuals. Temps by the end of the day were pushing 100, and we decided to call it quits around 3:30. Many thanks to all who came out to help. It was a good day for butterfly observations! Here’s the total list:

Pipevine swallowtail: 1
Zebra swallowtail: 3
Black swallowtail: 7
Eastern tiger swallowtail: 21
Spicebush swallowtail: 14
Cabbage white: 1
Orange sulphur: 3
Cloudless sulphur: 3
Sleepy orange: 6
Juniper hairstreak: 1
Gray hairstreak: 4
Eastern-tailed blue: 21
Summer azure: 2
American snout: 5
Gulf fritillary: 1
Variegated fritillary: 16
Pearl crescent: 28
Question mark: 3
American lady: 2
Red admiral: 4
Common buckeye: 1
Red-spotted purple: 17
Viceroy: 2
Hackberry emperor: 9
Gemmed satyr: 2
Carolina satyr: 2
Monarch: 15
Silver-spotted skipper: 66
Hoary edge: 7
Southern cloudywing: 6
Horace’s duskywing: 11
Swarthy skipper: 2
Fiery skipper: 43
Crossline skipper: 2
Little glassywing: 9
Sachem: 15
Delaware skipper: 1
Zabulon skipper: 7
Dun skipper: 7
Eufala skipper: 1

Thanks again for all the assistance.
Kim

……………………………………………………………..
Kim Coffey
Natural Resources Coordinator
Mecklenburg County Natural Resources Section

The following butterflies were observed during the Transylvania Butterfly Count on Thursday, August 16:

Pipevine Swallowtail 60
Black Swallowtail 1
E. Tiger Swallowtail 25
Spicebush Swallowtail 12
Cabbage White 10
Clouded Sulfur 5
Orange Sulfur 1
Cloudless Sulfur 5
Gray Hairstreak 1
Summer Azure 450
Eastern Tailed Blue 2
Variegated Fritillary 3
Diana Fritillary 4 (three females, one male)
Great Spangled Fritillary 2
Meadow Fritillary 1
Pearl Crescent 10
Common Buckeye 3
Red-spotted Purple 5
Carolina Saytr 2
Monarch 4
Silver Spotted Skipper 136
Horace’s Duskywing 1
Wild Indigo Duskywing 1
Clouded Skipper 4
Least Skipper 2
Fiery Skipper 5
Peck’s Skipper 1
Little Glassywing 1
Sachem 4
Zabulon Skipper 12

In addition to the 30 species of butterflies, the following Odes were observed:

Halloween Pennant 4
Ebony Jewelwing 4
Blue Dasher 1
Common Whitetail 1

Participants were Nancy Baldwin, Gail Lankford, Lynn Smith, and Ruth Young

Hi All,

Around 10:00 AM EDT, 18 August, seven of us met at the parking lot of the Lynchburg Savannah Heritage Preserve in Lee Co., SC. It was a beautiful sunny day. We spent about 1 1/2 hours walking the trails of the preserve and then went to the nearby Longleaf Pine HP were we looked for butterflies along the road boarding the preserve for about 1 hour. Despite the great weather we only found 17+ species which I feel is because of the lack of rain and the lack of nectar sources. Perhaps there will be more rain and flowers for the Sept. 28 SCAN trip to these very beautiful preserves.

Species list:

E. Tiger Swallowtail-2
Spicebush Swallowtail-15 1 ovipositing on Sassafras
Palamedes Swallowtail-6
Cloudless Sulfur-50+
Little Yellow-10+
Sleepy Orange=60+
Red-baned Hairstreak-1
Gulf Fritillary-1 on road out of preserve after trip was over-a county record
Variegated Fritillary-10+
Common Buckeye-8
Monarch-4
Horace’s Duskywing=2
Common/White Checkered Skipper-3
Swarthy Skipper-1 county record
Clouded Skipper-1
Eufala Skipper-4

Cheers,

Dennis

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

Butterfliers,

We had a delightful morning full of butterflies, dragonflies, and flowers at the Duke Gardens on the Carolina Butterfly Society Garden Walk yesterday morning (8/18/2007). About 25 enthusiasts showed up, so we split the group up with Randy Emmitt and Tom Krakauer leading one group while I led the other, so that we didn’t have too many eyes trying to see the same little butterfly. Tom also had a handful of Carolina Butterfly Society info packets he handed out to interested non-members. And Pat Coin identified several wasp species and the colorful Ailanthus Webworm Moth as well. Thanks to Tom, Pat, & Randy for helping out!

We enjoyed a fun group of butterfliers and a fun group of butterflies, finding 30 species and a few hundred individuals. I hope the folks in my group enjoyed “Skipper Boot Camp” as we practiced distinguishing the orange skippers (mostly Sachem, Fiery, and S. Broken-Dash), and the dark skippers (Clouded, Dun, and Little Glassywing). Lots of odes put in a show as well, including Fragile Forktail, Variable Dancer, Common Green Darners, Blue Dashers, Widow Skimmer, E. Amberwings, and a Twelve-spotted Skimmer.

Here’s the butterfly list under sunny skies in the 80s:

3 Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillars only
40 E. Tiger Swallowtail (P. glaucus)
2 Spicebush Swallowtail (P. Troilus)
6 Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
1 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)
4 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebus sennae)
1 Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe)
2 Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus)
1 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)
7 Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops)
1 E. Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas)
3 Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)
1 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
7 Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)
6 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
1 Red Admiral (V. atalantica)
2 Common Buckeye (Junonia ceonia)
2 Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
40 Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
10 Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius)
3 Wild Indigo Duskywing (E. baptisiae)
2 Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
10 Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius)
5 Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor)
75 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)
25 S. Broken-Dash (Wallengrenia egeremet)
3 Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna)
150 Sachem (Atalopedes campestris)
4 Dun Skipper (Euphys vestris)
1 Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola)

Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed the morning in the Gardens!

Good Butterflying,
Jeff

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jeffrey S. Pippen

Butterfliers,

The Durham area NABA Seasonal Butterfly Count was conducted Sunday 19 August 2007. Recent droughty conditions did not much hamper butterflying this year as we found slightly above average species diversity (57 species) and only a little below average individual numbers (3085).

A few count record highs were found, including Red-banded Hairstreak, Red Admiral, Viceroy, Hackberry Emperor, Southern Broken-Dash, and Dun Skipper. Exceptionally good finds were singleton Zebra Swallowtail (3rd count record) and White M Hairstreak (2nd count record) by Randy Emmitt’s group. Tom Krakauer and Cyndy Hummel found the only Hayhurst’s Scallopwing (2nd count record) and Common Sootywing of the day; both are uncommon species in Durham. Will Cook & Carl Rothfels alone smashed the previous count record for Dun Skippers by finding 40, and they spotted the only wood-nymph of the day. Unfortunately, the spotty rain showers of the previous week had mostly missed the Hill Forest where Harry LeGrand struggled all day to turn up butterflies in a normally very good area. And Jeff Pippen’s group found the only Dion Skipper, a species that is sometimes missed on this count due to its August brood being a bit later in the month. This was the first year (of 7 previous counts) that we’ve missed Southern Cloudywing.

Many thanks to all who helped out: Will Cook, Randy Emmitt, Cyndy Hummel, Tom Krakauer, Harry LeGrand, Allison Leidner, David McCloy, Michael McCloy, Toni McFarland, Meg Millard, Jim Nottke, Jeff Pippen, Carl Rothfels, and Richard Stickney. We also enjoyed the company of Wade Rawlins and John Rottet of the News & Observer. And a huge thanks once again to the NC Museum of Life and Science (specifically Roy Griffiths and Uli Hartmond) for allowing us to use their facilities as a base.

Here are the results:

6 Pipevine Swallowtail
1 Zebra Swallowtail
11 Black Swallowtail
158 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
27 Spicebush Swallowtail
5 Cabbage White
1 Clouded Sulphur
7 Orange Sulphur
126 Cloudless Sulphur
129 Sleepy Orange
1 White M Hairstreak
5 Juniper Hairstreak
19 Gray Hairstreak
37 Red-banded Hairstreak
72 Eastern Tailed-Blue
11 Summer Azure
1 American Snout
72 Variegated Fritillary
4 Great Spangled Fritillary
9 Silvery Checkerspot
216 Pearl Crescent
15 Question Mark
5 Eastern Comma
6 American Lady
56 Red Admiral
100 Common Buckeye
46 Red-spotted Purple
52 Viceroy
37 Hackberry Emperor
11 Tawny Emperor
2 Northern Pearly-eye
12 Gemmed Satyr
72 Carolina Satyr
1 Common Wood-Nymph
103 Monarch
102 Silver-spotted Skipper
6 Hoary Edge
1 Northern Cloudywing
2 Hayhurst’s Scallopwing
20 Horace’s Duskywing
7 Wild Indigo Duskywing
31 Com. Checkered-Skipper
1 Common Sootywing
6 Swarthy Skipper
47 Clouded Skipper
59 Least Skipper
420 Fiery Skipper
18 Crossline Skipper
101 Southern Broken-Dash
3 Northern Broken-Dash
30 Little Glassywing
640 Sachem
5 Delaware Skipper
51 Zabulon Skipper
1 Dion Skipper
57 Dun Skipper
1 Ocola Skipper

4 anglewing sp.
1 satyr sp.

Non-Adults

28 Black Swallowtail cats
2 Black Swallowtail chrysalids
5 Monarch cats

57 Total Species
3085 Total Individuals

Good Butterflying,
Jeff

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jeffrey S. Pippen

Hi All,

Ten members and guest of The Sun City Bird Club and the Carolina Butterfly Society met at the entrance to the wildlife drive at the Savannah NWR, Jasper Co., SC at 9:30AM EDT on Monday, 20 August 2007. We spent the next couple of hours looking for butterflies around the wildlife drive entrance, the office complex and along the main road. As with most other field trips this year, the prolonged drought and the high heat greatly reduced the butterfly diversity and numbers. But I think all had an enjoyable time.

Species list:

Black Swallowtail-1
Cloudless Sulfur-6
Sleepy Orange-1
Gulf Fritillary-6
Variegated Fritillary-3
Viceroy-3
Tawny Emperor-2
Silver-spotted Skipper-2
Least Skipper-10
Fiery Skipper-1

Dennis

Dennis M. Forsythe PhD, PA
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel

Folks,

Yesterday, nine of us* had a good day butterflying in Forsyth County, though the temperature/humidity combination caused us to quit about 2:30 as temps rose from 72 to the mid-90s under mostly sunny skies. We spent time at my farm, Reynolda Gardens at Wake Forest University, and Historic Bethabara Park – Gene & Lois also reported what they saw after they got home (they live inside the circle). It was good to have Ken Bridle back in the field and I think newcomers Lee Beatty, Linda Davis, and Lettie Moore will be with us again. We missed Hayhursts Scallopwing, which has been common for the last month (one was on my porch today, a day late). Moving the count from early June to late August caused us to be overwhelmed with Sachems – made it hard to find other skippers and hairstreaks hidden among the mob.

Jim Nottke

2 Pipevine Swallowtail 1 chrysalis
4 Black Swallowtail 2 eggs on Fennel
18 Tiger Swallowtail
2 Spicebush Swallowtail 2 caterpillars on Sassafras
19 Cabbage White
1 Clouded Sulphur
15 Cloudless Sulphur
28 Sleepy Orange
1 Great Purple Hairstreak
3 Gray Hairstreak
8 Eastern Tailed Blue
5 Azure
1 American Snout
5 Variegated Fritillary 1 caterpillar on Maypop
3 Great Spangled Fritillary
9 Silvery Checkerspot
24 Pearl Crescent
7 American Lady
62 Common Buckeye
16 Red Spotted Purple 1 egg on crabapple
1 Viceroy
2 Hackberry Emperor
9 Carolina Satyr
11 Common Wood Nymph
41 Monarch 21 eggs, 19 caterpilars
6 Silver Spotted Skipper
1 Hoary Edge
1 Zarucco Duskywing
1 Common Checkered Skipper
1 Common Sootywing
18 Clouded Skipper
5 Least Skipper
24 Fiery Skipper
7 Little Glassywing
551 Sachem
3 Delaware Skipper
9 Zabulon Skipper
7 Dun Skipper
1 Lacewing Roadside Skipper

39 species
930 individual butterflies
24 eggs
22 caterpillars
1 chrysalis

* Lee Beatty, Ken Bridle, Charlie Cameron, Linda Davis, Lettie Moore, Jim Nottke, Elizabeth Riggs, Gene Schepker, Lois Schneider

Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC

Folks:

The new western Brunswick County, NC, count was held Saturday, Aug. 25. The drought in the Southeast – not so much in the local area – hurt us, as the volume of northbound butterflies from FL, GA, and/or SC was minimal. The flow of such species is always greater later in the season – September to October anyway, but it was slim pickin’s today. No Long-tailed Skipper, one Ocola, no Little Yellow, etc. Also hurting was simply the lack of knowledge of the count circle other than a few golf courses/developments with plantings, a few sites along the coast, etc. But, that happens with any new count – so a lot was trial and error. Thanks to Jeff Pippen, Will Cook, Ted Wilcox, John Ennis, and John Dole for helping out on a hot and sticky day. Here’s the list:

Black Swallowtail 4
E. Tiger Swallowtail 2
Spicebush Swallowtail 5
Palamedes Swallowtail 21
Cloudless Sulphur 220
Sleepy Orange 28
Great Purple Hairstreak 1
Gray Hairstreak 3
Red-banded Hairstreak 14
E. Tailed-Blue 4
Gulf Fritillary 19
Variegated Fritillary 16
Pearl Crescent 9
Question Mark 1
American Lady 1
Painted Lady 1
Red Admiral 4
Common Buckeye 38
Viceroy 20
Carolina Satyr 2
Monarch 22
Silver-spotted Skipper 3
CONFUSED CLOUDYWING 1 Somewhat worn; photos taken
Horace’s Duskywing 5
Zarucco Duskywing 5
Clouded Skipper 2 Terribly low
Least Skipper 2
Fiery Skipper 55
Whirlabout 3
Southern Broken-Dash 4
Byssus Skipper 3
Dun Skipper 1
Twin-spot Skipper 1
Salt Marsh Skipper 9
Ocola Skipper 1 Bad sign; in a good year would be common by now

Total: 35 species

This count won’t be repeated next year, but maybe in two years. I plan to try a new circle to hit Fort Fisher, Carolina Beach, Southport, and Boiling Spring Lakes. And, I likely will try these counts a week later, even if it means Labor Day weekend.

Harry LeGrand
— 
NC Natural Heritage Program

Folks:

The Croatan National Forest, NC, count was held yesterday – Sunday, Aug. 26. As usual, it was muggy, with some showers impacting one party for an hour, late in the afternoon. We did have 10 participants, including folks from VA and SC! There was some good news and some bad news (see below). Here’s the list:

Black Swallowtail 13
E. Tiger Swallowtail 16
Palamedes Swallowtail 103 But missed Spicebush Swallowtail
Cloudless Sulphur 240
Sleepy Orange 23
Gray Hairstreak 13
Red-banded Hairstreak 45
E. Tailed-Blue 3
Summer Azure 2
Little Metalmark 14 Nice total for early in the last brood
Pearl Crescent 31
American Lady 2 Surprising miss of Red Admiral though
Common Buckeye 37
Viceroy 2
Carolina Satyr 5
Georgia Satyr 50
Common Wood-Nymph 9
Monarch 39
Silver-spotted Skipper 3
Long-tailed Skipper 1 A welcome surprise
Southern Cloudywing 3
Horace’s Duskywing 1
Zarucco Duskywing 6
Swarthy Skipper 3
Clouded Skipper 23
Least Skipper 1
Fiery Skipper 11
Tawny-edged Skipper 4
Crossline Skipper 1
Whirlabout 8
Southern Broken-Dash 13
Delaware Skipper 10 
PALATKA SKIPPER 1 New to count; well away from sawgrass
BERRY’S SKIPPER 2 Seen on about 4 counts, but always a good find
Dun Skipper 2
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper 5 Very low
Carolina Roadside-Skipper 12 Low
DUSKY ROADSIDE-SKIPPER 1 New to count; northernmost NC record?
Eufala Skipper 1
Twin-spot Skipper 89

Total: 40 species.

Bad misses: Arogos Skipper – first miss ever, and now there is the possibility it is gone from NC, as we thoroughly checked the only known NC spot; hopefully, just a tough year because of the drought. Byssus Skipper – more than a dozen for several years, so where were they? Woodland brushfoots – poor coverage of swamps and other hardwood forest roads was the likely problem for failing to find Spicebush Sw., Red-spotted Purple, Red Admiral, Question Mark, pearly-eyes, etc.

On the plus side was the finding of two new skippers, and the Dusky was exciting, seen by Jack Fennell and me in a dirt track next to a powerline clearing. Hardly any counts on the continent find this species, and this might be a new Croatan NF record (though a Jones County record might be assumed to have come from the national forest). There are one to several old records from s.e. VA (now considered to be extirpated in that state), and it is otherwise known northeast to Camp Lejeune. However, Croatan is full of good-looking savanna/flatwoods habitat, so it seems odd that no one had found it here before.

As mentioned on the western Brunswick County count notes, I want to try this count a week later in 2008, even if that means Labor Day weekend. I think these counts can and will do better later in the season.

Harry LeGrand
— 
NC Natural Heritage Program

Here are the butterfly count results for the website from the Augusta, GA-N. Augusta, SC (AKA Silver Bluffs, SC) conducted on 22 Sept. 2007.

A total of 8 adults and 5 children participated in the 22 Sept. Augusta, Ga-N. Augusta, SC Butterfly count (AKA Silver Bluffs butterfly count). The following results were obtained:

Black Swallowtail-1, 
E. Tiger Swallowtail-3, 
Palamedes Swallowtail-5, 
Cloudless Sulfur 77, 
Little Yellow-1, 
Sleepy Orange-108, 
White M Hairstreak-1, 
Red-banded HAirstreak-2, 
Amer. Snout-2, 
Gulf Fritillary-14,
Pearl Crescent-5, 
Painted Lady-1, 
Common Buckeye-17, 
Red-spotted Purple-2,
Viceroy-12, 
Hackberry Emperor-25, 
Tawny Emperor-5, 
Carolina Satyr-21,
Monarch-4, 
Silver-spotted Skipper-4, 
Horace’s Duskywing-1, 
Common/White Checkered-Skipper-14, 
Clouded Skipper-14, 
Whirlabout-1, 
Broad-winged Skipper-11, 
Ocola Skipper

Results sent by Paul Koehler