Predicting Butterflies: From Mid-Atlantic to Midwest

Red admiral butterfly seen collecting nectar from clover, on June 20, 2014.  The Red admiral, like many butterflies, arrives in Ohio in April.   Clover seems a favorite for butterflies.  Today, I saw three fritillaries on the same clover patch, with two cabbage white butterflies nearby, along with other pollinators.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Clouded sulphur butterfly also seen on June 20, 2014.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Reading messages from my "VA-MD-DE-Bugs" (Virginia-Maryland-Delaware) yahoo group (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/VA-MD-DE-Bugs/), I came across one of Rick Borchelt's weekend butterfly forecasts for the Mid-Atlantic region.   I had joined that group while at my home in Maryland, before returning to Ohio.

Many of its predictions should apply here, although I’d presume we’d be a week or so later than the Mid-Atlantic area because we’re colder.  He compiles the forecasts for each weekend at this site: http://leplog.wordpress.com/    You can also access his and a colleague’s log of butterfly sightings this year at this site.

So I thought I’d extract those predictions that may apply here.  First, his opening paragraph:

“We’ve been struggling to catch up to normal emergence dates for most of our butterflies this summer, and the recent rains and heat wave have helped tremendously.  Last weekend and this week saw an impressive number of FOYs [“First of the Year”s] and emergence of second broods of many of our stalwarts.”

He reports the Coral Hairstreak butterfly as flying in Maryland, so that means we should be on schedule in Knox County, Ohio, to see them as expected in July.    The hackberry emperor is flying now in the Mid-Atlantic area, so I assume it’s flying in Knox County now, or will be before the month is out.    Rick also mentions the tawny emperor flying and that has been an occasional visitor to Knox, since it is listed as being seen on the www.butterfliesandmoths.org database.  It is one of 67 butterflies reported to the site as having been  in Knox County, so it’s always possible to see it here again.  The dun skipper, a butterfly relative, is also an occasional visitor here, and it is flying now in the Mid-Atlantic, Rick reports.

Rick also says that swallowtail butterflies are into their second broods of the season now, so that should be true for our area  as well, again with that week or so margin.

Rick’s first paragraph seems to be saying that cooler temperatures and drier weather until recently may have slowed down the timetable of butterflies this year.

He also reminds us that if we see an azure butterfly now, it’s more likely to be the summer azure rather than the spring azure.

Finally, he can’t resist mentioning the yucca moth even though it's not a butterfly.  Rick’s e-mail inspired me to do some research, from which I learned that the females stuff some pollen from one yucca flower into their mouths, go to another flower, insert the egg into the flower’s pistil and then cover the egg with pollen from the other flower.  In the process, it, like many other moths, cross pollinates plants.  The yucca moth can also rest assured that the flowers will produce seeds for her young to eat!

I guess we better hurry, because the yucca moth stops flying in early July.

Another message on that same yahoo group mentioned a first-of-the-year sighting of common wood nymphs on June 22, so we should be seeing them in Knox soon as well.

Note:  One of my sources of information on the yucca moth is at http://bobklips.com/earlyjuly2008.html.  This site also has photos of the yucca moth,  a moth I don’t think I’ve seen yet.

 

For a slightly longer version of this blog, check out my website at:  www.doncomis.simplesite.com.