While coming back from the mountains yesterday I received a ping from a butterfly buddy (Rick Borchelt – his excellent Lep Blog link is in the right hand column) that 4 Harvesters had been puddling at Indian Springs WMA in Washington county, MD. It was too late to go but when I got up this morning it was already 76 degrees an sunny. I decided to do the hour drive to go look. This off-the-charts beauty is found almost entirely in woodland habitats. It is unique among butterflies in that its larvae are carnivorous and feed upon woolly aphids. I only had to wait 15 minutes before one came to a puddle in the road where is was reported the day before. 15 minutes later a second one came in. Thanks go out to a birding friend I’ve met a couple of times (Jim Stasz) for the initial find. Thank you Jim and Rick!
