Brian Johnson found our first two-spotted skippers (and our 67th species for June) at a bog in BUR on the last day of the month.
As cold, wet May 2016 fell behind us, the weather turned better in early June and, for the most part, stayed that way. In fact, June 2016 seemed a butterfly-chaser’s dream month: filled with bright, pleasantly warm, and mostly dry days. Very few days were hot and humid, and rain heavy enough to trap anyone indoors fell on just three or four days. (Butterfly gardeners might note that the lack of rain made it a less-than-ideal month from their point of view.)
Of our single-brooded spring species only dusted skipper and frosted elfin lingered into June (see “Missed in June” below), but diversity for the month was excellent, nevertheless. We found 25 species new for the year and totaled 67 species for the month. That is our second-highest June in our nine years of logging. The only June with a longer list is June 2012, when we tracked down 69 species.
Other highlights:
• four of the five Satyrium hairstreaks of South Jersey (we are missing only oak hairstreak from that group);
• three rare Pine Barrens specialties: Georgia satyr, dotted skipper, and two-spotted skipper;
• several other “miss-able species”: pipevine swallowtail, checkered white, great spangled fritillary, harvester (for the second month in a row), hackberry emperor, mulberry wing, and others.
Our total for reports (336) and contributing observers (29) were also both well up from May. Keep at it, everyone!
Observers who contributed to the log in June 2016:
• Cynthia Allen
• Dolores Amesbury
• Jesse Amesbury
• Dave Amadio
• Tom Bailey
• Ahmet Baytas
• Brenda Bruton
• Jennifer Bulava
• Claire Campbell
• Jesse Connor
• Jack Connor
• Deb Dowdell
• Jim Dowdell
• Steve Glynn
• Jean Gutsmuth
• Chris Herz
• Brian Johnson
• Sandra Keller
• Will Kerling
• Chip Krilowicz
• Stephen Mason
• Jack Miller
• Beth Polvino
• Clay Sutton
• Pat Sutton
• Jim Springer
• Harvey Tomlinson
• Chris Tonkinson
• Matt Webster
Thanks to each of you!
Species reported at least once during the month:
(Those new for the year show dates of first reports)
• pipevine swallowtail 6-13-16
• eastern tiger swallowtail
• black swallowtail
• spicebush swallowtail
• checkered white 6-14-16
• cabbage white
• orange sulphur
• clouded sulphur
• harvester
• American copper
• bronze copper
• bog copper 6-6-16
• coral hairstreak 6-13-16
• Edward’s hairstreak 6-26-16
• banded hairstreak 6-7-16
• striped hairstreak 6-25-16
• frosted elfin
• gray hairstreak
• red-banded hairstreak
• eastern tailed-blue
• summer azure
• American snout
• variegated fritillary
• great spangled fritillary 6-13-16
• meadow fritillary 6-4-16
• pearl crescent
• question mark
• eastern comma
• mourning cloak
• American lady
• red admiral
• common buckeye
• red-spotted purple
• viceroy
• hackberry emperor 6-13-16
• Appalachian brown 6-4-16
• Georgia satyr 6-18-16
• little wood-satyr
• common wood-nymph 6-25-16
• monarch
• silver-spotted skipper
• northern cloudywing
• southern cloudywing
• Hayhurst’s scallopwing
• Horace’s duskywing
• common checkered-skipper
• common sootywing
• least skipper
• European skipper 6-5-16
• dotted skipper 6-15-16
• Peck’s skipper
• swarthy skipper 6-2-16
• tawny-edged skipper
• northern broken dash 6-10-16
• crossline skipper
• sachem
• little glassywing 6-1-16
• sachem
• Delaware skipper 6-9-16
• mulberry wing 6-23-16
• zabulon skipper
• Aaron’s skipper 6-3-16
• broad-winged skipper 6-18-16
• two-spotted skipper 6-30-16
• dun skipper 6-4-16
• dusted skipper
• salt marsh skipper 6-9-16
Missed in June:
Despite the good weather (or perhaps because of May’s tough weather), ten single-brooded spring species seen in May apparently did not fly into June:
• falcate orange-tip
• brown elfin
• hoary elfin
• Henry’s elfin
• eastern pine elfin
• Hessel’s hairstreak
• holly azure
• sleepy duskywing
• Juvenal’s duskywing
• cobweb skipper
Wild indigo duskywing, a three-brooded species, was also found in May but not in June. (Its second brood emerged on July 4.)
Overdue for second brood?
We had three reports of the spring brood of white-m hairstreak in April, two in GLO, one in CUM, over just four days, 4/14-4/17/16 – and have had no white-m reports since.
Similarly, juniper hairstreak seems over-due for a re-emergence. We had half a dozen reports of the species during ten days in April, 4/13-4/22/16 (in CMY, CUM, and OCN) and have had none since.
Keep an eye out, everyone!
Jack Connor
Our last dusted skipper for 2016 was documented by Steve Glynn at Muddy Run SAL on June 2, 2016.
Will Kerling documented our last frosted elfin (and the last of all single-brooded spring species) at Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve, CMY, on June 4.
Dave Amadio found our first meadow fritillary of 2016 at Supawna Meadows, SAL, on June 4.
Beth Polvino captured a spicebush swallowtail in her garden in North Cape May with this lovely shot on June 7.
Claire Campbell found our third variegated fritillary of the year — and the first photographed — at Laurel Run, BUR, on June 8.
Dolores Amesbury found two FOY for 2016 on the same day in her CMCH garden on June 9: salt marsh skipper and this Delaware skipper.
Dave Amadio photo’d this great spangled fritillary at Medford Leas on June 13: our first log record ever for Burlington County.
Is coral hairstreak the prettiest butterfly of South Jersey? It certainly attracts our photographers, including Jen Bulava who captured this one at Boundary Creek, BUR, on June 14.
Bog coppers were documented at a number of spots during the month, including these two photographed by Jim Springer at Klots Bog, OCN, on June 15.
Brian Johnson documented Georgia satyrs flying at a bog in BUR on June 18.
We had thirteen reports of Appalachian browns during the month, including this one beautifully photo’d by Tom Bailey at Medford WMA, BUR, on June 18.
Southern cloudywings were reported in several spots during the month, including this one nicely captured by Harvey Tomlinson’s camera at Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve, CMY, on June 19.
Steve Glynn found our first dotted skippers of the year at Colliers Mills, OCN, on June 20.
Pat Sutton managed this beautiful close-up of a female bog copper at Hunters Mill, ATL, on June 22.
A black swallowtail caterpillar photographed by Chip Krilowicz in his Haddonfield garden on June 24.
A silver-spotted skipper at Belleplain, CMY, photographed by Will Kerling on June 25.
Salem County is our “hot spot” for great spangled fritillary, as documented by Sandra Keller with this photo taken in Marilyn Patterson’s garden on June 25.
Chris Herz photographed this common wood-nymph at Medford Leas, BUR, on June 26, while scouting for the group field trip she led on July 2.