Welcome to the 2006 Butterfly Season. The first butterflies of the year a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) and an Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)were found by Martin Bialecki, John Swales, and Vi Benner in southwestern Washtenaw County on Sunday March 12. The next day March 13, I found four Eastern Commas and two Mourning Cloaks at Bird Hills Natural Area in Ann Arbor.
The 2005 butterfly season was a spectacular year. We had several sightings of Checkered Skipper ( Pyrgus communis ), American Snout ( Libytheana carinenta),
and Cloudless Sulphur ( Phoebis sennae ). Other major rarities found included Pipevine Swallowtail ( Battus philenor ) and Gray Hairstreak ( Strymon melinus ).
However the biggest butterfly story of the year was the sighting of the first ever state record of Ocola Skipper ( Panoquina ocola ). A mating pair was seen and collected at Petersburg State Game Area in western Monroe County in early October. This butterfly normally breeds along the Gulf Coast up the Atlantic coast to North Carolina. When originally collected, I knew I had an unusual species which I had never seen before but I was unclear to what species it was especially since I could not get a clear view of the upper forewings. My first guess was Eufala Skipper which would have been a second Michigan record. The only way to establish the identity of the butterfly was to open and spread it. Since my skills with spreading butterflies is quite rudimentary and I did not want to damage the butterfly I sent the two specimens to Mo Nielsen. Spreading the butterfly revealed it to be Ocola Skipper.
In terms of Michigan state threatened or endangered species breeding in the southeast Michigan area, the picture in 2005 was mixed. For another year Persius Duskywing ( Erynnis persius ) was not seen on its traditional Oak-savannah prairie habitat in western Monroe County. Despite the presence of some suitable habitat and its host plant Wild Lupine the butterfly may be extinct or well on its way to extinction in our area. This decline could probably be reversed if the state of Michigan or some land conservancy could purchase more land near Petersburg SGA and manage it for little bluestem prairie habitat and lupine growth. These patches of habitat if sufficiently numerous and close enough to one another could serve as re-introduction sites for not only Persius Duskywing but also Frosted Elfin ( Incisalia irus ) and Karner's Blue ( Lycaeides melissa samuelis ). Both of these latter species used to breed in the area.
 |
 |
I netted and photographed Gray Comma ( Polygonia progne ) at
Nan Weston Preserve (Sharon Hollow Nature Conservancy in southwestern
Washtenaw County on Thursday April 13. This rather uncommon species can be
hard to distinguish from it much commoner relative the Eastern Comma. From
the upperside the two species are probably indistinguishable although
Gray Comma is generally smaller and often has a richer orange-brown
base color to the wings. It is the underside wings that the two
species can be separated. In hand the Gray Comma can be seen
to have a distinctive narrow comma mark tapering at the ends
and a striated gray pattern on the underside hindwing.
Besides Gray Comma I found five other species of
butterfly at Nan Weston and on the nearby State Game lands on
Sharon Valley road. These were Cabbage White (Pieris rapae),
Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon), Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
, Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma), and Milbert's Tortoise Shell
(Nymphalis milberti). I looked hard for another butterfly
Mustard White (Pieris napi) that emerges early from a pupa but
could not find it. I did however find its larval host plant
Spring Cress in bloom in several locations. I bet will
be out there and other places in western Washtenaw County in a few days.
Butterflies were not the only natural attraction out on Thursday. There was a turtle in the middle of the road by the refuge gate. Many spring wildflowers were beginning to bloom at Nan Weston. I saw Spring Beauty, Round-lobed Hepatica, Spring Cress, Bloodroot, and Rue Anemone flowering. Also found my first Dragonfly of the season--a large blue bodied species.
 |
 |
 |
|
| Table of Contents : Prior Stories |