Butterfly sightings for August 2022

Went out looking for Rusty Patched Bumblebees. Very surprised to see them at all four locations in the state forest. In the end I saw nine Rusty Patched, four other species of bumblebees, and one Six Spotted Tiger Beetle

70s. partly sunny, calm

RSPs were skittish. Possible Snout sighting.

Sighted a orange and brown grass skipper, but it got away without being identified.

70s, mostly cloudy, calm

Karner was along Stolte Road. There were also four other undetermined blues in flight. Sedge skippers--dun or broken dash--were on vervain or common milkweed along Co. Rd. O. Also here was an interesting bee fly, Poecilanthrax tegminipennis. With all the yellow setae on the underside of its abdomen, it seems to be a mimic of a leaf-cutter bee, Megachilidae

The Red Admiral butterfly landed on my Hydrangea plant.

partly sunny, high 70's, by the waters edge

First buckeye sighting

Question Mark at dusk

1 Monarch caterpillar observed on butterfly milkweed along with at least 3 Monarchs that i didn't get pictures of. sorry for the poor quality of pics.

Painted lady!

I walked the edge of the river between the boat launch and the east parking lot.
On the leaf, just to the left of the Fiery Skipper's feet, are the yellow, saddlebag-shaped pollenia of a milkweed. They stick to pollinators.

American Snout count of 27 is exact count, binocular ID as I slowly drove the length of the dirt road where they sipped moisture. Temp near 80, breezy.

1 of ETS was Black form female.

80 degrees by noon. Windy and sunny.

Surveyed 8 grassland tracts with a variety of recent management types using approximately 800 meter transects, mainly to check for Purplish Coppers. All of the Purplish Coppers were in three of the patches managed most recently with haying or extensive. Three sites were hayed or mostly hayed in late summer 1-2 years ago, one was extensively mowed a year ago, one was burned twice about 5 years ago, one was burned in 2022, one was grazed up until about 4 years ago, and one is being grazed now.

We surveyed five 800 meter grassland transects and one 400 meter transect looking for wetland coppers and to add sites to the breadth of our 2022 Regal Fritillary monitoring. The four patches with a history of Regal Fritillaries in them had 4, 4, 2, and 7 male Regal Fritillaries on our surveys. The Purplish Coppers were in 3 different patches, but the Bronze Coppers were all within 10 meters of each other.

Never been here before. Cabbage whites dominated most of the park. One woodland opening had the rest of the species. Also saw many Snowberry Clearwings and one Hummingbird Clearwings.

There has also been so many cool Odonates lately. The Giant Darners (Anax spp.) and Green Darners are fun to watch!

Went to the Nature Trail behind Indian Hill School in River Hills because I have seen butterflies there in the past. I was disappointed on the trails today, but walked out to the roadside along W. Heather Lane and found another Marine Blue feeding on the Bird's Foot Trefoil Vetch. Also found the sharpest looking Spring Azure I have seen in a long time.

Incidental while collecting seeds for replanting into the SNA.

Sunny, upper 80s, humid, breezy. Lots of butterfly activity again in the garden. The Summer Spring Azure was a new visitor. Also spotted a funny bug making the rounds on the Black-eyed Susans.

9:02 - 10:36, sunny, 1.5 miles. The area of the prairie along the path I walked was burned this year, increasing the variety of flowering plants. It seems to me that there are fewer butterflies here than before houses were built across County M.

2:30 to 4 p.m.. Sunny , 90°

It was a very rainy day for our area. Shortly after the rain stopped I visited an alfalfa and clover strip that was busy with butterflies. I was pleased to photograph the White Form Orange Sulphur with wings open. Another rainstorm ended the Butterfly Fun for the day! 3:30-5:30 mostly sunny with some wind especially as the next storm moved in.

Spotted this butterfly enjoying our Oriole feeding station. We believe it’s a Question Mark butterfly.

Big and beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

About 90°, calm, sunny.
3rd and 4th GST's I've seen this year, significantly fewer than typical.
The first was early in June and the second last week. No larvae as yet, and none in 2021.

I planted Joe Pye Weed 7 years ago. To my delight I started seeing Monarchs every year! They are blooming now, & this Monarch showed up yesterday.

Incidental while preparing deer stands. Quite a few Tiger Swallowtails as we got near the White River area

Milkweed in full bloom. Lots of bees, butterflies, and two hummingbird moths enjoying all the nectar. Sunny 72 degree afternoon.

Deer flies were ridiculous.

1:15 PM - 5:00 PM, mostly sunny, 85 Degrees.

patly cloudy, 80s, slight breeze

This was only the second time I've seen a Giant Swallowtail on my property, the first was on 7 Sep 2009. The bee was so loaded with pollen that it could hardly fly. The robber fly was feeding on a Japanese Beetle, sure could use more robbers here to take care of all the beetles.

3 to 5p.m. 83°, mostly sunny.
The Harvester I saw was probably the same one I’ve been seeing here for the past two weeks. It is always in the same spot at the same time of day, and there is always only one.

Spotted in the grass at 6:40pm; hot, humid, and clear skies.

Lots of butterflies, hummingbird moths and bees were out today. Purple coneflower appear to be a favorite.

Mostly sunny, 70s and beautiful. Both of these dirt roads are a favorite spot to find butterflies. Though the puddles and potholes on Larrabee Road have been recently filled with gravel. (I've never been so disappointed with road repair.) It's great fun to find multiple Common Checkered-Skippers. I rarely see even one per year. Painted Lady is also FOY. Cardinal Flower is blooming.

I've been finding monarch eggs on my milkweed and I've seen a few females, but this was the first male I've seen in my garden this season. He was swooping around and nectaring on the Cosmos and the Swamp Milkweed in the late afternoon.

Black Swallowtails were all very faded/tattered.

Seen while checking on the bluebird houses. One last batch of baby bluebirds in one of the houses. We have hatched out a record 25 this year. Interesting to see several Cabbage Whites puddling today.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Tithonia.

Peck's skipper? On Echinacea in backyard. Thank you for checking.

about an hour at mid-day on the trails around the water retention pond. planted with prairie flowers.

Perfect weather and conditions for a butterfly survey: early afternoon; light wind; low 80s; plentiful native, blooming wildflowers. Once again, however, many fewer Monarchs (and butterflies, in general) than I would expect for this time of year and the conditions.

9:30-11:30, 1.5 miles. One of the Tiger Swallowtails was a black female. One of the Monarchs was laying eggs.

Beautiful day - I walked the east and west prairie trails. Not many Monarchs; not much milkweed compared to previous years.

The favorite nectar plant today seemed to be rattlesnake master. Fifteen Viceroys is the most I have ever seen in one place.

Includes part of Wehr Nature Center and part of Boerner Botanical Gardens.

My first Zebra Swallowtail in Wisconsin. Finally saw two female Fiery Skippers.

Giant Swallowtails were in the woods. 9:37 - 11:57, 2.4 miles

On gravel parking area. O Ophus Road

Busy late afternoon for pollinators

Early afternoon, hot (about 90°) and blustery. All but the wood nymph sighted within ten minutes of arrival.

Surveyed 3 grassland tracts and 3 miles of roadside frontage, mainly to check for Purplish Coppers. Two-thirds of the grassland transects and 2/3 of the roadside surveys were along Archer Road, where we found all 31 of the Purplish Coppers (12 in the grassland, 19 along the road and in all 4 quarter-mile sections of ROW).

Hard to find the right place to park and then the tractor trail up the ridge to the top but it was worth it! Lots of butterflies there. Steep climb. Vertical slope coming back has one precarious spot but I made it!

I only spendt a couple of hours this morning at SANC and most of it was pulling weeds in the woods, so only a few butterflies to report. I did find an interesting-looking moth in the woods called a Bent-Lined Carpet Moth, Costaconvexa centrostrigaria, which despite its name does not eat carpets. The caterpillars eat knotweed.

After I visited the library, I came home to yet more Monarchs and Fiery Skippers.

Regal Fritillary geographical breath monitoring at 7 plots not surveyed yet in the 2022 flight. At four of these patches we have only surveyed 0-2 times for summer butterflies during 1997-2022. We found 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 1, and 13 Regals on transects, plus one in a plot between the road and an off-road patch we walked to. With the addition of 2 females seen today, we’ve seen 2.0-2.1% females and 97.9-98.0% males out of more than 400 Regal Fritillaries in 2022, not including individuals where we didn’t ID the gender. This list includes 5 roadside Monarchs.

Walk-through survey of conservation land. 80 F, sunny, calm.

Butterflies observed nectaring, resting, puddling, and flying through the prairie. Tiger swallowtail observed in woods. Female Monarch observed laying eggs on common milkweed. Northern Crescents observed in courting dance. Female Black Swallowtail observed fluttering around Queen Anne's lace, occasionally landing briefly, possibly laying eggs.

9 to 11 a.m., 83°, sunny.

Very windy, late morning.

Lots of Monarchs on the milkweed. Another hummingbird moth sighted. Sunny, humid, 78 degree morning.

Very Windy, County Hwy A had been mowed.

Sunny mid-morning. walked trails around pond for about an hour. prairie plantings. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was a black form.

Spendt a few minutes in the afternoon here. The garden has expanded into the strip along the parking lot which has been made into a bioswale to hold rainwater. The many red swamp milkweed plants are really drawing in the Monarchs.

clear skies, upper 70's, slight breeze

Red-spotted purple, sighted in my garden at 10:30 am visit a crab apple tree

Didn't have a camera with me but these are very identifiable

Impressive species. My first ever Sachem and CC Skipper in Ozaukee. And the other is a Goldenrod Crab Spider.

Very hot and muggy. I did get to see one of the Zebra Swallowtails by the entrance and tried to follow several dark butterflies through the maze. Haha, my first visit!

10 people participated in a hot, humid day looking for southern immigrants. Since 2007, we have found Sleepy Orange on eight of the 16 years of doing this field trip. Three Painted Ladies ties for the most reported this year in a submission. Painted Lady numbers are low for the second consecutive year. Only 11 were reported last year. Painted Lady photo by Donna Richter; other photos by Tim Fenske.

Overcast, humid, 78 degree morning.

7:40 - 8:20. Grass and vegetation was so wet with dew that I was surprised to see any butterflies. 0.74 miles

Monarch flitting around my Milkweed. She did not lay any eggs on any of the plants. Plants are very dusty from road construction on my street. I later saw her nectaring on the Bee Balm in my backyard.

2:30 to 4 pm, cloudy, 84°

Went out looking for Clay Colored Sparrows, saw one, heard many, Nice number of butterflies

Right after the rain, 80 deg. cloudy, humid

Milkweed patch was full of bees and butterflies this morning. Also five hummingbird moths. Partly sunny, humid 75 degree morning.

4:30-5:00. High near 80 but very humid and little wind.

72, cloudy, on and off rain. Stopped for about 30 minutes.

The Joe Pye Weed continues to attract pollinators of all kinds.

70s, partly Cloudy, breezy

Very low activity due to cool temps and overcast.

In between the rain.

Early afternoon. Mostly sunny. Upper seventies, calm.
Most of the Giant Swallowtails were in fields but one was in the woods where there were few flowers. I saw two different pairs of swallowtails twirling about each other close enough to touch, but did not see either actually couple. They were relatively plentiful and after a while I stopped counting for fear of counting some twice.

Cloudy, with teases from the sun; high 70s, light breeze.

Warm, light wind, sunny. Rain the night before had incredible numbers of butterflies puddling on damp roads. I counted only butterflies seen on stops and quickly had to quit counting Eastern Commas, Red Admirals, Hackberry Emperors, Eastern Tailed-Blues, and snouts or I never would have gotten out of there. I also saw several uncounted Monarchs while driving. I'm not very familiar with the road names but believe it was Dunnville (along the river right after crossing the bridge on Y), Larabee, and Twin Lakes.

Mostly sunny, mid 70s, breezy. Stopped for a quick look for Fiery Skippers but stayed over an hour and found other things of interest.

Incidental while pulling yet more sweet clover. I am pretty sure that we had a male Sachem come up and land on a prairie dock but as this would be the first Sachem of my life I want to wait until I get a picture and can have it confirmed

Tried to catch a few butterflies today that I had not gotten photos of recently at this location.

Incidental while gardening

1.6 hours. Two grassland patches and a roadside survey. 39 of the 41 (11 female, 8 male, and 22 unknown) Purplish Coppers were on the south side of Apache Avenue in the first 0.5 miles east of County Hwy W. Today's was our first identified Fiery Skipper of the year.

A quick stop around lunch time. My favorite hotspot this week.

Lots of tall grasses are now in areas of the prairie after the weekend rainfall. Enjoyed watching a hummingbird sharing the coneflowers with the Monarchs and Swallowtails. Sunny 72 degree morning.

This was along the trail by the lake on a perfect butterflying day.

This was along the trail by the lake on a perfect butterflying day.

One of the Tigers was the black form.

Late afternoon. Watched the Zebra swallowtail lay eggs in the herb garden! One Zebra swallowtail had both tails and the other was missing a part of one tail.

We just saw this butterfly in our backyard. I have never seen one before.

9:12 - 10:12, sunny.

Dinnertime sightings made from our back porch.

Giant Swallowtail on clover

Found on Ancient Shores Trail

Sunny, 80 degrees. 4pm-6pm
I believe there are at least three zebra swallowtails in the garden. Today I saw 2 distinct zebra swallowtails and I have a picture of a 3rd from 8/4/2022. One is a female that was laying eggs on pawpaw. I was also able to clearly see some zebra swallowtail eggs.

White Peacock found in the gardens in the free air. Most likely an escape from the tropical conservatory but these butterflies have been known to wander as far north as Nebraska..... with the southern trend anything seems possible.
Zebra Swallowtail seen laying eggs on Pawpaw Trees

Incidental observation, 2:30 PM. 80 F, sunny, calm.

3:40 hours. Seven grassland patches for Regal Fritillary geographical breadth monitoring. We found Regals in six patches: 3 females, 27 males, 2 unknown gender. One 40-acre patch established a new Regal Fritillary presence for us. We repeated two patches surveyed in July. One was of a usually very good Regal Fritillary patch re-surveyed for a phenological comparison to its July 9 survey when we found 9 Regals; today we found 11 Regals. The other was of a very poor Regal patch where we’ve now found zero Regals twice in 2022. We found six kinds of fritillaries at the first stop; two Variegated Fritillaries were mating, and the 3rd was pestering the mating pair.

Visited several gardens around Whitefish Bay around 10am to noon. Nothing unusual or unexpected. Also took a photo of a tiny moth, Nomophila nearctica.

Seen flying low in prairie.

Quick stop, Sunny, 85F, light breeze; Traveling survey; Duration: 20 min; Distance: 0.21 mi;

hummingbird clearwings 1; Promachus vertebratus robberfly mating

Traveling survey; Duration: 20 min; Distance: 0.25 miles; Quick check, mostly sunny, 82F, light breeze. Also saw a male Halloween Pennant.

Checked Crex Ridge Road--rough blazingstar was starting to bloom. Saw an unusual blue here, but only got a poor photo. But did get good view of it with the Papilio binocs and am certain that it was a Reakirt's Blue. Leonard's skipper was also here, as was a single battered Karner. Rough blazingstar in better bloom along North Refuge Road. Landing at Reed Lake was devoid of butterflies. Weather was lovely.

The Little Wood was really a battered specimen, not surprisiing for this late in season

Monarch on my Joe Pye Weed next to my house in my perennial garden.

80 degrees and breezy. A 40-minute stop before noon.

Traveling survey; Duration: 1 hr, 47 min; Distance: 1.46 mi; Site check before field trip with Jennifer Rutten;

snowberry clearwings 1; robberfly Efferia aestuans female 2, Great Golden Digger Wasp 1, Melissodes female bee (possibly trinodis) 1.

About a 30-minute stop. Female Monarch was depositing eggs on common milkweed.