Alert Update

Report from Martin Bialecki, November 6:

Today I observed a small Red Admiral just northeast of the intersection of Mull and Wellwood roads, Manchester Township, Section 32, Washtenaw County. (Note from Owen: This is a late date record, the previous being October 29.)

Entomology Specimen Cabinet available:

Anyone you know that might be interested?
Mark O'Brien
Begin forwarded message:

From: "Margret Ann Chriscinske" <mchriscinske@usgs.gov>
Date: Tue Nov 2, 2004 10:23:14 AM America/Detroit
To: mfobrien@umich.edu
Subject: cabinet
Hi there,
Do you know anyone looking to purchase a used Cornell-type cabinet?
Its previous owner bought it ~15 years ago for ~$500 and is now in the process of liquidating some of his collections. Here's his description:
Entomology Specimen Cabinet, about 84" tall and about 23" wide, manufactured by Lane Science Equipment Corp., Model 402. All metal, double lined, steel construction throughout, gray finish outside. Holds 25 Cornell or U.S. National Museum drawers. Comes with 17 Cornell drawers, each with glass top and polyethylene pinning bottom, basswood construction.. Also 8 drawers that are without tops or pinning bottom that are used for vial storage (these drawers have smaller cardstock vial holders that fit into the drawers). All drawers were purchased from BioQuip, and are professionally manufactured. More specifications can be given if interested. The price is negotiable, and will depend on shipping or pick-up, etc.

If you know of anyone who may be interested, forward this info to them or have them contact me. I wish I had some way of fitting this in my place!

Thanks, Margi

***************************************
Margret Chriscinske
Great Lakes Science Center
1451 Green Rd
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
phone: (734) 214-9323
fax: (734) 994-8780
***************************************

Report from Mark Schmidt, November 1:

As you may recall, I had a lone sleeve of 2nd brood S. cynthia larvae braving the late October elements. All but two had made cocoons, completing a full second brood. Interestingly, the cocoons are generally smaller than usual and are of a reddish-orange color. Some were even made in the leaf litter in the bottom of the sleeve without much of a peduncle
that really didn't secure the cocoon to anything of substance.

I have seen the reddish color of finished cocoons before after rearing late season cynthia in past years. The unusual coloration seems to be triggered by being exposed to the cooler fall temperatures. These, too, were small.

Anyway, I snapped some pictures. The one in which the blue body of the caterpillar is still visible early in the cocoon's construction is entitled "In the nick of time." You can see that food plant quality and availability presented quite a challenge for the creatures!

S. cynthia, Red Lion, Ohio, 1 November 2004
photos by Mark Schmidt © 2004

"In the nick of time."
S. cynthia, Red Lion, Ohio, 1 November 2004
photos by Mark Schmidt © 2004

Report from Mark Schmidt, October 30:

The other day, I received an interesting e-mail with the subject line, "We sell Regalis." I did not recognize the sender.
Against my usual protocol not to open things I don't recognize, I had to.
Come on, anyone selling regalis can't be bad.

It turns out, it was SPAM for an off-brand of Cialis from some foreign country! They call it Regalis. Considering the size of our hickory horned devil, maybe the name is appropriate!

Hope everyone has been doing well. The season is drawing to a close. I have second brood cynthia still feeding but the wind, today, succeeded in blowing off just about every leaf off of my sassafras trees. It looks like two caterpillars were starting to spin cocoons. Leaves were rolled but due to the violent wind, I thought I'd let things go and confirm things tomorrow. This would be the first time that I have seen a complete second generation for this species. Any caterpillar not initiating the pupation process is likely doomed.

Report from Kyle Johnson, October 26
A few recent lep sightings:
Oct. 9 Trombly, Delta Co. In the bait trap that I let sit from August were hundreds of moth wings, including probably 40 Catocala (mostly relicta, semirelicta, concumbens). One relicta was alive and in near mint condition.
Oct. 10 Menominee, Menominee Co. At a quick stop for lunch I noticed a near mint condition Catocala concumbens on the sidewalk; also saw one monarch.
On October 15-17 I headed to southern Illinois with the Undergraduate Entomology Club (at UW) for a collecting trip. Colder than usual; some interesting sighting were Eurema nicippe, Atalopedes campestris, and a dead Polygonia progne at a gas station (Benton, Franklin Co.) which might be a southern record unless it was brought there by some truck from up north! Also, a tiger moth larvae I kept for rearing ate the three walking sticks we had kept(stupid me for not separating
them!); well that s.o.b. is going in alcohol!

A few unusual late things for Madison (Dane Co, WI)
Everes comyntas- Oct. 23
Danaus plexippus- Oct. 24
Junonia coenia- Oct. 24
Vanessa cardui- Oct. 24

Report from John Farmer, October 26:

I'm still catching commas. Got 4 yesterday. Expect I may catch more over the next several days of 60-degree weather, I'm wondering if you'd like me to save out a specimen of each as vouchers for state, Washtenaw, or your own late dates? Mo's book lists late dates of October 15 for P. comma, October 11 for P. progne, and October 16 for interrogationis. Have any of those state late dates been surpassed since publication of Michigan Butterflies & Skippers?

Reply by Owen, edited:

Mo's dates of October 11 for P. progne is still valid to my knowkedge,

The late date for P. interrogationis is 30 October 1999 by me (Owen A. Perkins) for Branch County. You (John C. Farmer) provided 2 November 2000 for P. comma for Washtenaw County. The late date for L. c. bachmanii is 3 November 1965 for Washtenaw County by Paul DeMarroio in the U of M collection.

Report from Dr. Moth (Mark Schmidt) October 24:

It was a very pleasant day today. I had my last calleta eclose today so I thought that I'd spend some time with her shooting pictures. I'll share a few that seemed to come out OK.

Eupackardia calleta, Red Lion, Ohio, 24 October 2004
photos by Mark Schmidt © 2004

E. Red Lion, Ohio, 24 October 2004
photos by Mark Schmidt © 2004

E. calleta, Red Lion, Ohio, 24 October 2004
photos by Mark Schmidt © 2004

Note from Owen, October 9:

I apologize for the lateness of of the September entries, but other matters took precedence.

Email from Mo, October 4:

Owen, How are you doing, now that Fall has arrived!? I'm sorry to see it cool off so suddenly, as I had hoped to do more collecting!

On Sept. 24/25, Ted Herig and I journeyed to Berrien and Cass counties, primarily for collecting Papaipema moths. We encountered great evening weather with temperatures starting in the upper 60's under cloudy skies. Using a total of four UV traps, plus a MV/UV/sheet setup, we recorded a total of 14 Papaipema species. Some of the unique species were P. cerina, nepheleptena, astuta, cerussata, sciata, necopina.

On the 25th, we visited the Klumbis Road Prairie, south of Dowagiac and saw 14 species of butterflies and skippers with sun and 75 degrees. It was unusal to see hundreds of Euptoieta claudia, and many more Pieris rapae, Colias philodice nectaring on a white aster. Also seen were several Precis coenia, and a few worn Phyciodes tharos. A lone Strymon melinus was taken nectaring on white aster. The usual Pyrgus communis, and a single worn Epargyreus clarus were the only skippers seen at this location.

This MAY be my last field report!? Yet, I'm heading back down there this coming weekend. Ted Herig and Jim Vargo may join me.

Email from John Farmer, September 30:

CHECKERED SKIPPERS: Roger Kuhlmann, I read your posting. Slight correction on my sighting(s). I saw three Checkered Skippers in Hillsdale Co. on the same day, September 4 - none before or since. I caught one as a voucher specimen and saw another at the same location (Hog Creek Road 1/10 mile north of Youngs Rd.) a little later. Also saw
one next door to our cottage on McCune Road at Hemlock Lake. The two locations are both in Allen Township, but separated by more than a mile, so I assume the latter was a third individual.

BUCKEYES: Day Road has been rife with Buckeyes recently. Have seen the following numbers in September: within a mile of my home, most along Day Road - 9/6 (1), 9/10 (6), 9/13 (9), 9/21 (2), and 9/26 (10), and in my yard these additional individuals - 9/1 (1), 9/2 (1), 9/13 (1), and 9/30 (1).

MEADOW FRITILLARIES: One in my yard on 9/15 and another along Day Rd. on 9/26.

EASTERN COMMAS: Have you noticed unusually large numbers lately? I've had the following numbers in my trap in the past ten days: 9/20 (3), 9/22 (6), 9/23 (4), 9/24 (10), 9/26 (11), 9/27 (5), and 9/29 (3).

HACKBERRY BUTTERFLIES: I've had quite a few for September. In the listing that follows, "t" indicates trapped individuals in addition to free-flyers: 9/1 (3t), 9/7 (2t), 9/9 (2) & (4t), 9/10 (3t), 9/14 (1t), 9/21 (1), 9/26 (1t), 9/27 (2). Owen, I have the one from 9/26 for you as a late-date voucher. Didn't catch either of the ones seen the next day.
THANK YOU JOHN! I will visit you later this fall for the trophies.

Email from Roger Kuhlman, September 30:

The American Butterflies article has been published and copies are coming round.

Roger Wykes and I were out yesterday, but no real goodies. 7 bronze coppers on hack, plus a least skipper. A Milbert's on Burmestier.

Email from Christopher A. Rickards, September 29:

Chris takes superior photographs of butterflies and here are two examples that he is sharing. Thank you!

Pictures from Badlands, South Dakota, August 2004.

Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
Badlands, South Dakota, August 2004.
photo by Christopher A. Rickards © 2004

Email from Roger Kuhlman, September 29:

The hot weather we have been experiencing in southeast Michigan until the last few days has been great for butterflies. On Wednesday September 22, I found a Checkered Skipper on the Sharon Valley Road gamelands in sw Washtenaw county. It was nectaring on White Aster as were many other butterflies that day. This Checkered Skipper is only the third one
positively identified in the 11 years of the Greater Washtenaw survey and it was in perfect condition. I was pretty excited about finding it.

Having found one Checkered Skipper, I would definitely be sharp on the lookout for another one at least until the end of October. John Farmer found one in relatively nearby Hillsdale county not too long ago so there may be a weak movement of the species into our area. Also keep on the lookout for Variegated Fritillary and Gray Hairstreak. The same day I had the Checkered Skipper I had Variegated Fritillary on Sharon Valley Road. To the best of my knowledge no one has seen Gray Hairstreak in the Survey area this year but it is worth searching for it as it can also show up quite late in the season.

Email from John M Swales, September 9:

Today I had 1 Am. Copper, 1 GSF, 1 RSP, and 1 Variegated Frit in Camden Twp, Hillsdale county. And hundreds of sulfurs, several Monarch, etc.

Email from Roger Wykes and John Swales, September 9:

Yes, Roger W and I had our first fiery on your New England Aster last Friday. Yesterday (Wednesday), 2 Leonard's and 11 American Copper at Sharon Hollow; 3 more Leonard's at Hankerd. Nothing else of note.

Email from John Farmer, September 7:

Here at 13475 Petersburg Road I saw my first Fiery Skipper of the year around noon today. Also have seen several Buckeyes here over the past week.
Catching fresh Hackberry Butterflies and Question Marks in Owen's trap every few days.
Owen: have vouchers for Hillsdale County: Question Mark, Least Skipper, and Checkered Skipper (saw several on Hog Creek Road on 9/4&5/04. Also have seen several snouts and buckeyes there (Hillsdale Co.) over past three or four weeks, but have not yet caught any (have date and place records, if desired). Is there a site to update Mo's book regarding official records of Hillsdale Co. butterflies with vouchers taken since his book was published? (Note from Owen: email me at lepalert@comcast.net or Mo at nielsen4@msu.edu .

Note from Kyle Johnson, September 12

Hi Owen, I recently looked at the Lepalert website, and it seems that my report didn't get through, so here it is again.

(Catocala spp.) August 21, 2004, Trombly, Delta Co. MI.
photos by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Light colored (white per Kyle) form of Meadow Fritillary (Boloria bellona)
May 6 (male), May 12 (female), Madison, Dane Co WI.
photos by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

I have just finished putting together the butterfly portion of my collection and also the database for those specimens, so after I check over and organize the database I'll send it your way.

Maybe a little something to add on to my report: I have been to where I caught the white (light colored) B. bellona last spring several times this fall, and haven't noticed any white ones.

NOTE from Owen: Keep your eyes peeled for strays that may have been carried north by Hurricane Frances!
Mo in his latest email says: It will be interesting to see what impact Florida's hurricanes will have on the appearance of southern strays-if any!?

Especially the Sachem Skipper (A. campestris), the Eufala Skipper (L. eufala), and the Long-tailed Skipper (U. proteus), as well as the Goatweed Butterfly (A. andria), Mexican Sulphur (E. mexicanum), Orange-barred Sulphur (P. philea), and the Cloudless Sulphur (P. s. eubule). There are others!

I thought I saw a Cloudless Sulphur pass through my yard today (September 10) but it was flying about 10 feet above the garden and fast and erratic. I hadmy net handy, but it was of no use today. I would appreciate voucher specimens of any of the above with data should you sight any and be so fortunate to catch one or knock it down with a folded newspaper, magazine or other handy object!!! I would accept a photograph, but a voucher specimen would be more desirable.

Happy sighting!

Email from Martin Bialecki, September 9:

Today I had 1 Am. Copper, 1 GSF, 1 RSP, and 1 Variegated Frit in Camden Twp, Hillsdale county. And hundreds of sulfurs, several Monarch, etc.

Email from John Swales, September 9:

Yes, Roger Wykes and I had our first fiery on your New England Aster last Friday. Yesterday (Wednesday), 2 Leonard's and 11 American Copper at Sharon Hollow; 3 more Leonard's at Hankerd. Nothing else of note.

Email from Mo to Steve Ross, September 9:

Steve, I just examined your last box of butterflies/skippers from the Ottawa NF. Here are the results:

1-Papilio canadensis= one, Ontonagon Co.= county record;
2-Colias philodice= one worn alba female;
3-Celastrina lucia= one worn female;
4-Boloria selene atrocostalis= two;
5-Chylosne nycteis= three, Ontonagon Co.= county record;
6-Polygonia progne= one;
7-Megisto cymela= three, Iron and Ontonagon Co.= county records;
8-Coenympha tullia inornata= three, Iron Co. = county record;
9-Danaus plexippus= one;
10-Erynnis icelus= three, Ontonagon Co. = county record;
11-Polites themistocles= two, Ontonagon Co. = county record;
12-Poanes hobomok= one, Gogebic Co. = county record;
13-Amblyscirtes hegon= two.

I assume you have kept a log of all your data that have been sent to me, as I didn't cite counties for some of the above. Based on my findings, you had eight new county records-all were to be expected. Keep in mind that I have added 638 new
county records since May, 1999, and up to March 2004.

Once this season is over, I will tally, again, the total new county records. I'm certain it will be approaching 700 records!! It will be interesting to see what impact Florida's hurricanes will have on the appearance of southern strays-if any!?

Email from John Farmer, September 7:

Here at 13475 Petersburg Road I saw my first Fiery Skipper of the year around noon today. Also have seen several Buckeyes here over the past week.

Catching fresh Hackberry Butterflies and Question Marks in Owen's trap every few days.

Owen: have vouchers for Hillsdale County: Question Mark, Least Skipper, and Checkered Skipper (saw several on Hog Creek Road on 9/4&5/04. Also have seen several snouts and buckeyes there (Hillsdale Co.) over past three or four weeks, but have not yet caught any (have date and place records, if desired).

An email reply from John Farmer, September 7

I have specimens of Question Mark, Checkered Skipper, and Least Skipper from Hillsdale Co., and the earlier-mentioned Meadow Fritillary from there in '03, as well as one of this summer's American Snout's from this summer. They're all yours, Mo's, or whoever will put them to good use. You can pick up all five and any more I add when you get down this way. By the way, regarding Hackberry Butterflies, I gave Mo specimens caught on June 14 and September 5, 2001 when
you and he were here on 11/5/01. Last year I had many Hackberry Butterflies during September, with the last one recorded on September 18. I have two in my refrigerator right now from today (9/7/04), and will release them if/when I
catch later ones. Otherwise, I'll save one of them for you as a late date voucher for Michigan.

Email from David C. Etz, September 8:

Thanks for the quick reply - I appreciate the info. As a Lepidopterist, I'm just an amateur, but I have been fascinated since youth with the swallowtails & silkmoths. Unfortunately, I haven't collected any scientifically useful specimens during that time. I have been rearing silkmoths for the last several years, mainly for a science display in my wife's classroom at school, but also as a hobby. We've reared most of the native saturniids (cecropia, polyphemus, promethea, luna, imperial, &
regal), and a few exotics (Eupackardia calleta, Actias selene, Samia cynthia, & a couple Rothschildia species).

I grew up in southwest Ohio (Kettering), which isn't that far from Red Lion, where Mark Schmidt is located. As a kid, I collected all the local swallowtail species - as I recall, zebras and giants were the most difficult to find, but by no means rare in those days (early 70's). We would also look for cecropias & polyphemus moths at night under the street lights.

I asked about Mark in my original e-mail because I thought he might be located somewhere in Northwest Ohio (since he follows the Michigan Lepalert). It would've been interesting to have zebras & pipevines being observed regularly that close to the Detroit area (I'm hoping to see a pipevine or zebra someday in southeast MI). I know that pipevines (plants) and pawpaws are sometimes grown here (and there are at least a few stands of native pawpaws in the region) - since pipevine swallowtails are occasionally seen here, you would think zebras would be also (?). I live in St. Clair County, but work in Oakland County (Rochester Hills). I see giant swallowtails fairly dependably in Rochester Hills in late August (I have also seen a few here in St. Clair Co) - usually in the vicinity of prickly ash. I asked you about giants over-wintering here
because (if they're laying eggs in late August) I wondered whether they complete larval development before cooler weather (apparently they do). One additional Q on swallowtails - does the dark phase of the female tiger occur in Michigan?

I have seen Mo Nielson's book, but do not have a copy. I'll contact him for more info on the regal moth in Michigan. It seems as though there should be more of them around since hickory, walnut, & sumac are by no means uncommon here (especially in the rural areas).

I appreciate the offer to visit & take a look at your collection. Fall is generally pretty busy for me (kids school activities), but maybe during the winter (?).

Email from Owen to Dave, September 7:
In response to your email of September 3, 2004, I will attempt to answer your questions.
Mogens C. "Mo" Nielsen, nielsen4@msu.edu , has vouchered specimens from Lenawee County and would be the person to contact pertaining to any others and would be the one to answer any other questions you have related to C. regalis.

Mark Schmidt lives in Red Lion, Ohio. He regularly observes zebras at that location. I observed E. marcellus in Lenawee county in 1999. I am not aware of zebras using other than pawpaw for a host foodplant. Historical records indicate that the zebra swallowtail has been recorded in 24 counties in Michigan including St. Clair county. Michigan Lepidoptera Survey Collection records are only available for 11 counties. I have knowledge that since 1999, zebras have only been sighted in two counties, Cass and Lenawee. The St. Clair county record is prior to 1939! According to Voss, Michigan Flora, Pawpaw is not native to St. Clair county.

Giant Swallowtails are never common in any area by my observations and records and per Mo's book. I have vouchered Giants in my yard in Royal Oak (Oakland County) in June (first brood) and in August (second brood). They have laid eggs on my Prickly Ash, and have gone through all stages to adult. They overwintered as chrysalis, but I am not an authority as to
other stages that they might overwinter in Michigan. They were present in good numbers in 1999 in Lenawee county.

As for Pipevine Swallowtails, I have photo vouchered one in my yard attracted to A. durior vine in 1999 and Mo and I photographed the larva in Lenawee county in 1999. The last known vouchered specimen was in 1991 from Barry county. Do you have a copy of Mo's book: Michigan Butterflies and Skippers? Do you have a collection? I would appreciate further communication with you pertaining to your interest in lepidoptera. You are invited to visit me and view my collection.

Email from David C. Etz, September 3:

I noticed on the Lepalert that you replied to an e-mail from Melissa Lettick (8/20), regarding regal moths, that several have been vouchered in the last half dozen years in Michigan. I'm curious where in Michigan these were recorded? I assume one of them would be the Washtenaw Co moth found in early July? I obtained ova last year from Pennsylvania and reared half a dozen pupae that emerged in late July and early August of this year. I put 2 females outside overnight for about a week, but no wild males were called in. Do you know if regals fly primarily in early July here in Michigan? In your reply you also stated that the larval food plants (walnut, hickory, and similar trees) are not all that prevalent in Michigan, but it seems as though there would be some areas in Michigan where these trees are relatively abundant (?) Do you know whether regals also utilize sumac in the wild? (It was sumac that I used to rear them).

In Mark Schmidt's comments on 8/15, he notes that "no marcellus" were observed. Do you know where in Ohio he is located, and does he regularly observe zebras at that location? How often are zebras observed in southeast Michigan (I assume rarely, since their food plant - pawpaw - is uncommon here)? The USGS Butterflies of N America website indicates that zebras have been recorded in St Clair Co, but I have never seen any here, and don't know of any pawpaws growing in this area, either. On a University of Kentucky website ("Common Butterflies of Kentucky"), they list 4 food plants for zebras: hornbeam, pawpaw, spicebush, and tulip tree. Do you know whether zebras actually utilize these other 3 species
in the wild?

Question on giant swallowtails (I observed several giants over the last few weeks in western Oakland Co) - How often (and which months) are they normally seen in southeast Michigan, and do they overwinter in Michigan (as larvae or chrysalis?), or are they only a late summer visitor?

Report from Kyle Johnson, August 31:

Here's my report for two weekends ago with some pics. The first two are of the Catocala sp. from the bait trap (Aug. 21)

Sighting by Owen A. Perkins, August 26, 2004:

Monarch visiting garden at 2806 Linwood Avenue,
Royal Oak MI on August 26, 2004. First migrating sighted
this year.

Report from Mo, August 21:

August 12-18, Richard Henderson (KY), Ted Herig (MI) and Jim Vargo (IN), joined 'Mo' Nielsen at his Otsego County 'hut' for essentially a Catocala trapping 'foray'. Using 12 bait traps, 3-4 UV traps, a baited trail, MV/UV/sheet set-ups, and a SL/UV at the hut, they found 'Cats' in lower than usual numbers as compared to previous years.

Approximately 60 plus 'Cats’ representing 14 species were trapped in bait traps, plus a few others were seen/taken during this period. Included were C. antinympha, coelebs, ilia, cerogama, relicta, unijuga, briseis, semirelicta, concumbens, sordida, ultronia, crataegi, praeclara, blandula. We found several semirelicta, both sexes, in bait traps and on baited trees-more than expected! All of the 'Cats’ were in “immaculate” condition. Richard and Ted bagged several females for ova and rearing.

Other notable moths taken during this period were: Arctia caja americana (few), Syngrapha epigaea (1 ), rectangula (1 ), Apamea ophiogramma (1 ), Papaipema pterisii (1 ), Polia purpurissata ( common).Eurois asrticta (common), Schinia arcigera (1 ). Manyother noctuids were taken that must await later identification!

During the day, under sunny skies they saw/collected the following butterflies and skippers: P. napi oleracea, rapae, C. philodice, eurytheme, L. phlaeas americana, Satyrium titus, S. cybele, atlantis, B. selene myrina, P. progne, N. antiopa, milberti, L. arthemis astyanax, L. archippus, E. anthedon, C. pegala nephele, D. plexippus, H. leonardus, E. vestris metacomet. Most species were found in low numbers.

Temperatures during this period ranged from a low of 38-40 d. to a high of about 78d. We believe that the lower than normal temperatures had an impact on the low number of species and their numbers.

On August 16/17, we made a trip to Cheboygan Co. set UV traps along Elliot Creek and in Cheboygan State Park. Unfortunately, some of our traps malfunctioned and very few moths were taken; most notable were C. coelebs, Oligia bridghami. Hypocoena inquinata. During the day, a few L. dorcas were seen in an area of shrubby cinquefoil. Ted found a fresh pupal skin of P. appassionata in a dead Pitcher Plant leaf-indicating the population is emerging. It was exciting to see an adult and immature Bald Eagle in the Park-always a bonus on these trips!

Mo forwarded this (edited by OAP) email from Stan Lilley, August 23:

Yes, I do use a digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 4500. I still occasionally carry my Canon EOS A2, but I really love the immediate review capability of the digital and the quality is getting pretty good these days.

By my notes I think I've sent you 46 new county records over the past three seasons: 42 from Isabella County, 3 from Mecosta County and one from Saginaw County. It has been lots of fun, but I've found most of the easy ones for Isabella, so I'm going to have to keep expanding my area.

Speyeria cybele krautwurmi
photo by Stan Lilley © 2004

Mo forwarded this (edited by OAP) email from George Balogh, August 18:

Visited Drummond Island last weekend. Nice sunny weather but very cool nights, 43 degrees on Sun morning when picking up traps on the Maxton Plains. Few moths in traps but one Cat. semirelicta taken (settled on the outside of one trap).

We wandered the cobble beach and wetland at Huron Bay on the south part of the Island Sat afternoon and found one specimen of Lycomorpha pholus on goldenrod. Checked the last MI macro DB that Martin sent me some time ago and L. pholus is on the list but I don't see it on Moore's old list. Don't recall seeing this moth in MI before. Has the moth been taken in the UP previously? What MI records are you aware of?

Email from Melissa Lettick, August 20:
mlettick@frontiernet.net

Hi. I just came across your site while researching the Regal Moth, wanting to find a photo to refresh my memory of its astounding beauty. None of the sites I've found really show the subtleties of the coloring very well, or give a sense of its size. I'm not a scientist or a collector but had a unique sighting last summer while riding my bike with some friends on the
"tow path" (the C&O Canal) on the Potomac River north of Sharpsburg, Maryland, that I'd like to share with you. Something caught my eye on a branch of a bush by the path, so I decided to turn my bike around and see if I'd really seen what I thought I'd seen. There on the branch were two gorgeous enormous moths, one much larger than the other, mating. They stayed there for at least 15 minutes, since that's about how much time I spent watching them, and who knows how long they had already been there and how long they remained after that. They were sort of "throbbing" together. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen...I felt a bit like a voyeur, but I also felt as if I'd stumbled onto something that was a gift,
and couldn't bear to leave. My friends were already 15 minutes up the path, so I had to leave sooner than I wanted. But I so wish I'd had a camera with me. I went online as soon as I got home that day and did a search for the moth based on its size and the colors, and there it was, the Regal Moth. I read that it was a night creature, but obviously it has some activities that it doesn't restrict to the night. Or maybe it was still partying from the night before! Who knows? Maybe you do. I know this isn't very scientific moth talk, but I think this was probably a very unique sighting. I've lived in this area for 21 years, quite near the river, and I spend a good amount of time outdoors. I've never seen this type of moth before or since. Well, that's it. Happy lepidoptering! --Melissa

Note from Owen: From what my entomologist friends have told me, the Royal or Regal Walnut Moth (the larva commonly known as the Hickory Horned Devil) is a seldom encountered moth. It has only been vouchered in Michigan less than a dozen times. Since the larva is a walnut, hickory and similar tree feeder and since these trees are not all that prevalent in Michigan, one wouldn't expect to encounter this species very often. It can be attracted to Mercury Vapor and Ultra Violet lights as I am aware of several being vouchered by this method in the past half-dozen years. It is one of the large moths and its common name implies its beauty - Regal Moth.

One good site is: http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/bfly/regal_moth.htm

Email from Mark Schmidt of Ohio, August 15:

Howdy Gang!

I had a relatively slow day around here! It gave me time to enjoy the yard and butterfly garden. Found an ash sphinx larva looking for a pupation spot.

For a season that has not been the best for butterflies, it was nice to be visited by a cloudless sulphur. Sorry, no photos. It seemed to be in a hurry and just blew by the yard.

I finally had a female troilus about, feeding and laying eggs high in my sassafras trees. It's been very strange not to have glaucus larvae this year but finally I am seeing a number of males at my blooms. Lots of wood nymph. They've been strong for a longer period of time than what I normally recall. No marcellus. Plenty of philenor as usual. Cresphontes showed up two weeks ago and larvae are feeding. No plexippus larvae but have seen a couple of adults.

That's pretty much the update. Will be hoping to mate a third brood bicolor tonight.

Report from Kyle Johnson, August 15:

Here are some Michigan pics. Perhaps one more report to come before I head back to Madison in only two weeks!

Willow area of Gogebic Station Bog, Gogebic Co., August 1
photo by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Another part of Gogebic Station Bog, Gogebic Co., August 1
photo by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

North of North McFarland Bog, Marquette Co., August 8
Kyle Evan Johnson, entomologist & herpetologist,
after expedition to the North McFarland Bog.
Photo taken by cousin Andrew Johnson.
Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Kyle Evan Johnson, 19 year old lepidopterist from Wisconsin, who in 2004 visited
his grandmother's property in Delta County and specialized this year in bog butterflies
in Delta and Marquette counties and explored for new bogs to survey in 2005.
Mo and Owen hope to meet up and survey with Kyle in the Upper Peninsula in the Spring of 2005!
Photo taken by cousin Andrew Johnson.
Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Report from Kyle Johnson, August 13:
Finally got a report together with a few more pics this time. I'll be sending another email shortly with 3 Michigan pics.

Report from Kyle Johnson for July 22 to August 9:

The past couple of weeks have been nothing but intense ento-action for me, leaving little time for rest. From July 22 to July 30 I was out west on “vacation”, which for me meant 9 days of hardcore ento surveying, and well over a hundred miles of hiking (and all for a grand total of $210, $180 being gas!). July 31st I spent in Douglas county WI and Gogebic co. MI surveying; that night I returned home in Green Bay only to return to the UP the very next day!

I’ll keep the details of the west trip to a minimum (yes, I know it’s not Michigan!). In summary: the butterfly action was insane! Hard to keep track of numbers of everything, especially the Speyeria! I didn’t notice too much in the way of moths, but did catch a couple of really neat looking Arctiids, and missed a huge one with a wild looking pattern. I stopped at a few places along the plains, but most of the time I was at higher elevations in Wyoming; two days east of Teton NP, and four days hiking the Bridger Wilderness of the Wind River Mountains.

Wind River Mountains, WY (July 28)
photo by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Those four days in the Wind River Range were the most intense bug expeditions I have ever experienced - a 20 mile hike, then a 14 mile hike, followed by a 26 mile hike, and ending with a 30 mile hike that had me on the verge of collapse! All hiked through incredibly beautiful, rugged, mountainous, and very remote wilderness; I really had to work to see many of the species I encountered! I won’t get into detailed reports of what I saw, but to save time here’s a list of all the species I encountered (at least the ones confirmed by capture and/or vouchers, I probably saw many others but could not confirm them. Also, even with vouchers, can you really ever be sure of your Speyeria?!)

Papilio zelicaon, Papilio polyxenes asterias, Papilio rutulus, Papilio eurymedon, Parnassius clodius, Parnassius smintheus, Colias meadii, Colias eurytheme, Colias philodice, Colias pelidne minisni, Colias gigantea, Anthocharis stella, Euchloe ausonides, Pieris rapae, Pieris marginalis, Pontia protodice, Pontia occidentalis, Danaus plexippus, Coenonympha tullia ochracea, Coenonympha haydenii, Cercyonis pegala nephele, Cercyonis oetus charon, Erebia epipsodea, Erebia callias, Limenitis weidemeyerii, Vanessa cardui, Nymphalis milberti, Euphydryas chalcedona anicia, Euphydryas editha beani, Chlosyne palla calydon, Chlosyne whitneyi damoetas, Phyciodes selenis, Phyciodes tharos, Phyciodes campestris, Boloria napaea halli, Boloria selene tollandensis, Boloria chariclea helena, Boloria kriemhild, Boloria frigga sagata, Boloria freija browni, Speyeria mormonia eurynome, Speyeria hydaspe sakuntala, Speyeria callippe nevadensis, Speyeria egleis macdunnoughi x utahensis, Speyeria zerene picta x gunderi, Speyeria edwardsii, Satyrium titus immaculosus, Satyrium fuliginosum, Callophrys affinis, Lycaena cupreus artemisia, Lycaena helloides megaloceras, Lycaena heteronea, Lycaena editha, Everes comyntas, Everes amyntula, Glaucopsyche lygdamus oro, Euphilotes ancilla, Lycaeides idas atrapraetextus, Lycaeides melissa, Plebejus saepiolus insulanus, Icaricia icarioides pembina, Icaricia acmon lutzi, Oarisma garita, Thymelicus lineola, Polites draco, Polites sonora utahensis, Anatrytone logan lagus, Amblyscirtes vialis, Erynnis persius borealis, Pyrgus ruralis, Pyrgus communis

The Boloria probably deserve special mention (and I’m sure some of you out there might find interest in this genus). The best find by far was B. napaea halli. I encountered it halfway through my 20 mile hike in the Wind Rivers in an interesting boggy tundra-like habitat along a stream (the “bogs” that I saw are nothing at all like a UP muskeg).

Boloria napaea halli in the Wind River Mountains (July 26)
photo by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Considering my interest in bog fauna (either the alpine zone or bogs are my favorite habitat [until I see the arctic some day], I can’t decide which) seeing frigga and freija again was a very interesting experience. Boloria frigga sagata was fairly common around Togwotee Pass east of Teton NP; I always found it flying around shrubby willows in moist areas along streams. Boloria freija browni I saw fairly frequently in subalpine to timberline habitats in the Wind Rivers, usually in boggy tundra like areas with shrub willows.

Boloria freija browni in the Wind River Mountains (July 28)
photo by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Surprisingly I found no Oeneis (although I never got above 10,900 ft.), and the only noteworthy species of my favorite genus Erebia was callias; I searched quite a bit for theano ethela but found none. At Powder River Pass in the Bighorns I traversed the rockslides searching for magdalena; I think I saw two but raging alpine winds carried them far, far away before I could get a good look at them. The old Erebia “fly up high and let the wind carry you far away from Kyle” tactic that is often used by discoidalis. Only it is much, much easier to run in a bog after discoidalis than it is to frantically stumble across a steep rockslide after magdalena!

Back to something a little closer to home (or maybe not so close for those of you in the LP). On my way back from out west I swung up to Douglas Co. in the far northwest corner of WI. On Aug 1 I woke up and did some searching in the morning around the Milchesky Road Bog and the Bear Creek Bog (the one on county road A with all the chariclea). Just like the UP things seemed to be biologically behind, but I did manage to find one Boloria chariclea grandis along the edge of the Bear Creek Bog.

Bear Creek Bog (along county road A) Douglas Co., WI (Aug. 1)
photo by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

Some of the other notable species were Lycaena dorcas, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis, and Euphyes dion. Now that I had surveyed the habitat of Boloria chariclea grandis and even vouchered a specimen, I headed off to Gogebic co. MI in hopes of a new state record.

That day (Aug. 1^st) I visited four out of the many bog sites that I located using aerial photos, all in Gogebic Co. The first was Bedboat Lake Bog, a fairly large bog around Bedboat Lake. Nothing too extraordinary in the bog itself, but I had two good captures along the road that circles south of the bog: Polygonia satyrus and Lycaena dorcas. Totals there were: Colias eurytheme 4, Colias interior 1, Pieris oleracea 2, Cercyonis pegala nephele 4, Limenitis arthemis arthemis 1, Polygonia satyrus 1, Phyciodes selenis 1, Boloria selene atrocostalis 1, Speyeria atlantis 10, Lycaena dorcas 1, Thymelicus lineola 4, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 61, Hesperia comma laurentina 5, Polites mystic 3, Euphyes vestris 5. This bog seems like a very good site for jutta and eunomia. There are no good dry hummocky areas for freija/discoidalis as far as I could find, but I didn’t do all that much hiking, most of which followed the lake edge, which I gradually moved away from after breaking though five times!

The next site I visited was the most interesting to me, although I had no unusual finds. I call it the Gogebic Station Bog (it is north of Gogebic Station along the north side of US-2). At first the site looks more like a cattail marsh/ cedar swamp driving by, but the tamarack areas are suggestive of a bog. After hiking through a thick cattail sphagnum bog area I came out to a semi open tamarack dominated bog with various shrubs and large amounts of what seems to be the very same bog willow present in the Douglas Co. WI frigga bogs. At least now I had an excellent place to check for frigga next year. After cutting across a marshy area I came to another more open and less shrubby bog with mostly tamarack and some spruce. By this time I had noticed that this bog shares some of the vegetation (as far as I can tell!) of the Douglas Co. chariclea bogs, especially the bog goldenrod. I was now even more excited about the site, but the temp had dropped a little and strong winds were blowing, so no chariclea. Totals there: Colias eurytheme 1, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 26, Hesperia comma laurentina 1, Polites mystic 1, Euphyes vestris 1. The bog looks very good for jutta, eunomia, and frigga. It also has some small open hummocky areas that might have freija. And of course, keep your eye out for chariclea!

The last two sites I stopped at very briefly (about 15 minutes each). The first was Bass Lake Bog, a few miles north of Watersmeet. Totals were: Cercyonis pegala nephele 2, Speyeria cybele krautwurmi 1, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 2 It is a good sized tamarack dominated bog that looks good for jutta and eunomia. There are some good sized open meadows which I didn’t have time to explore, but for the most part the bog seems too flat for freija and moist for discoidalis. The last site was the North Watersmeet Bog, a few miles north of Watersmeet on the west side of US-45. Totals there: Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 10. Again, this bog looks good for jutta and eunomia. This bog has some very open meadows like the Ramsey Lake Bog, with some hummock development, so freija might be a possibility here. It still seems too moist for discoidalis, but I haven’t explored the site much.

Later that night I was back in Green Bay, only to leave the very next night for my Grandma’s house in the UP, staying up there for a week. In addition to surveying my Grandma’s property (Trombly) and the McFarland Bog, I also went with my family (or was it with the bugs instead?) up at Baldy Lake in Alger County and also a few random spots close to Munising.

August 3- For two hours in the morning I hiked around my Grandma’s property in Trombly (Delta Co). At first I didn’t find anything that was out of the ordinary, but toward the end of my hiking I captured two species which I have never seen on the property before (and I have been surveying here since the age of six!), Satyrium titus and Wallengrenia egeremet. This shows that even though you’ve been to a site a million times, you probably haven’t found everything. Totals there: Colias philodice 15, Enodia anthedon 3, Megisto cymela 1, Cercyonis pegala nephele 25, Phyciodes selenis 4, Boloria bellona 3, Speyeria cybele krautwurmi 43, Satyrium titus 1, Thymelicus lineola 3, Polites peckius 3, Polites mystic 13, Polites themistocles 5, Wallengrenia egeremet 1, Euphyes vestris 7

Later that day I did some hiking around Baldy Lake (Alger Co.). Lots of Geometrids, but not much in the way of butterflies, although I was surprised to find a Satyrium titus in the middle of a wet leatherleaf bog. Totals there: Enodia anthedon 1, Phyciodes selenis 1, Satyrium titus 1, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 16, Polites mystic 1, Euphyes vestris 2

August 4- I actually brought my dad to the McFarland Bog on this morning! Not sure if he enjoyed that muskeg as much as I did though! Most of the time was spent hiking the sandy trail on the south side of the bog, although I made him do a hundred meters or so in the bog. I spent a couple of minutes looking for dorcas but the wind was blowing and the temp was no more than 70 at best, so I decided to try later. I was happy to note that bog goldenrod was present along the trail close to the bog. Totals: Colias philodice 1, Colias interior 40, Satyrodes eurydice 1, Coenonympha tullia inornata 1, Cercyonis pegala nephele 12, Speyeria atlantis 3, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 4, Polites mystic 1

August 5- Most of the day was spent at a few places near Munising (Alger Co.), but it was only 60-65 and breezy most of the day, so I hardly saw anything. Totals for all sites: Colias eurytheme 1, Colias interior 2, Pieris oleracea 1, Enodia anthedon 1, Speyeria cybele krautwurmi 4, Thymelicus lineola 2. I also spent some time at Baldy Lake, but spent most of time searching for herps (for those who don’t know that’s reptiles & amphibians, NOT herpes!).

August 6- A little warmer (65-70) and I hiked for over four hours in the woods north of Baldy Lake on Bruno’s Run Trail, but ONLY saw ONE Euphyes vestris. Hmmmm.......

Driving back to my Grandma’s I took a few of the gravel forest roads (going past the Ramsey Lake Bog) to check out another site I had located by aerial photos south and east of the Ramsey Lake Bog. I wasn’t expecting much, but it turned out to be absolutely loaded with bog birch, more than any other bog I have seen. Another “must see” for next year.

August 7- Warmer still (70-80) and at least I saw a few things! In the morning I hiked around my Grandma’s place again (Delta Co.) Satyrium acadicum was a good find; I haven’t seen it for at least 3 years on the property. Totals were: Colias philodice 5, Enodia anthedon 3, Satyrodes eurydice 1, Cercyonis pegala nephele 7, Phyciodes selenis 6, Boloria selene atrocostalis 1, Boloria bellona 1, Speyeria cybele krautwurmi 12, Speyeria atlantis 4, Satyrium acadicum 1, Thymelicus lineola 3, Polites peckius 9, Polites mystic 11, Polites themistocles 2, Euphyes vestris 3

Later I went to some sort of family reunion thing at Rapid River Falls Park (Delta Co.), but of course I ended up doing some bug surveying. Saw one fresh looking Polygonia (probably progne) but couldn’t even get that close to it (I don’t record something unless I am absolutely certain of the ID). Totals: Colias interior 4, Pieris oleracea 5, Danaus plexippus 1, Cercyonis pegala nephele 7, Phyciodes selenis 4, Boloria selene atrocostalis 1, Boloria bellona 2, Speyeria cybele krautwurmi 10, Speyeria atlantis 7, Satyrium titus 1, Hesperia comma laurentina 1, Polites peckius 1, Polites mystic 1, Euphyes vestris 2

August 8- Nice until I got out to the McFarland Bog; when I arrived the sun decided to hide and the wind replaced it. My cousin also decided to tag along, wondering why he was spending part of his summer in a bog! My goal was mainly to search for chariclea, or considering the weather, chariclea habitat. I made out for the moist bog birch area, and sure enough there was a fair amount of bog goldenrod. I also noticed some bog willow (the frigga kind) hidden in with the birches. I did see two orange Boloria, but they were of course selene atrocostalis, same as the time when I was searching for frigga. Totals: Colias interior 23, Cercyonis pegala nephele 3, Euphydryas phaeton 1, Phyciodes selenis 2, Boloria selene atrocostalis 2, Speyeria atlantis 8, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 4, Polites mystic 3, Euphyes vestris 2

Considering the cool and cloudy weather, I then decided to drive a little ways north to check out a bog I had spotted using aerial photos, the North McFarland Bog (less than a mile north of the McFarland Bog). After driving in on a gravel road which caused my no ground-clearance Saturn to bottom out a few times, I parked my car in an open area about 0.25 miles north of the bog. The rest would have to be through the woods. This time my cousin stayed in the car (he would later be glad he did). The forest quickly gave way to nearly impenetrable alder swamp. I had my GPS out, but I felt it couldn’t get a good signal and was leading me the wrong way, so I decided to trust my own sense of the direction. And sure enough after 20 minutes I ended up back on the road close to where I started! Now I had no choice but to trust my GPS, and slowly made my way back into that awful alder swamp. After a little while the alders and other brush become much, much thicker- every step of the way I was trampling over shrubs, for there were no openings whatsoever. I then began wondering if the distance to this bog was in fact a quarter mile, or maybe much more! I climbed high into a tamarack to get a good look around, and could faintly make out were the bog was, but the brush looked very thick the whole way. After a while of more stumbling through the brush I made it to the bog. The soil must have a fair amount of nutrients, because there were a wide variety of shrubs, although I could not find bog willow or birch. Bog goldenrod was also present. Most of the bog seemed too flat and moist to support discoidalis or freija, but after some more hiking I found a few a few drier hummocky areas, although there are no really good open areas at all. Perhaps still open enough for discoidalis, I hope. On the way out I decided to find a different way back, and I probably was trespassing through some sort of clear-cut area just to avoid that awful brushy swamp. After all, I had torn an extra hole in my already holey beautiful bog jeans.

August 9- I went out to the McFarland Bog for one more try at chariclea. The weather was good for a little while, but later it began to rain. Near the start of the trail I found Satyrium acadicum, a new species for the site. I hiked to the far east side where I had found a marshy area with sundew, but I didn’t see any bog goldenrod there, although was some nearby back toward the bog. On my way back through the bog I did a bog sweep with my net, collecting several micro leps and countless tiny insects, including some neat micro Hymenoptera. Totals: Colias interior 37, Cercyonis pegala nephele 19, Phyciodes selenis 1, Boloria selene atrocostalis 1, Speyeria atlantis 15, Satryrium acadicum 1, Lycaena epixanthe michiganensis 22, Hesperia leonardus 1, Polites mystic 5, Polites themistocles 1

Well, no chariclea this time, but next year “I’ll be back”. Before I left for home I set up the bait trap back out on my Grandma’s property. On Aug. 20 I will be up in the UP for two days, so I can check the trap and rebait it then. Hopefully I’ll get Polygonia satyrus or gracilis (there is some currant in the area). Due to weather conditions this year the Catocala will not be emerging until sometime next June.

Email to Mo from Carly Kelly,
I was up in MIO yesterday (8-10-04) doing Michigan Bog Grasshopper surveys (Appalachia arcana) when I came across this white caterpillar on a raspberry leaf, it looks familiar but I am not sure what it is?
-Carly Kelly

Mo Nielsen wrote:
Carly, Got your message; your 'white-spotted' moth is Anania funebris glomeralis (Wlk.).
Unfortunately, it has no common name that I know. It is figured in Covell's, "A Field Guide to the Moths of Eastern North America", 1984. This book is no longer in print, but may be obtained in used book stores. This is a common moth that occurs during the day in fields; its larval host is goldenrod. The species is Holarctic, i.e. occurring throughout the northern hemisphere.

Email from Julie A. Craves, August 4:

Mo and Owen,

Yesterday (8/3/04) I collected another Coenonympha tullia inornata from Wayne Co., this one from the northwestern part of the county in Canton Twp., versus the southeastern part of the county where I collected one last year (which I wrote up for the MES newsletter, pg 5 December 2003). This individual was also much fresher than last year's. I only saw one, but did not have much time to explore the whole vicinity, which was overgrown lots awaiting office development.

I have found it to be a poor year in general for both lepidoptera and odonata at most sites in Wayne Co.

--
Julie A. Craves
Rouge River Bird Observatory
University of Michigan-Dearborn
http://www.rrbo.org

Report from Kyle Johnson, August 02:
Kyle telephoned me today with results of his trip to Wyoming for Bolorias, etc., and his results on Sunday in Gogebic County where he obtained some county records. His report will follow when he returns to Wisconsin.

Report from John Farmer, July 31 & August 01:

1:00 P.M., 7/31/04

A fresh specimen (Libytheana carineta Snout Butterfly) hanging out around our red van in the driveway at 13475
Petersburg Road today. This Snout found at my home would duplicate the one you (Owen Perkins) found on Embury Road as a voucher for Washtenaw Co., since I live in the county.

By the time I read your reply to my announcement at 4:00 P.M. yesterday, the Snout had left the driveway. Fortunately, however, I saw it around 5:00 nectaring on a Wild Carrot blossom in my garden.

Report for July 16-19, 2004 on Northern Blue Survey by Mo Nielsen and Bob Kriegel

Our goal for this trip was to obtain specimen/photographic vouchers to confirm visual sightings of the Northern Blue, Lycaeides idas nabokovi, in and near the Ottawa National Forest’s McCormick Wilderness Tract in northwestern Marquette County. This Blue is listed in Michigan as a threatened species by MDNR and is one of our more poorly known butterflies. Although Owen could not join us, his legwork was critical in providing us habitat descriptions and GPS coordinates. A big thank you to Owen and Amy T. Wolf, Ph.D. (Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay WI 54311 wolfa@uwgb.edu) for these leads.

Mo and I left at 7:30 am on Friday July 16^th, hoping to beat an east bound weather front to the classic Northern Blue locality east of Shingleton, MI. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Seney rest area around 12:30 pm it was already raining. A cell phone call to Owen confirmed that the rain was widespread and slow moving so we continued westward. When we arrived at Ishpeming, MI around 3 pm it was still cloudy and sprinkling. There would be no butterflying on this day. So we did the next best thing and focused on rocks including a quick trip to da Yooper’s Rock Shop, a tour of the Cleveland & Cliffs Iron Mining Museum and a walk up to the top of Jasper Knob. I think Mo had a good time. He was certainly impressed with the gnarled jasperlite bald overlooking downtown.

Here and at several other stops during our trip we saw beautiful but deadly mushrooms of Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria. That night we set up UV traps and a sheet along an old railroad right of way through marsh a few miles west of town.

The next morning (Saturday, July 17) we arose to a beautiful sunny day and were soon heading north from Champion, MI on a county road (607) paralleling the Peshekee River. Mo described the undulating road as a rocking chair ride. A long tailed weasel darted across the road in front of us. The terrain here is very unique for Michigan, a combination of narrow outwash plains and precipitous granitic balds. Some of these knobs rise more than 100 feet above the river. Around 10:15 am we pulled into an old, overgrown borrow pit to get our gear in order and see if anything was flying yet. The butterflies were just starting to take wing. Over the next 45 minutes we encountered almost a dozen species, including one fresh Northern Blue male. This was a new locality! We searched the immediate area for more individuals and for its larval host, dwarf bilberry, but found neither.

Encouraged, we moved on to the first GPS coordinate Owen and Amy had provided. As soon as we got out of the van by the driveway we saw a couple of Northern Blues basking on the road. We spent the next hour and a half combing the area to get a handle on the extent of the population. We observed around 20 individuals, both males and females. One female was completely missing a hind wing, but she was still able to fly surprisingly well. Since almost all of the butterflies were in excellent condition, we surmised that we were still in the first half of their flight window. We found three small patches 4-6 ft in diameter of dwarf bilberry in the immediate area. The butterflies were nectaring primarily on daisy, yarrow and orange hawkweed.

Next, we drove to the entrance of the McCormick Wilderness Tract. According to our leads, a sizable population of Northern Blues and the host plant had been observed here in 1989 and 1994. Unfortunately, there were no specimens or photographs to document these observations. That’s why we were here. Mo and Owen visited the site in 2003 and were unable to find either the butterfly or its host. This year Mo and I returned with a more detailed site description in hand. According to the MNFI report the site was in a large open meadow just 500 ft NE of the bridge across the Peshekee River. To prepare for our trip I used Terrain Navigator Professional software to locate this meadow on aerial photographs and upload GPS waypoints at both ends of the meadow into my Garmin Vista GPS unit. We spent almost two hours at the site walking the trail and crisscrossing all of the little pockets in the meadow looking for the butterfly. It was a beautiful day and many butterflies were present, but no Northern Blues. We saw lots of daisies, yarrow, clover, vetch, lowbush blueberry, wintergreen and other plants; but we were not able to locate any dwarf bilberry. We searched the area for side trails and took the only one we found to be sure that didn’t lead to another meadow. The earlier observer had reported seeing over 200 butterflies on both occasions. We were stumped. We already knew that the species was flying. There was no evidence that the site had been disturbed. The open meadow was still intact. How could we possibly miss such a large population? Either we were at the wrong spot or the earlier observer had mistaken some other butterfly for the Northern Blue. It’s experiences like this that remind me why solid documentation is so important.

Disappointed, we drove north to another GPS coordinate lead at a curve in the road. Our instructions were that there was host plant to the north. The coordinate turned out to be in the road itself, very near a national forest boundary marker. The area north of the road was heavily forested with no openings. Mo was very skeptical, but I encouraged him that we should check it out. We walked about in the forest and eventually made our way to the top of a forested knob. It was quite a view down, but we saw neither bilberry nor blues. Folks, if you use GPS devices please be careful to take coordinates right on the spot in question, don’t take them at the car and then walk into the woods. Also, be very careful to keep track of which coordinates are associated with which observations. Or better still, use one of the mapping programs like National Geographic Topo, Delorme’s Topo USA, or Terrain Navigator to document and keep track of your waypoints and tracks. OK, I’ll get off my soap box now.

We continued driving north to see what the habitat was like. By now the asphalt road had turned to gravel and taken over the course of an old railroad grade. In some areas the outwash plain was completely covered with wetlands. A couple of times we drove through very impressive cuts that had been blasted through granite knobs for the railroad right of way. We eventually found ourselves almost 23 miles north of M28 in Baraga County, truly in the middle of nowhere.

We headed south back to the driveway spot to take more photographs. I walked both sides of the road for 200+ yards in both directions and only encountered the butterfly within about 100 ft of its host. This time around Mo estimated that he saw about 30 individuals of the Northern Blue. Sometime during this second visit to the spot I realized that this locality was also a shallow, overgrown gravel pit, significantly older and more overgrown than the one where I had encountered my first Northern Blue male.

We had one more GPS coordinate to check out and I had high hopes for this lead. The coordinate was for a patch of dwarf bilberry located by a botanist during a plant survey for the forest service. On the topographic map and aerial photo I could make out a trail that led from the county road, across the river and near the spot. The aerial photograph also showed that the trail bisected a large clearing. On the photo this clearing looked identical to images of the clearings near Shingleton, MI that we know harbor Northern Blues. It was going on 4 pm when we started down the trail. Around the first bend we discovered that the 2-track went right up to the river but there was no bridge. The river appeared to be too deep to cross here. At that point I think we reached our level of frustration for the day and turned around. In hindsight I wished we had plodded on and found a place to cross the water. A few days later three forest service personnel did just that. They sent an e-mail to Owen with 3 GPS coordinates where they found the Northern Blue. Those coordinates turned out to be along this trail and in the clearing. And this was a new locality for Michigan. Ah well, next year I guess we’ll cross that river when we come to it.

In any event Mo and I headed south along the county road back towards M28, stopping at several places to see what was flying. As we passed another gravel pit he pulled off and we got out of the car. Almost immediately I saw a Blue flying over the bare gravel and netted it. It was another male Northern Blue. A few minutes later I spotted a female Blue, but it eluded me. Soon after this I caught another Blue. This one turned out to be a worn female Silvery Blue, Glaucopsyche lygdamus. So now, I’m not sure what species of Blue the female was that I missed. We searched the area looking for dwarf bilbery, but didn’t find any. Unlike the earlier gravel pits, this one is very fresh and may, in fact, still be in use. During the day we recorded a total of 20 species of butterflies as follows: Papilio canadensis, Colias interior, G. lygdamus, L. idas nabokovi, Speyeria cybele krautwarmi, S. atlantis, Boloria selene atrocostalis, Chlosyne nycteis, C. harrisii, Phyciodes selenis, Nymphalis antiopa, N. milberti, Limenitis arthemis, Enodia anthedon, Coenonympha tullia inornata, Erynnis icelus, Thymelicus lineola, Polites peckius, P. themistocles, and P. mystic.

That night we set up a generator and UV sheet in one of the old gravel pits. We had an excellent night of blacklighting. There were many St. Lawrence Tiger moths. Kyle, this is the arctiid species you mentioned in your last report. It flies earlier in the season than the Garden Tiger Moth. We also had a male cossid, a female prometha moth, several Plusiinae, and a nice diversity of notodontids. The picture of the tiger moth on dew covered fern was taken the next morning (Sunday, July 18) as we were taking down the sheet.

In the morning, after we were back on highway M28, Mo humored me and we drove through Champion, MI to track down the mine dumps of the abandoned Beacon Iron Mine. There we collected a few shimmering pieces of specular hematite. You can bet I’ll be back to this location!

Then we were back on the road again heading to the classic Northern Blue locality east of Shingleton, MI in Alger County. When we arrived at the site we could see that someone had been walking there before us. There was plenty of dwarf bilberry in evidence, but we did not see any of the butterflies. We worked our way east to another nearby spot that Mo and Ted Herig found about 10 years ago. This is a significantly larger patch of habitat. We encountered both male and female Northern Blues very soon after entering the site. Owen, your flagging tape is still up and really helped us negotiate this confusing patchwork of openings. Mo and I watched a female L. idas ovipositing on dwarf bilberry. As we explored the area we discovered that the bilberry is much more extensive than we had previously realized. It even reaches quite a ways into dimly lit black spruce stands as a groundcover mixed with a creeping dogwood. However, it does not seem to do well in full sun in the really dry spots. Here the bilberry gives way to lowbush blueberry and reindeer lichen. As I was photographing a worn female Blue that I presumed to be L. idas, she turned around to display the underside of her wings. The white halos around her black hindwing spots revealed that she was in fact a Silvery Blue. We estimated that we saw about 30 Northern Blues at this locality.

That evening we blacklit for moths in the ballfield at the north edge of Seney, MI, adjacent to a beautiful bog of Greenwood peat. We had an outstanding night of mothing catching many species of Plusiinae, tortricids, and notodontids. On Monday morning we made several stops as we continued east but did not observe anything significant.

All in all, it was an excellent trip. Saturday was both a very productive and frustrating day. This was my first experience in the field with Northern Blues so that was a real treat. I learned a lot about the Northern Blue’s haunts and we found two new localities. We also learned that we have a lot more work to do in northwest Marquette County. This trip raised new questions like is the Northern Blue only found in the outwash plains near the McCormick Tract, or are they also found at the tops of the granite knobs? Several people over several different years have been unable to duplicate the McCormick Tract Northern Blue sightings reported in 1989 and 1994 by one individual. Is this really a Northern Blue location, or did this individual actually see the Silvery Blue instead? The meadow has lots of vetch, this species larval host; but we were unable to find any dwarf bilberry. Is it just coincidence that all 3 of the Marquette County spots where we observed Northern Blues were old gravel [borrow] pits or does this tell us something about the butterfly or host plant’s ecological niche? Is it an opportunist that quickly colonizes the edges of openings on dry, droughty soils? Will we be able to find other Northern Blue sites in the logged outwash plain along the Peshekee River? How extensive is the butterfly’s bilberry habitat in the Shingleton area? As always -- so many bugs, so many questions, so little time. rdk

John Douglass sent me this stamp with the notation:

Happy memories Owen, E. laetus = joyful

Thank you John!

Note from Owen, July 22:
Summer Azure visited purple coneflowers in my back yard in Royal Oak today.

Report from John Farmer, July 22:

Snout Butterfly - A pretty worn specimen visited the purple coneflowers just outside the screened in porch at 1:00 today, Thursday, 7/22/04. My first of the season.

BTW, a couple each of Tiger and Black Swallowtails yesterday around noon at York Township's Sandra Richardson Park. If you haven't checked out the area, you might like to add it to your butterflying loop. There's a nice mix of microhabitats along the trail and there were quite a few leps and odonates flying there as I redistributed the Girl Scouts' bluebird houses there yesterday. If you aren't familiar with the park, the parking lot is on the east side of Platt Road 1/2 mile south of
Willis Rd. I'm a member of the Parks Committee for York Twp.

That said, you might also like to park in the new lot at the northwest corner of the Township's other park - Mary McCann Park - 1/2 mile south of Bemis Road on the east side of Warner Rd. Roger Kuhlman and I have seen some interesting things there (browns, hairstreaks, pearly eyes, variety of skippers, buckeyes, fritillaries) during Saline River Counts in years past. There's a trail leading eastward from the small parking lot through the woods to an old field at the back of the park. The
woods and the field are crossed by a deep ditch - intermittently wet - that has produced some of the best sightings in the past.

Also, I've had two good days lately with the Owen Perkins trap. Thirteen catches Tuesday and 10 yesterday. Haven't processed yesterday's yet, but Tuesday's catch was 7 Tawny Emperors, 5 Question Marks, and 1 Wood Nymph. Things may be looking up in this year of few 'flies.

[Note from Owen: Keep up the good observations. I am particularly interested in the fermented fruit bait trap captures!]

Email from Karen M. VanDuser [ kvanduser@juno.com ], July 21:
Subject: Regal Moth

I found one in my front yard, yesterday. I have not written down the scientific name but found it using yahoo search as the regal/royal moth. A Florida site has the most information on this.

The moth is the adult of the Hickory Horned Devil. I saw this brilliant robin's egg blue larvae last fall in the back yard.

My sighting is in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Hope this helps you in identification.

Note from Owen, July 20:
Red Admiral visited purple coneflowers in my back yard in Royal Oak today.

Note from Owen, July 17:
Two Michigan Lepidoptera Survey (MLS) members are in Marquette County today (Saturday, July 17) surveying for the Northern Blue (Lycaeides idas nabokovi).

Report from Kyle Johnson for July 9-12:

Nice weather yet again in the UP, with a few interesting finds. Things are still noticeably behind the usual.

July 9- I did some hiking around my Grandma’s house near Trombly, did a little searching around Rock (also Delta Co.), hit the McFarland Bog area for over 2 hours, and made a short stop at Little Lake (a jack pine barrens area in Marquette Co.) My highlight of the day was finding Euphyes bimacula at the McFarland Bog site (a new species for me). No eunomia left over and no epixanthe flying, although the latter hasn’t been found before at the site. Totals for the day: Trombly (Delta Co.) Papilio canadensis 1, Enodia anthedon 2, Coenonympha tullia inornata 10, Limenitis arthemis arthemis 1, Euphydryas phaeton 10, Phyciodes selenis 29, Boloria selene atrocostalis 1, Speyeria cybele krautwurmi 1, Speyeria atlantis 1, Thymelicus lineola 38, Polites mystic 22, Polites themistocles 3 Rock (Delta Co.) Papilio canadensis 1, Danaus plexippus 1, Enodia anthedon 1, Megisto cymela 2, Euphydryas phaeton 10, Phyciodes selenis 17, Thymelicus lineola 27, Polites peckius 2 [Delta County record], Polites mystic 24, Polites themistocles 5 McFarland Bog (Marquette Co.) Papilio canadensis 1, Colias interior 24, Satyrodes eurydice 1, Coenonympha tullia inornata 12, Limenitis arthemis arthemis 1, Chlosyne harrisii 1, Phyciodes selenis 8, Boloria selene atrocostalis 3, Speyeria atlantis 2, Thymelicus lineola 5, Polites mystic 8, Polites themistocles 4, Euphyes bimacula 1 [Marquette County record] Little Lake (Marquette Co.) Coenonympha tullia inornata 5, Thymelicus lineola 1, Hesperia sassacus 1, Polites mystic 1, Polites themistocles 2

July 10- I spent the whole day at my uncles’ place near Brampton, Delta Co. Totals: Papilio canadensis 3, Enodia anthedon 1, Satyrodes eurydice 1, Megisto cymela 3, Coenonympha tullia inornata 48, Limenitis arthemis 4, Vanessa cardui 1, Polygonia interrogationis 1, Nymphalis antiopa 2, Euphydryas phaeton 14, Phyciodes selenis 45, Boloria selene atrocostalis 2, Carterocephalus palaemon 1 [This is a late date], Thymelicus lineola 235, Polites peckius 3, Polites mystic 30, Polites themistocles 7, Euphyes vestris 1

July 11- Cooler and cloudy most of the day. Aside from my uncles’ place in Brampton, I hiked a trail north of Brampton and stopped at Brampton Lake. My hike on the Brampton Trail wasn’t supposed to be a butterfly survey expedition (it was a fitness walk with my mother, without my bug net!), but I had to check out a little brown butterfly- C. niphon clarki- a little odd for July! [Note from Owen: This ties the late date record] Totals (all Delta Co.) Brampton Papilio canadensis 2, Enodia anthedon 2, Megisto cymela 2, Coenonympha tullia inornata 1, Limenitis arthemis 2, Euphydryas phaeton 1, Phyciodes selenis 5, Thymelicus lineola 25, Polites mystic 1, Polites themistocles 1 Brampton Trail Papilio canadensis 1, Megisto cymela 1, Callophrys niphon clarki 1 Brampton Lake Megisto cymela 16, Limenitis arthemis 1, Thymelicus lineola 3

July 12- The night before I finally got my light out for some great moth action. One luna, several sphinxes, a couple Arctiids, and of course countless Noctuids, Geos, micros, and many others. I think I’ll worry about some of their ID’s in the fall/winter when I have some time on my hands! The weather on the 12^th was nice for the most part, but when ever I try to look for Euphyes/Poanes sedge skippers the wind picks up so that it is almost impossible to spot anything unless it’s right under my nose, and if I did find something it would be carried far by the wind! I did find one E. bimacula at the McFarland Bog site, but it was on the sandy trail that leads to the bog. A good find indeed, but by far the rarest catch at the bog that day was none other than Pieris rapae! I also spent an hour or so at Little Lake hoping to find more H. sassacus, but no such luck. Totals: McFarland Bog Papilio canadensis 1, Colias interior 51, Pieris rapae 1, Satyrodes eurydice 1, Coenonympha tullia inornata 14, Limenitis archippus 2, Limenitis arthemis 1, Phyciodes selenis 11, Speyeria atlantis 5, Ancyloxypha numitor 1, Thymelicus lineola 28, Polites mystic 14, Polites themistocles 5, Euphyes bimacula 1 Little Lake Colias interior 2, Enodia anthedon 1, Megisto cymela 1, Coenonympha tullia inornata 5, Thymelicus lineola 23, Polites mystic 10, Polites themistocles 1

On Thursday July 22 I should be on my way to the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming, a little change of pace from WI and the UP. Over a week of nothing but bugs (and maybe a rattlesnake on the prairie, to satisfy the herpetologist side of me!). And all for under $200 (college budget!). Another chance to see my favorite genus Erebia (especially theano and magdalena) and also some beautiful Boloria (most notably napaea halli and improba harryi if I’m lucky). If I don’t fall off a mountain slope chasing alpine leps, get eaten by a grizzly, or have my car explode from the abuse I put it through, I plan to be back in Wisconsin early on August 1. Instead of heading directly home I plan to head to Douglas county to check out Boloria chariclea grandis, and then head east to Gogebic county in the UP to try my luck with the species (although it might be a little early considering how far behind everything is). The weekend after that I plan to head to my grandma’s again to check the McFarland Bog and a few other places for chariclea as well. After that its not long before I get to experience the joys of organic chemistry back at Madison!

Only one picture this time; this time the moths get a chance!
I can't remember what species it is, but I know I've seen it in Les Ferge's collection.
It doesn't look like the Garden Tigers I usually find (Arctia caja).
First time I've ever seen it.
Picture taken in the morning on July 12 at Trombly, Delta Co.
photo by Kyle Evan Johnson © 2004

HELP -What is the scientific name? lepalert@comcast.net

REPLY FROM: Mogens C. "Mo" Nielsen
Kyle's large Arctiid moth=St. Lawrence Tiger Moth, Platarctia parthenos. It is fairly common in our northern counties, usually peaking around July 1 in most years. Our other large arctid is the Garden Tiger Moth, Arctia caja americana, which usually peaks a month later. Both are common at the hut (Otsego County)!

Thanks Mo!

News release provided by Harry King, July15: