Members of the Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association report their butterfly sightings to a website that is open to the public for viewing. A set of companion pages provide information on the characteristics of butterflies of the region.
The above report from
Seeing butterflies on a driveway (on the sand/gravel - not on the adjacent vegetation) is not an unexpected experience in itself. The phenomenon is called "puddling" because after a summer rainshower butterflies gather at barren locations in search of minerals (especially sodium) and other trace nutrients that are not obtainable from the nectar sources in flowers. I photographed this cluster a couple summers ago at Crex Meadows -
- and I had difficulty driving down the roads there without running into butterflies.
What amazed me about the list at the top of this post was not the number of butterflies, but the diversity of species present. With the exception of the large fritillaries and the Red Admiral and a couple others, these are not long-distance migratory butterflies. Most of them have a rather limited range for their lifetime, and since their needs are specific with regard to food plants for their larva, the implication is that there must be a wide range of microhabitats present close to this driveway (woods, fields, meadows, wetlands, prairie).
Marcie O'Connor maintains Prairie Haven, a repurposed 500-acre farm that she has been "unfarming" for years. Unfarming does not mean neglecting - it refers to an active and labor-intensive process of letting the land revert back to its natural set of habitats, which requires attention to invasives and selective controlled mowing and seeding. She describes the process at this link; elsewhere on the website she provides inventories of the incredible variety of butterflies, moths (82 species in one night), and other animals (and plants) they have observed at Prairie Haven. The website is well worth a visit for those interested in conservation of natural resources and habitats.
Addendum 2025:
This is the butterfly count at Prairie Haven for one day in the midsummer of 2025. Note that this is an official NABA count, so there are multiple observers likely stationed at or walking through different areas on the farm, but the variety of species is truly remarkable.
A low butterfly summer this year here in southern RI. One or two yellow tiger swallowtail, one monarch, one red admiral, several skippers early on. Plenty of cabbage whites knoshing in the catnip - that seems to attract them and small bumble bees. Maybe one dragonfly so far? To make up, two or three hummingbirds. The ground dwelling bees are back and seem to be doing okay. No ants under the front steps cement blocks? Last year was so much better for dragon and butter flies.
ReplyDeleteThe Cabbage Whites will likely survive along with cockroaches and jellyfish when all other life on earth dies off.
DeleteWe have active pest control companies offering help to folks who don't like bugs. I see fewer butterflies every year. I had lots of beautiful blue-black wasps feeding at my mint/oregano patch for years. I haven't seen one for two years. Yes, West Nile virus carrying mosquitos are a neighborhood problem. There are even fewer Japanese beetles.
ReplyDeleteSame here in suburban Madison. They go door-to-door offering to spray your yard and the outside of your house to kill bugs and ants. Ten years ago we had an abundance of Monarch caterpillars on our milkweed. This year we haven't seen a single one. Some holes in leaves from first instars, but birds/spiders/ants have taken those. Very sad.
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