Butterflies

Butterflies of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve

Some of the most visible and identifiable insects are butterflies. Butterfly diversity can serve as a measure of restoration success. The 2007 Preserve butterfly count, described in Increasing Insect Diversity, is one measure of butterfly diversity.

The Lakeshore Nature Preserve has a new species record:

This is a tropical butterfly that I saw briefly on October 20, as I was working at the edge of the field near Second Point Woods. It stayed still only long enough for me to take a couple photos, without the help of my macro lens. It has been reported only once before in Wisconsin. It is a species that does regularly move northward at the end of the summer, but generally nowhere near this far north. The day before I saw it, there were very strong winds from the south. These winds probably carried it here. I sent the photo to Karl and Dorothy Legler, local butterfly experts, and to Mike Reese, a state expert. Mike told me it appeared to be a Large Orange Sulphur, but because this was so unexpected here - way out of range -he sent it on to several butterfly experts in the far south of the US, where it is common. Finally, the last expert, Jeff Glassberg, gave his confirmation. Glenda Denniston

Large Orange Sulphur, Phoebis agarithe, a new species record

For general information about butterflies, see:

Flying Jewels of Spring

photos by Glenda Denniston

Tiger Swallowtail	Black Swallowtail

Silver-spotted Skipper	Peck's Skippers

Eastern Tailed-Blue	Hackberry Emperor

Meadow Fritillaries	Common Buckeye

Mourning Cloak
Mourning Cloak

Preliminary list of butterflies observed in the Preserve

Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes
Giant Swallowtail	Papilio cresphontes
Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus
Cabbage White	Pieris rapae
Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice
Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme
American Copper	Lycaena phlaeas
Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas
'Summer' Spring Azure	Celastrina ladon neglecta
Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia
Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona
Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos
Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma
Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa
Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta
Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia
Red-Spotted Purple	Limenitis arthemis
Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis
Monarch	Danaus plexippus
Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus
Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus
Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor
Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus
Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius
Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui*
Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae*
*Reported by Edgar Spaulding in 2003

PLEASE HELP US MAKE A BUTTERFLY CHECKLIST:

This is only a very preliminary butterfly list for the Preserve. Thank you, Edgar Spaulding, Dave Fallow and Kyle Evan Johnson for checking for errors and reporting species not on our list. Please, entomologists out there, keep the reports coming in so that our list will become more accurate and complete. Please send additional butterfly observation records (species, date and place seen, and approximate number of individuals) to Glenda at denniston@wisc.edu.

For photos of butterflies and dragonflies seen in or over the Botany Garden near Birge Hall,
see: Botany Garden Insects

Insect Overview

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