Recent
butterfly (and moth!) sightings at Fermilab
Tom Peterson
October 29,
2007
Clouded
and Orange
Sulphurs and a few Painted Ladies are still flying, but the
butterfly season is nearly over. I attach below a photo of a nice
late-season moth, Maple
Spanworm, which is amazingly well-matched with the cottonwood
leaves on which it sits.
September 4,
2007
The late-season butterflies are coming out now, including Bronze Coppers.
The one below was near C0 on August 28. Gray Commas were
still flying last week in the usual place west of the big woods.
I had the pleasure of rearing a Gray Comma caterpillar through
metamorphosis; it only took one week from full-grown caterpillar
(photo below) to adult butterfly. Yellow-banded
underwings are still common on the service buildings in the
mornings.
Bronze Copper above, 28 August 2007, near C0.
Gray Comma caterpillar below, 16 August 2007, formed its chrysalis
on August 18 or 19 and emerged on August 25.
July 26,
2007
It is indeed a big year for many of the local butterflies. This
week, Giant
Swallowtails (photo below) are more abundant than I have
ever seen them before here at Fermilab. On one lunchtime walk I
saw about 10; one or two is more typical here at their summer
peak. I saw two nectaring at one plant! Dozens of Meadow
Fritillaries can be seen now flitting around at the usual
locations, such as site 70. Some of our large moths are flying
now, also. One day this week an Imperial
Moth and a Luna Moth were both resting on
service buildings here. Both of these moth species follow the
swallowtail life cycle pattern here, overwintering as a pupa (which we
call "chrysalis" for the butterfly), emerging in spring, and then a
second generation emerging in mid-summer. The underwing moths (genus Catacola)
are abundant now, also. On one walk this week in the woods I
found two Yellow-banded Underwings.
June 17,
2007
Fairly extensive travel kept me away from Fermilab's butterflies for a
while, and it is great to come back to what looks like a very good year
for the butterflies and moths. Red Admirals are indeed unusually
abundant. Both Meadow Fritillaries and Great
Spangled Fritillaries are flying here at Fermilab today. Some
southern butterflies have appeared unusually early, including Buckeyes and Fiery
Skippers. These two species do not survive the winter
this far north, but disperse to our area each year, typically by
August. Haploa
moths are abundant right now, resembling Cabbage
Whites when they fly. (The Cabbage Whites are also
abundant.) Many small moths which may be found in the mornings on
building doors and windows, having been attracted to the lights at
night, are in the family Geometridae, named
for their caterpillars, "measuring worms or inchworms". Geometrid
moths typically sit with wings down flat and partially spread, often
showing camouflage colors such as mottled browns and grays.
However, some are colorful and active by day. The Beggar Moth
is a small, delicate-looking moth with translucent spots
in its wings, common in the woods right now, and active during the
day.
March 26,
2007
Gray Commas
were flying in the woods here yesterday, the second of two very warm,
75 F days. Like the Eastern Comma,
Gray Commas overwinter as adults and may be found flying on the first,
warm spring days. I spotted the first of the Gray Commas when it
pursued a Mourning
Cloak which was also flying in the woods. The two species of
commas and the Mourning Cloak are the three species which fly here in
very early spring and certainly overwinter here as adults. It is
also likely that some Question Marks overwinter as adults
at Fermilab, but I have not confirmed that. The issue is confused
a bit by the fact that Question Marks are also known to
migrate.
March 11,
2007
Yesterday, one of the first bright, sunny days of the year, in the low
50's F, an Eastern
Comma flew through my backyard. A sign of spring! The
first lep sighting here at Fermilab was a Banded Wooly Bear
caterpillar crossing the walking path on a relatively cool day last
week. These fuzzy caterpillars hibernate in the grass or under leaves
and spin a cocoon in the early spring, from which they emerge by late
spring.