Our count for April 2012 (see April Compilation) has gained another species: dusted skipper (above) found and photo’d by Bill Grant near Bevan Wildlife Management Area, Dividing Creek on 4-29-12.
Nice job tracking down this hard-to-find, spring-only species, Bill!
That addition gives us 46th species for the month of April and 47 for the year, as of 4/30/12.
While the admirals, ladies, and question marks were stealing the show last week, Michael O’Brien found another hard-to-find species (and first time spring species) at Tarkiln Pond in Cape May County on 5-6-12: little yellow. That’s number 48 for the year.
Other sightings of little yellow have been reported in North Jersey (Tom Halliwell in Sussex County, fide Jim Springer) and Pennsylvania. Does anyone know of a previous record for the species in the spring in New Jersey? It is generally considered a southern stray, generally arriving in mid to late summer (and still rare then north of Cape May County). Were those widely scattered yellows somehow caught up in that big flight of admirals, ladies, and q-marks?
Keep exploring and reporting, everyone!
jc
Jc,
Shapiro notes in “Butterflies of the Delaware Valley” that little yellow (little sulphur) occurs in Min May-June, in PA and parts of NJ. He mentions that it does breed here but “some years rare or even absent northward.” We haven’t seen them often according to our log (except the huge immigration year they had.) Thus, the species does not breed in the area anymore or we are just in a span where they are absent as Shapiro notes. It’s possible that the specimen Michael found actually could have been an egg laid from last year! Especially with such the warm winter we had.
~Steve