This is the LAST report for April 2007. Next time click
on May for the new month of lepalert reports!
AND I thank all of you who have been submitting reports
and photos, keep up the good work!
And for anyone else using this site you are invited to join in the fun,
information, and sharing with others. OAP
From: Kyle Evan Johnson, 30 April 2007:
A quick update as I have recently arrived at Norris Camp, MN. I will
soon type a more detailed report (with pictures!) to post on Owen's
LepAlert website, but have to figure out how to set up the internet at my
quarters (I am emailing this from the Norris Camp headquarters).
On Sunday, April 29 I collected at bogs in Rusk, Sawyer, and Washburn
counties in NW Wisconsin. I was hoping for new county records of Boloria
freija, but long story short no luck. At all three bogs I did
voucher Glyphipterix haworthana (Glyphipterigidae), Acleris
oxycoccana (Tortricidae), Callophrys augustinus, and Macaria
truncataria. The season was certainly far enough ahead for B.
freija, and the habitat superb, but no luck. I also believe I
saw the noctuid Anarta luteola in Rusk Co, quite sure I saw one in
Sawyer Co (damn they are fast!!!), and actually vouchered one in Washburn
Co (finally!).
I then made a quick stop at some pine/oak barrens in Douglas Co, where I
vouchered a possible Callophrys niphon/eryphon hybrid.
Lastly I made a quick decision to visit a good B. freija locality
further north in Douglas County (the far NW corner of WI), the Bear Creek
Bog along Hwy "A". The season was further behind (leatherleaf
not quite in bloom, and tamarack buds just starting...and ice still
underfoot!), but it was still enough to see TWO BOLORIA FREIJA (one
vouchered, other photographed).
As far as I know this is the earliest B.freija record ANYWHERE (any
of you MN folks know of earlier records?). And they were probably
out even earlier in Lincoln/Price counties, WI.
More later,
From: Eugene Karolinsky, 30 April 2007:
New arrivals at Notre Dame area: V. atalanta (first Apr 26), V.
virginiensis (Apr 30), E. juvenalis (Apr 28), E. baptisiae
(Apr 29), E. clarus (Apr 29), E. comyntas (Apr 28). Also
flying during the weekend: P. rapae, C. philodice, P.
comma.
From: Laura Palombi, 30 April 2007:
Hi Owen, thought you'd find this interesting!
Laura
FYI. Another strong vote for continued long-term monitoring efforts.
Go to this site: http://www.dailydemocrat.com/areanews/ci_5780407
From: Thomas Bentley, 30 April 2007:
April 22nd - Adams and Juneau County Wisconsin. Met up with Kyle
Johnson for a tour of some of his hot spots. He can probably provide
a much more detailed report. Highlights: Eastern Pine Elfins,
Brown Elfin, Spring Azure, and Olympia Marbles. Also a very rare
dragon fly called a Ringed
Boghaunter (Williamsonia lintneri).
April 30th - Lake County Illinois - Illinois Beach
State Park produced 8+ Hoary Elfins. Was hoping for Olympia Marbles but
they were suprisingly absent.
[Note from OAP: Tom has a website that
includes nature photographs, with some butterflies. www.thomasbentley.com
Brown Elfin (Incisalia augustinus)
Eastern Pine Elfin (Incisalia niphon clarki)
Ringed Boghaunter (Williamsonia lintneri)
Hoary Elfin (Incisalia polia)
From: Roger Kuhlman, 30 April 2007:
Until the last few days butterflying in Southeast Michigan had been
terrible in April. The earlier unseasonable cold weather in the month had
really set butterfly emergence back. For instance I found my first Cabbage
White March 27 but did not see another one until April 20.
Our current warm weather has certainly changed things. Over the past
weekend April 28-29 I found 12 butterfly species most of them first
sightings of the butterfly season.
On Saturday I saw Cabbage White (Pieris rapae), American Painted
Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), Eastern Comma (Polygonia Comma),
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), and Question Mark (Polygonia
interrogatationis) at Point Mouillee in northwest Monroe County. Five
for the day.
On Sunday between the Discovery Center (Waterloo Recreation Area) and
Sharon Hills Preserve both in western Washtenaw County I found Mustard
White (Pieris napi), Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon), Brown
Elfin (Incisalia augustinus), Pine Elfin (Incisalia niphon),
Sleepy Duskywing (Erynnis brizo), Juvenal's Duskywing (Erynnis
juvenalis), Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), Cabbage White (Pieris
rapae), Eastern Comma (Polygonia Comma), and American Painted
Lady (Vanessa virginiensis). 10 species for the day. The Cabbage
Whites and the Spring Azures were the most numerous butterflies sighted.
I have received reports from other people that Tiger Swallowtail and
Clouded Sulphur were also sighted over the weekend in the region.
As befits our odd April weather, none of the first sighting dates of
butterfly species seen this April have set new early dates. The
closest coming to a record early date was Pine Elfin. The April 29 first
sighting compares favorably with the record early date of April 26 first
set in 1999 and tied last year 2006.
From: Stephen Ross, 30 April 2007:
I was out on Sunday (4/29) to the Haymarsh
State Game Area in Grant Twp. Mecosta Co looking for Pieris
virginiensis and found eight in the Red Oak-Maple woods there.
From: John Swales, 30 April 2007:
Yesterday, Sunday, first two admirals and
first Clouded Sulphur.
From: Dwayne Badgero, 29 April 2007:
Just wanted to let you
know that I had a P. glaucus today (Sunday) in Oakland Twp., Oakland
county. I also re-documented P. napi at a sight in Oxford Twp. for
the first time in 11 years.
From: Mogens C. "Mo" Nielsen, 29 April 2007:
Ted and I returned from the hut (Otsego County) this afternoon; I got
home at 2 PM. We had decent weather for Sat/Sun; Fri night
was cool and wet. It was the baptism for our season, We did enjoy
getting started there, but it could have been better, i.e. Ted
lost his good net, and a bear stole of my small bait traps (ripped
it off the tree!). There were lots of Celastrina lucia in and around the
hut, and a few nymphalid hibernators around.
From: John Farmer, 29 April 2007:
Ditto the tiger here in the yard on
Petersburg Rd., Milan. That's on 4/28/07. Anne spotted it
and I was able to see it before it moved on.
From: Martin Bialecki, 29 April 2007:
Here where Iron Creek crosses Noggles I had
my first Tiger swallowtail, Red admiral, and duskywing today. I
didn't get close enough to i.d. the d-w but I can conclude it was either
sleepy or dreamy.
From: Kyle Evan Johnson, 24 April 2007:
Hi all,
This field season will be a bit different from past years. From May
1 nearly continuously until the end of August I will be working on my
masters' research (the Lepidoptera of the Glacial Lake Agassiz peat lands)
in northern Minnesota. [note from OAP: see the following sites pertaining
to Glacial Lake Agassiz] http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rprp/claycounty/lakeagassiz.html
AND/OR http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/govdocs/text/lakeagassiz/
I've got some excellent support from the MN DNR, including field housing
(with internet even!), so I will be living in the field this
summer...quite exciting!!! For those who don't know, the Glacial
Lake Agassiz peat lands comprise one of the largest and most diverse peat
land areas in the world (1600 square kilometers), topped only by Canada's
Hudson Bay lowlands and western Siberia.
My field work in MI/WI will be extremely limited this season. For
the first time in many years I will miss early bog season in Upper
Michigan, and northern WI as well (except on April 30 on my way up).
I will probably travel to the U.P. for about a week around 4th of July,
and perhaps several days in August...hopefully when Mo's up for Catocalas.
I will be in email contact when I'm up in MN, so I can still give field
updates through Owen's LepAlert site, including pictures!
If any of you will like to visit northern MN I'd be glad to meet up with
you. Many great things to find up there, including Erebia
mancinus! For you MI folks, it is only a 3-3 1/2 hour drive from
Ironwood to the nearest
E. mancinus locality...good excuse to work the far western U.P.!
Let me know if you ever want to head up my way!
Kyle
From: Eugene Karolinsky, 24 April 2007:
A brief report from Notre Dame: we already have P. polyxenes
(sighted today, Apr 24)and C. philodice (first on Apr 21). Also we
still have P. comma, N. antiopa, C. ladon, and (of
course) P. rapae.
This weekend I made a very brief trip north for the early
spring day flying Geos. The spot with the best reputation for Brephos
infans and Leucobrephos brephoides has been Webb Road east of I-75
which can be accessed from the Wolverine Exit in Cheboygan Co.
I checked this road from 10am to 2:30pm on Sunday
April 22. In Gaylord this weekend the high on Fri was 68, on Sat 72 and on
the Webb Road at about 2-3pm on Sun it was as warm as mid 80's based
on my car thermometer!
I did find B. infans beween 10 and 11 am by walking wet roads and checking
wet muddy spots between the two river bridges [5 taken; 2-3 others seen].
It appears that all encountered were flushed from wet ground or road
surfaces. I never saw an individual freely flying along the
road or in adjacent woods. After 11am (temp was about 70 by then) no more
seen, as if someone threw a switch.
No sign of Leucobrephos despite walking many stretches of the road and
checking a number of wet spots. The first 2-4 miles or road east of
the exit were quite dry and dusty. Only one very tiny patch of
snow was spotted in the woods and one Azure was spotted on the wing.
Quite sure I was too late for Leucobrephos. Next year I hope to
look again but will watch for the first warm spell in April.
Probably would have had more
success if I took the trip during the longer warm spell earlier this month.
As I walked Webb Road this afternoon with temps in the 80's the thought
crossed my mind that I should have continued north to the Trout Lake area
in the UP and looked for Boloria freija. I wonder if a few
early individuals were on the wing today?
Would be interested if other observations have made on these moths in 2007.
I do know that Kyle Johnson took B. infans near Green Bay earlier in the
month.
NYPL_DigitalLibrary
From: OAP, 22 April 2007:
This specimen of Chlosyne harrisii and its data label shows that
Wilbur S.
McAlpine on June 19, 1932, collected butteflies in T4N R11E Sect 19.
This is the section in Orion Twp. where on August 1, 1954, I collected a specimen of the Swamp
Metalmark, Calephelis mutica McAlpine, 1937, MLS#004588.
And it has long been my contention that it was at the site of my
collecting at the fen on Kern Road that Mr. Wilbur S. McAlpine may well
have also collected C. mutica.
From: Stephen Ross, 20 April 2007:
April 19 was the first day since April 1 pleasant enough for a butterfly
of any sort in Mecosta County. I saw a Mourning Cloak in two different
locations. Supposed to be nice again today, hopefully a few more will be
out.
From: Harry D. King, 19 April 2007:
Hey guys, notice the locale on the larva.
Ha! Ha!
Not bad for 1980-1981 photos.
[note from OAP: the attachment was illecta and click on illecta
below to go to the site that contains the reference about that which Harry
is referring, the example given below, and MUCH MUCH more!]
Last evening my wife, Grace, and I attended the second
meeting of the Southeast Michigan Butterfly Association (SEMBA) at Nankin
Mills. We were warmly received and to top it off, Grace won the door
prize!
We met several very charming people (gardeners, butterfly
watchers, naturalists) and were privileged to hear from some very knowledgeable
persons about their experiences in gardening, attracting butterflies, and
some have even gone so far as to rear numerous species. Laura Palombi,
Associate Curator of Invertebrates at the Detroit Zoo, a member of SEMBA,
gave information to the group about identifying butterflies, setting up
observation trails and watches, and organizing the means by which the
group may records observations.
Brenda Dziedzic provided a Power-Point presentation on
butterflies she has attracted to her yard garden, the nectar sources,
fermenting fruit baits, and host plants she cares for to attract these
flying beauties to her home.
It was a very informative presentation and was a kick-off to the gardening
the members will be enjoying now that the weather has become so
enjoyable.
I was there because I wanted to support this group in
their endeavors, provide any assistance they may desire, and keep up with
what this intriguing group is planning, and personally meet Laura Palombi
(with whom I had been communicating by email.). Good Luck SEMBA! The
SEMBA web site is www.sembabutterfly.com
From: Dwayne Badgero, 16 April 2007:
I have been doing some
collecting here in Oxford. I have 8 bait traps out in an oak
woodlot and have run my sheet a few times too. Things have been
pretty slow since the 3rd. On that night I collected several
Noctuid species as well as a few Geometriids and micros.
Field Update
from Kyle Johnson (April 15)
On April 15 I took advantage of
the nice weather and investigated two peatlands in southeastern Wisconsin.
My first stop was at the Beulah Bog in Walworth Co.This is quite a nice peatland for being so far south in the state
(below the 43rd parallel).Surrounding the peatland is a moat (thank goodness for the
boardwalk!) which grades into a nice open Sphagnum/leatherleaf poor fen
mat with scattered bog birch and wiregrass.This leads to a tamarack poor swamp with plenty of cranberry in the
understory, and thick bog viburnum.Near
a small bog lake the tamarack poor swamp opens up into a floating poor fen
mat (as close to true acid bog as you can get this far south...there are
no true bogs in southern Wisconsin!) dominated by leatherleaf, pitcher
plant (very dense!) and small cranberry.
Conditions were
in the low 50’s and mostly sunny...good enough to get a little lep
action.On that nice floating
poor fen mat I found many Acleris
oxycoccana(Tortricidae).This is a decent southward range extension in Wisconsin, at least
as far as I know.While
chasing my quarry I repeatedly tempted fate on the floating Sphagnum mat!
Photographers
Group at the Mississippi Entomological Museum at the
Mississippi State University
Send suggestions, or submit photographs to Webmaster
-- Moth Photographers Group
The Beulah Bog has excellent potential for a number of peatland lep range
extensions.I was surprised
not to find Callophrys augustinus and
Macaria truncataria on this
visit.The tamarack buds were
just coming out, so it should’ve been late enough for the two.I hope to try around peak flight in the future.
My second (and last) stop for the day was at a surprisingly large
Sphagnum/leatherleaf poor fen north of Burlington in Racine Co.I’m pretty sure this area is private property (at least it was
partly ringed by houses), but it was simply too nice to pass up.My plan was to head to the middle so that the surrounded
landowners would be confused as to whose property I was actually on!
My friend Jake
Zeuske decided to tag along for the day, and discovered first hand that
this site was an unusually wet peatland...especially the margins!And yes, the water wasn’t warm! While hiking across the site interior I was able to voucher a
couple more Acleris oxycoccana...a
further SE range extension!
From: Eugene Karolinsky, 16 April 2007:
Here at Notre Dame some butterflies now resume their activity. Yesterday
(Apr 15) P. rapae (1), C. ladon (a few), and P. comma
(a few) were observed.
From: Laura Palombi (Associate Curator of Invertebrates at the Detroit
Zoo), 15 April 2007:
Thanks
for putting up an announcement for the Oakland Land Conservancy’s
upcoming meeting. I hope to meet some of the local Lepalert people
there! As the project moves forward, I’ll be sure to provide
updates/announcements for the group. Right now I’m working on
getting my rearing facility set up and ready to roll in time to collect
founders from the west side of the state.
I’d
like to let the Lepalert group know about the newly formed Southeast
Michigan Butterfly Association. This group meets on 3rd
Wednesdays in
Westland
. I’ll be speaking at the next meeting on Wednesday April 18 about
butterfly monitoring. I’m inspired by the work of monitoring
networks in
Ohio
and
Illinois
and I think it would be great if the zoo and the Lepalert folks could help
the SEMBA group learn more about butterfly identification and how to
collect good sighting data. I’d like to recruit some LepSoc
members who can help me put on some identification workshops for this
group of enthusiasts. I’d like to get the ball rolling this season
with some basic identification training at their May 16th
meeting, then work with the interested members through the fall and winter
on more formal training for monitoring techniques and careful
identification. I know there’s a wealth of knowledge among the
Michigan Lepidopterists and I think the SEMBA group would benefit greatly
from having a few more local experts involved!
Hope you are doing well. A bit cold as of late...all
the better to finish up preparing for bog season! Field Update from Kyle Johnson
(April 2-April 9)
On April 2 I led a group of
eight other UW-Madison students down to southern Illinois for some Deep
South bug/herp action (courtesy of state vehicles!).South is not my usual direction of travel, but a little southern
weather & fauna sure sounded nice!
The drive down on April 2 was sunny and beautiful.At our lunch stop in Effingham I decided to investigate the fauna
of the vast treeless agricultural plain known as central Illinois (I
believe there is some sort of ordinance against trees in that part of the
state).I managed to voucher a Colias
eurytheme x philodice hybrid,
and missed the elusive noctuid Caenurgina
crassiuscula (yes, I know you are all jealous!)
Driving south of Mount Vernon (hey, there are trees here!) I began to see
Tiger Swallowtails crossing the road...and even a Zebra or two.Leaves were now out on the trees...spring was in full swing!Close to our destination we made a collecting stop at Vienna
(Johnson Co).Anthocharis
midea and Colias eurytheme were
very common.Papilo
glaucus, Celastrina ladon,
Phyciodes tharos, Danaus plexippus,
Caenurgina crassiuscula (this time vouchered!),
and neat orange/brown geos (Mellilla
xanthometata, I believe) were also present.
At our destination (Lake Glendale, Pope Co.) I still had a little daylight
to search around...oh did I forget to mention it was in the 80’s!!!Papilio glaucus, Eurytides
marcellus, Anthocharis midea, Erynnis juvenalis, and E. brizo were out.Oh
so green!On the herp side I
found several Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs (Acris
crepitans blanchardi), a Spring Peeper (Pseudacris
crucifer), and a Ground Skink (Scincella
lateralis).Lows that
night were in the 60’s (!), so it was a beautiful night for
blacklighting.A good show of
geos & noctuids, and reasonable number of micros and other macros, but
surprising no saturniids/sphingids...it was certainly late enough!Highlights include many Epimecis
hortaria (the Tulip Tree Beauty) and my first ever eriocraniid
moth!!! (likely Dyseriocrania
griseocapitella).Eriocraniids
are bizarre primitive moths that look more like a caddisfly than a moth at
rest. They do have a
functional proboscis, but also have vestigial mandibles...only the
Micropterigidae are more primitive (in our area, anyway).
April 3 was another beautiful sunny day in the 80’s...at first anyway!Before leaving camp I caught my first Milk Snake (Lampropeltis
triangulum syspila).A Zebra Swallowtail taunted us on our way out of the
campground...it would only appear when we were net-less!Our destination for the day was the Little Grand Canyon (Jackson
Co), an amazingly beautiful place of box canyons, waterfalls, riverbottom,
and ridgetop.
Present were Eurytides
marcellus, Papilo glaucus, Papilio troilus, Battus philenor, Anthocharis
midea, Cyllopsis gemma, Erynnis brizo, and Erynnis
juvenalis.On the herp
front Bufo americanus (American Toad),
Rana clamitans (Bronze Frog),
Plethodon glutinosus (Slimy Salamander),
and Opheodrys aestivus (Rough
Green Snake) were present, along with two Agkistrodon
piscivorous...Cottonmouths!
We got so
caught up with the herps that we failed to escape the approaching storm
front.We got back to our
vehicles completely soaked from the ensuing downpour.At least no one was struck by lightning, as we were carrying insect
collecting nets A.K.A. lighting rods!).That night we raided gas station lights around Paducah, Kentucky,
but didn’t find much...an Acronicta
sp. was the highlight of the night.
April 4 was much cooler...highs in the 50’s.We decided to head south into Kentucky.We first hit a random farm field/woodland area in Ballard Co.Colias eurytheme, Danaus
plexippus, Vanessa atalanta, Phyciodes tharos, Anagrapha falcifera,
Mellilla xanthometata, and a Macaria
sp. were the only leps out; interestingly no “southern
specialties”. The only
herps were a few sunning Common Garter Snakes (Thamnophis
sirtalis)Later in the
day we hit Westvaco WMA further south into Carlisle Co.New finds included Pholisora
catullus, Erynnis juvenalis,
Everes comyntas, a mystery crambid moth, and a Blanchard’s Cricket
Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi).
On April
5 we began collecting in the Lake Glendale area...sunny and 50’s, so
not bad by WI standards!But
eventually we had to pile in the vehicles and head north...back to 40’s
and 30’s...and high 20’s by the time we hit Madison!
On April 9 I visited the
Madison School Forest (Dane Co, WI) on a field trip for my Immature
Insects course (taught by beetle fanatic Dr. Dan Young), so naturally I
focused on collecting adult Lepidoptera!Highs were in the low 40’s and sunny, a nice break from the
20’s/30’s days before!Surprisingly
I didn’t see any leps flying, but did see a basking Common Garter Snake
(Thamnophis sirtalis).Under bark I found several Phyllocnistis
sp. (Gracillariidae), several Agonopterix
eupatoriiella (Oecophoridae), and a few tortricids (two appear to be Pseudexentera
spp.).
Oakland Land Conservancy's 2007 Annual Meeting will be
held at Bloomfield Hills School District's newly rebuilt E. L. Johnson
Nature Center in Bloomfield Hills. Monday, May 14, 2007 - 7:00--9:00 pm.
(Use prior http to obtain further information.)
The guest speaker this year is Laura Palombi,
associate curator of invertebrates at the Detroit Zoo. Ms. Palombi will
speak about insect conservation biology, highlighting her cooperative
project to reintroduce the Karner Blue Butterfly to southeast Michigan.
The Detroit Zoo is taking on a new role in the recovery of
the endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis).
The Zoo is working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to
restore the oak savanna habitat through controlled burns and plantings at
the Petersburg State Game Area, a site absent of the Karner blues for
almost 20 years. The Zoo plans to begin a trial breeding program at the
Zoo in 2007 and is targeting 2008 for release of captive-reared Karner
blues at the restored site.
From: Eugene Karolinsky, 04 April 2007:
The spring is temporarily over here, no butterflies for sure for the next
couple of days.
I am just attaching two photos taken a few days ago.
From: Roger Kuhlman, 03 April 2007:
Great to hear from you John. Your Spring Azure is the second earliest
sighting on record for the Greater Washtenaw County Butterfly Survey. The
only earlier date was April 1 from 2000. After seeing the
Red-throated Loon this morning at Portage Lake I butterflied at both the
Discovery Center and Embury Road in northwestern Washtenaw County and
found a Spring Azure at each place. While at the Discovery Center I tried
sugaring some trees with a butterfly bait mixture I whipped up but it did
not attract any butterflies only flies. It was the first time I have ever
tried attracting butterflies this way so it was a bit disappointing.
Weather conditions were not the best so I am going to try my bait again
whenever Spring returns after the approaching cold snap.
My first Spring Azure of 2007. Seen around 2:15 P.M. today on Petersburg Road
edge just north of Saline River Bridge. Yesterday I saw a Mourning
Cloak, a Gray Comma, and two other Commas, one of which was clearly P.
comma. Unable to I.D. the other to species. The commas were
all "sapping" at sapsucker wells on one of the large hickories on
the river bank behind our house. The Mourning Cloak was in the same
general area, but was not observed at the wells.
I set out the trap Owen Perkins gave me some years back, and although it was
buzzed frequently by one or more commas, none found their way inside.
Too windy today to set it out.
