Magnolia Count

Raven Butterfly Count

Checkered White Pontia protodice 2
Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme 6
Southern Dogface Colias cesonia 1
Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae 14
Little Yellow Eurema lisa 39
Sleepy Orange Eurema nicippe 17
Dainty Sulphur Nathalis iole 12

Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus 67
Red-banded Hairstreak Calycopis cecrops 34
Dusky-blue Groundstreak Calycopis isobeon 20
Summer' Spring Azure Celastrina ladon neglecta 1

White-striped Longtail Chioides catillus 4
Southern Cloudywing Thorybes bathyllus 2
Northern Cloudywing Thorybes pylades 1
Hayhurst's Scallopwing Staphylus hayhurstii 1
Horace's Duskywing Erynnis horatius 9
Funereal Duskywing Erynnis funeralis 5
Common Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus communis* 91
Tropical Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus oileus 42
Swarthy Skipper Nastra lherminier 3
Clouded Skipper Lerema accius 21
Southern Skipperling Copaeodes minimus 3
Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus 9
Whirlabout Polites vibex 3
Southern Broken-Dash Wallengrenia otho 14
Northern Broken-Dash Wallengrenia egeremet 3
Little Glassywing Pompeius verna 2
Sachem Atalopedes campestris 3
Yehl Skipper Poanes yehl 3
Dun Skipper Euphyes vestris 2
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper Amblyscirtes aesculapius 1
Eufala Skipper Lerodea eufala 2

Grand Total

Immatures
Variegated Fritillary eggs 2
Gulf Fritillary caterpillars 1

Swallowtail Sweep at Angelina

Sunday, April 1 – apparently the weather was trying to make up for the cruel joke it had made for us the day before, as March had made a leonine exit with over an inch of rain, raining out the Sabine Count. The clear sky above bore witness against the muck from yesterday’s rain, yet together they formed the perfect conditions for lots of butterflies to be eclosing from their cocoons, slurping up deep draughts of flower nectar and sandy mud, and spiraling across the sky in dazzling minuets for territory and courtship. Angelina National Forest was alive with butterflies - and not just any butterflies, but lots and lots of swallowtails and those gorgeous pipevine mimics - the Red-spotted Purple!

In this far-flung count circle, David and Ednelza Henderson were joined by stalwarts Hugh Wedgeworth and Diane Milano as well as newcomer Anissa Curtis, in trying to put numbers to all that we saw. Despite being delayed for two hours due to our car being stuck in the mud, we persevered and after eight hours, came up with these results…

Pipevine Swallowtail Battus philenor - 38
Zebra Swallowtail Eurytides marcellus - 39
Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes - 6
Giant Swallowtail Heraclides crestaphontes - 13
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Pterourus glaucus - 25
Spicebush Swallowtail Pterourus troilus - 34
Palamedes Swallowtail Pterourus palamedes - 2

Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae - 21
Little Yellow Eurema lisa - 1

Red-banded Hairstreak Calycopis cecrops - 2
Eastern Tailed-Blue Everes comyntas - 2
American Snout Libytheana carinenta - 4

Gulf Fritillary Agraulis vanillae - 1
Pearl Crescent Phyciodes tharos - 53
Question Mark Polygonia interragationis - 1
American Lady Vanessa virginiensis - 1
Painted Lady Vanessa cardui - 1
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta - 1
Red-spotted Purple Limenitis arthemis - 33
Goatweed Leafwing Anaea andria - 18
Southern Pearly-eye Enodia portlandia - 2
Creole Pearly-eye Enodia creola - 1
Carolina Satyr Hermeuptychia sosybius - 99
Little Wood-Satyr Megisto cymela - 61
Monarch Danaus plexippus - 16

Silver-spotted Skipper Epargyreus clarus - 1
Hoary Edge Achalarus lyciades - 1
Northern Cloudywing Thorybes pylades - 18
Confused Cloudywing Thorybes confusis - 12
Juvenal's Duskywing Erynnis juvenalis - 10
Horace's Duskywing Erynnis horatius - 3
Tropical Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus oileus - 1
Clouded Skipper Lerema accius - 6
Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus - 1
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper Amblyscirtes aesculapius - 4
Pepper and Salt Skipper Amblyscirtes hegon - 1

A total of 533 individuals of 36 species were seen. In addition, one Zebra Swallowtail was observed to be ovipositing on pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Other leps seen were an Eight-spotted Forester, and odes of note include Ebony Jewelwing, Common Green Darner, and various Clubtails.

Overall, a wonderful day!

David F. Henderson
President,
Butterfly Enthusiasts of Southeast Texas
(BEST-NABA)

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San Jacinto Butterfly Count

Clear skies beckoned with the promise of a butterfly-filled day at yesterday's San Jacinto County Count. However, the temperatures - which began in the 50's and didn't budge past 70 all day, worked against us somewhat. Despite this, the die-hard team of Steve Abbey, Hugh Wedgeworth, Diane Milano, David and Ednelza Henderson, being joined later in the day by Houston Outdoor Nature Club member Wanda Smith, tallied up over 300 individuals spread across 25 different species, but  which over a third were Juvenal's Duskywings! The Callophrys hairstreaks were also particularly well-represented, with sightings of Henry's and Eastern Pine Elfins and double digit-numbers of Juniper Hairstreaks.

With spring progressing at a leisurely pace this year, all blooms are an average of two weeks behind schedule. This makes for some unusual nectar sources that are not often seen. Two of the staples in this area at this time are Crow Poison (Nothoscodium bivalve) and Southern Dewberry (Rubus trivialis). Zebra Swallowtails were seen to working both of these. Another was Elliot Blueberry (Vaccinium elllioti), the pendulous blooms of which made for excellent viewing of Juvenal's Duskywings as they hung underneath the flower, exposing their trademark ventral HW spots. However, much of the nectaring action was taking place overhead. The most popular blooming trees are Carolina Laurel-Cherry (Prunus caroliniana) and Sweetleaf (Symplocos tinctoria). It was at a Sweetleaf that we saw our most frenetic action of the day, with perhaps a dozen Juvenal's Duskywings being joined by a lone Funereal Duskywing, several Eastern Tigers and a lone Zebra Swallowtail, the colorful Eight-Spotted Forester, and the sole grass-skipper of the count, an early Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper. While not a nectar source, Flowering Dogwoods (Cornus florida) were the site of attention for all the Spring Azures we saw.

The preliminary breakdown of the count totals goes like this.

Pipevine Swallowtail Battus philenor -11
Zebra Swallowtail Eurytides marcellus - 3
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Pterourus glaucus - 19

Falcate Orangetip Anthocarus midea - 19
Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme - 2
Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae - 7
Sleepy Orange Eurema nicippe - 1

Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus - 1
Red-banded Hairstreak Calycopis cecrops - 3
Juniper Hairstreak Callophrys gryneus - 11
Henry's Elfin Callophrys henrici - 1
Eastern Pine Elfin Callophrys niphon - 5
Spring Azure Celastrina ladon - 4

Variegated Fritillary Euptoieta claudia - 1
Pearl Crescent Phyciodes tharos - 13
Question Mark Polygonia interragationis - 2
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta - 4
Goatweed Leafwing Anaea andria - 43
Gemmed Satyr Cyll