First ever yard Aphrodite Fritillary today here in Morgantown, nectaring on yellow Buddleia. We have previously seen this species at the WV Botanic Garden. Also in the yard today, first of season Gray Hairstreak and Peck’s and Fiery Skippers, plus Zebra Swallowtail, lots of Wild Indigo Duskywings.
I went on the first Regal Fritillary tour offer by the Fort Indiantown Gap Wildlife Office Regal Fritillary Tours 2013. Dozens of Regal’s were seen.
The Regal Fritillary is considered a Pennsylvania responsibility species of immediate conservation concern and is the symbol of the PA Natural Heritage Program. Fort Indiantown Gap is home to 85 species of butterflies and 243 species of moths. The installation also features 1,000 acres of scrub oak and pitch pine barrens and 3,000 acres of native grassland habitat – the largest in the state.
I would estimate 125+ people on the trip today. Sunny, warm going to hot by 1pm but at least there was a cooling breeze. I saw more lifers along the way. (Coral Hairstreak, Regal Fritillary, Aphrodite Fritillary, Crossline Skipper). I ran into Rick Borchelt and Beth Johnson from the Washington DC area. Rick has a blog you may want to check out: MD LepLog Blog
22 species today with some of the highlights shown here. Click on image for a larger size.
Hi all – I’m new to posting images so hopefully this will work! Attached are a couple of poorly focused pics of either a Hickory or Striped Hairstreak taken yesterday on our patio in Morgantown. Looks more like Hickory to me but I’m not familiar with either species so am hoping someone with more expertise can make out enough detail for an ID. Thanks,
Bill Johnson – Morgantown
First ones of the season today at the Huntfield pond area just south of Charles Town,WV.
The wife, Barry Martz and I went on a butterfly trip to the Spruce Knob area last Saturday. The weather was beautiful with partly sunny conditions and temps in the 60’s. We got our first rain shower around 3pm but it did not impact any part of the trip. We saw 23 species and I picked up a few lifers (Hobomok Skipper, Indian Skipper, Long Dash, American Copper, Atlantis Fritillary). The Appalachian Swallowtails are pretty much done for the year. The summer brood of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail will become more prevalent now. We did find a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail at Spruce Knob Lake (images below)
*Update: (Email correspondence with someone who has captured small swallowtails at Spruce Knob shows no DNA evidence of Canadian Tiger Swallowtails being present there. These are small Appalachian Tiger Swallowtails)
Here are some of the better images. Click on an image to see a bigger rendition.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Species List is as follows: Continue reading
