Butterfly sightings for June 2019

Another Gray hairstreak.

Four Nicolet National Forest bogs along Forest Roads 2182 and 2414, and two other bogs. Eight alpines and 3 Freijas were on the bog north of Wolf Lake near FR 2182. We also saw one unidentified Mustard or West Virginia White.

2/3 sun, 70-75 degrees F.

10% sunshine, 70 degrees F.

Low 60s, overcast. Cream Wild Indigo is blooming.

Some blues but not able to ID

Hiked entire trail through woods to top. Chased ET Blue from 1 to next yellow wood-sorrel to next for pics. J Duskywing chased a Silver-spotted many times whenever either closed range within 4-5ft. Many Monarchs flitting everywhere, 2 attached pairs.
Caterpillar feeding on puccoon possibly a Subfamily ARCTIINAE - Tiger Moths?

A few butterflies sighted on the Madison Audubon birding trip

We tried to find Purplish Coppers but saw none.

Sunny windy morning. Skipper flew off before I could get a better photo. Silver spot very evident though.

Which Swallowtail is this? Newbie!

Our second BST of the year eclosed this morning. He is the top one in the composite photo; the female who eclosed five days ago is the bottom one. They provide a convenient comparison of the male/female color patterns.

We walked 1.5 miles in the grassland.

Also saw Red Admiral Caterpillars and Monarch eggs

Butterflies seen on a butterfly hike after Monarch Larva Monitoring Project training given by Karen Oberhauser for the Friends of the Brooklyn State Wildlife Area. I also saw my first White-striped Black Moth of the year.

Not specifically looking for butterflies, but saw the giant swallowtail puddling around Twin Valley Lake

73 degrees. We found much less Columbine in the area than 2 years ago.

Was hiking north from Mauthe Lake towards Crooked Lake when butterfly was spotted as it flew across the trail. It was a black female.

73 degrees and sunny.

14:00 - 15:07, 1.2 miles. 68 F. S wind 10 mph. We saw a dark black lepidopteran with a large white spot on the hind wing. It was about the size of a silver-spotted skipper but it was not flying like one, fluttering and more like a moth. Neither Ginny nor I could find it in the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of NE America.

Was out with the kids playing and pulling weeds in the garden and noticed the arctic skipper hanging out on the prairie smoke just before dark.

Perfect day for butterfly flight. The Dwarf Korean Lilacs were popular today.

This site (about 1/4 acre) has dense common milkweeds, about 12 butterfly milkweeds, native sunflowers and blazing stars. Many monarchs flitting around chasing, laying eggs, but never landing long enough for a good photo. Marcel Wuethrich got the golf course and city of Madison to support his efforts to restore a small prairie at this site - it's still a real work in progress.

Happy to see 2 Monarchs along the side of the road at the bottom of this exit. Sometimes you find butterflies where you least expect them. This was about 2:30 and the sun was shining brightly.

The Dame's rocket is blooming in the fields. The fragrance is overpowering. Attracted Red Admirals and a Monarch.

I found these two species nectaring in an overgrown grassy area full of puccoon and lupine within the town of Avoca.

Found this one nectaring on clover within the prairie.

Woodland edge, WI River Tributary

first of year for me

Seen during a morning walk at Powell Marsh in Vilas County. Large numbers of silvery blues and sulphurs were common.

Found a lot of duskywings on one short dirt road. Also first Hobomok and a Mourning Cloak nectaring. Warmer nights have helped insect populations explode.

On showy goldenrod

Two mated pairs of Monarchs.

Saw several butterflies on the prairie today but didn't have the right camera with me. I did capture this Monarch whose wings were very tattered. Wondering what happened to her....

10:30 am till 1:30 pm. Sunny, high 80's. Habitat variable...lower prairie, steep hillside and hilltop bluff, Wooded section behind bluff.

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm. Sunny, high 80's. Not a lot of butterflies at this location, but lots of Big Sand and Festive Tiger Beetles in the Sandy Prairie sections, and lots of Bronzed Tiger Beetles along the River Banks. Only found one Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle, no Sandy Stream Tiger Beetles.

Looking for Arctic Skippers but failed to see any

Looking for a Hobomok Skipper but did not see any.

Very little at this site

A lot of unknown orange butterflies flittering through the woods.

Sunny calm evening

3-4 PM, 80s, sunny

And two unidentified commas.

Two of the tiger swallowtails were dark-morph females. About 10 unidentified duskywings.

Our survey route is placed in the eastern part of this bog not far west of the upland forest bordering the east side. There is a ditch arcing south and southeast from Hwy 54 further west than the northwest edge of our route , and we do not cross this. The Jutta Arctics were in the east-central and northeast part of the bog, which is unusual for us. More than half of the Juttas we've seen here are in the northwest quadrant in the bog savanna with plenty of trees, and most of the rest have ben well south in the forest 250 meters south of Hwy 54.

Calm, sunny and pleasantly warm. Just gnatty as all get-out.

Many Tiger Swallowtails seen while driving in this area

5 PM, 80s, sunny

85-93 degrees F, sunny. Karner Blue long-term monitoring surveys. 21 male and 2 female Karner Blues. The first female Karner Blue we've seen this year was courted by a male and the two then mated.

Clear 70's sl windy. Saw the Karner Blue in two separate groups of 4 and 5. The last group was all male. Only 1 female in the other group. Lack of butterflies in general but several six spotted Tiger Beetles.

9:08-11:34, sunny, 70s, low wind speed. Bull frogs calling.

Red Admiral caterpillars have tied up Stinging Nettles leaves with silk strands to make a leaf nest to protect them. Quite a few leaves are closed up but not as completely over-run as they did in the invasion year 2012! Photo shows a Red Admiral caterpillar sewing a Nettles leaf shut.

A late morning visit to Cherokee Marsh. Also saw many Green Darner dragonflies, plus Common Baskettails and Black Saddlebags.

Traditional location just east of Black Earth. Only found a single individual, but still early.

Also at least 10 Black-banded Orange Moths - Epelis truncataria

Sunny, relatively calm winds, low 70s - seems Tiger Swallowtails everywhere (major emergence event; dragonflies also).

Many Karner's but a real slow day for other species

In a lush prairie, flitting around in lupine -- has a very pale orange hue in flight.

Lots of dragonflies (mostly baskettails) but only two (uncooperative) butterflies.

This road is also an ATV trail so during a weekend there is a lot more traffic on this gravel road.

Incidental sightings while atlasing

A few grasslands, roadsides, and one lupine barrens. The Purplish Coppers were at the northern end of Farmers Road, in the east ditch just south of Swamp Road.

The Purplish Coppers were along Archer Road in the 2nd quarter mile west of County W, and out in the grasslands south of that same 1/4 mile of frontage. But they can sometimes be found in every quarter mile both along this road and in grasslands to the north and south of the road, especially the first 1/2 mile west of County W.

Many Canadian Tigers along roads in NW Florence Co.

There were Juvenal's in the area but this one looked a little different

There were a lot of these flying around on the north end of the pond.

Also saw two unknown skippers that were mating.

4-5 PM, overcast, 60s

Sanderling Nature Center boardwalks by the beach

Many Canadian Tigers along roads.

Very sunny and windy day!

Observed in a restored prairie area near the lake

Many Canadian Tigers along all roads in NW Florence and NE Forest Co's. 2 unknown elfins and 3 Black-banded Orange - Epelis truncataria - in small bog just S. of intersection.

Canadian Tigers everywhere - several clusters (6-12+) "endocanabelizing) fallen comrades of vehicle collisions. We estimated about 1/mi driven on average no matter road type - Hwys to gravel forest roads.

Small bog with large areas of dense Maianthemum trifolium (Three-leaved False Solomon's-seal).

Many Giant Swallowtails and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on Dame’s Rocket.

Canadian Tigers everywhere, at least 10 more along Long L. Rd. Those at this Jct. "endocannibilizing" fallen comrades hit by vehicles.

Red-spotted Purple and Red Admiral in my yard.
Common Ringlet and Northern Crescent in neighbor's yard.
3-5 PM, somewhat overcast

eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum

breezy

Very windy 70 degree day. Spotted this raggedy Red Admiral enjoying the nectar on my pincushion plant.

Didn't realize the "rather small Monarch" was a Viceroy until I got closer (rarely seen in our yard); it was nectaring on the rue we planted for the BSTs. The Red-Spotted Purple never came down from the trees.

Two mated pairs of Monarchs

Seen while birding BB Atlas Menomonie South block. FAR too windy for good photos, but my first Giant of the season.

Another very windy day!

57 degrees and cloudy.

breezy

Sunny and 70 degrees. Besides the butterflies, there were many Ctenucha Moths and a few White-spotted Sable moths and many beautiful Golden-backed Snipe Fly.

Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association. Led by Douglas Buege and Tom and Kathy Brock. 28 butterfly watchers. The weather forecast had been 60% rain chance and mostly cloudy. But on the 15th we got lucky: it was sunny and no rain! We found 15 species and a Fox Snake.

1/2 mile route. We saw one unidentified elfin and several unidentified duskywings or cloudywings.

Blooming red clover was attractive to the butterflies. The Silver-spotted Skipper males seemed to be setting up territories by sitting with their dorsal wing surface exposed on grasses, and shrubs from 4' to 25'. Female skippers were actively courted by males. One female followed a male to his perch 25' up in a tree but she was not receptive to mating. Another nectaring female ignored the male, who was touching her, for about 2 minutes. When a second male appeared, the courting male took off, circling with the new male. He did not return to court the nectaring female. Another male chased a Monarch out of his territory. A SS Skipper at the woodland edge was visiting creeping charly blooms. Pearl Crescent males were also swirling around each other but no courting was observed.

Same bogs as June 1 but we today we surveyed three additional extremely wet bogs that we skipped June 1. 8 of the Jutta Arctics were north of Wolf Lake (N of Forest Road 2182) between 0.0 and 0.2 mile south of the snowmobile trail. 5 Juttas were in the bog south of FR 2182 midway between FR 2176 going north and FR 2414 going south (1.4 miles from each junction). Otherwise this Jutta count is tiny for an odd year in this part of the state. All but nine of the swallowtails were along forest roads, not on bogs.

No photos today - doing restoration work.

930-1130am. Finally saw a Baltimore Checkerspot!!! I tried following it, but it was so fast and gone before I knew it. I really wanted a photo.

In the last 4 calendar years that we have surveyed here during the Bog Fritillary flight we found 96 to 196 Bog Fritillaries per visit. These were, in order, our 4th, 3rd, 1st, and 2nd highest Bog Fritillary counts on any bog during the 33 years we've been looking for them.

Not many butterflies, buy numerous Red Admiral and Monarch caterpillars seen

Monarchs laying eggs on common milkweed.

Sedge meadow/wet meadow. 67 deg F, 7 mph NW wind

Just a few observations at about 1:30 in the PM, Sunny and about 60 degrees

(Notice that this is an obvious hybrid between the Red-spotted Purple and White Admiral. MR)

I went to dead head my hanging geranium basket and it is just perched on a flower. It has been there for hours now.

and newly-hatched orbweavers, too.

First butterflies I have seen after three raining, cloudy, cool days. Seen while atlasing.

Also one tiger swallowtail sp.

It was a sunny day with temps around 68 degrees, and a light breeze. All butterflies were found at Sandhill Wildlife Area. Also one unidentified tiger swallowtail.

Sunny with temps near 68 degrees. A light breeze was blowing.

Chalk-Fronted Corporal juvenile & male (Ladona julia).
2 unknown tiger swallowtails

3 unknown tiger swallowtails

lots of large, butterfly-like Virginua Ctenucha moths. Beautiful Golden-backed snipe flies.

I also had 27 wood ticks on me!!! I didn't have 1 the entire month of May, while out taking photos of birds, but all of a sudden they're everywhere!

A Swallowtail and Monarch were both sipping nectar on a flowering bush near our cabin. The Swallowtail tried unsuccessfully to chase the Monarch away. Quite a few Monarchs out flying today.

Temps were in the low to mid 70's with a slight breeze. It was sunny.

Saw the bear on two feet and got a little scared. Took the pic of bear on one foot from vehicle.

Fritillaries mating.

Great day for species count, maybe my best day ever if we combine the two sites

First Nessus Sphinx that I recall seeing here in WI. Also saw four different varieties of bumblebees. Karners were mainly worn females, but there were a couple fresh specimens

The Silvery Checkerspot was sunning itself while resting on a large rock near our cabin door.

Red Admiral was laying eggs.

Dark morph on Autumn Olive

I was working on the prairie today and didn't have my camera at the ready.

Butterfly activity was pretty slow, lots of dog ticks though, had over 25 on me.

Hot windy day . Walked about 1/2 mile in the ditch filled with a variety of plants but mainly birdsfoot trefoil, poison ivy, sumac, and grass. I also saw a very large number of unidentified skippers.

I presume many of the 8-10 Tiger spp were Canadian, but hard to photograph/identify on this windy day

These are lupine sites where we monitor Karner Blues each brood. We saw 37 male, 33 female, and 2 unknown gender Karner Blues.

Looking for Greenish Blues. Found nine fresh males.

The Bog Fritillary and Jutta Arctic counts are below average for here.

These pictures were taken right outside my kitchen window this morning.

Pine Lake bog near Forest Road 236, and a bog near Mount Valhalla.

Roger Lake, Crane Lake, and two bogs at Wishbone or "Rainbow" Lake.

These two Northern Crescents spent quite a long time sunning themselves in the driveway.

A few butterflies today in the sunny weather away from the cold lake breezes. My camera battery died so not many photos.

The lady's slipper was cool, but the crab spider sitting on top, using its chameleon-like powers, really made my day.

First time seeing a Nessus Sphinx moth. It was trying to fly out of a glass-walled shelter. I helped him find the way out.

Overcast very windy afternoon. Roadside in southwestern corner of the park. I also saw 10+ unidentified skippers.

The Mustard White was still the spring form with darkened veins. What is up with that; it’s summer!!

The Red Admirals love our lilacs! They’ve been hanging out here all day.

I didn't get photos of the American Lady or the Monarchs.

It's been many years since last seeing an Indian Skipper here.

There were quite a few Elfin Skimmers here today.

Along Plummer Lake Road.

It was a sunny day with temps between 72-77 degrees. The wind was blowing between 10-15 mph.
We also saw 20+ Tiger Swallowtails, but couldn't tell if they were Eastern or Canadian.

Seen while atlasing. All Indian Skippers landed on patches of Reindeer Moss in the barrens off Hwy 70.

This was an annual field trip of the Southern Wis Butterfly Association. 28 butterfly watchers participated. We found 10 species which was the lowest number in the 9 years we have data! Presumably cold winter and cool spring is the cause. Hackberry Emperor landed on various people which is always enjoyable! Great Spangled Fritillary was absent indicating they are running late this year. Dorothy Legler took the photos.

This is a giant kettlehole bog east of a rustic road south of County Hwy M, about 10 miles west of Clam Lake.

Two wet bogs west and northwest of Clam Lake. The Wilderness Road bog 2.3 miles west of County Hwy GG is where we saw 1 or 2 Tawny Crescents. The road edge at this bog is a good spot to look for Dorcas Coppers and generally has interesting butterflies.

Port Wing Boreal Forest west, Bark Bay Slough, and Lost Creek Slough. The Arctic Skippers were in the roadside south of the bog.

The Harris' Checkerspot was in the ditch near the road.

8:30 am - 9:30 am. sunny, mid-60's, not much activity, still cool.

Also found my first Ornate Snipe Fly (Chrysopilus ornatus)