2016 Fourth of July Butterfly Count

July 26th, 2016

On Tuesday, July 5th, fifteen volunteers and interns came to MPG for the annual Fourth of July Butterfly Count. This is a citizen-science event registered with the North American Butterfly Association (NABA). The data collected during these counts, which occur through North America, yield information about butterfly species distributions and their relative population sizes.

data collected during these counts, which occur through North America, yield information about butterfly species distributions and their relative population sizes.

Cool temperatures early in the day made the butterflies sluggish. We worried that this would
keep them from flying and make them difficult to count. But the group persisted, and as the day warmed, more and more of the little insects grew active and took flight.

The participants counted butterflies at three sites: two on the summit of Baldy Mountain, and one in the Woodchuck Creek drainage.

This fresh Milbert’s Tortoiseshell butterfly was a nice find on the top of Mount Baldy.

2016 MPG Butterfly Count Species List Totals
	July 5th, 2016
Count	Common Name	Latin Name
	Swallowtails	PAPILIONIDAE
47	Rocky Mountain Parnassian	Parnassius smintheus
4	Old World Swallowtail	Papilio machaon
2	Western Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio rutulus
12	Two-tailed Swallowtail	Papilio multicaudata
4	Pale Swallowtail	Papilio eurymedon
11	unidentified swallowtails

	Whites and Sulphurs	PIERIDAE
2	Becker's White	Pontia beckerii
5	Western White	Pontia occidentalis
12	Cabbage White	Pieris rapae
29	unidentified whites
6	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice
2	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme
4	unidentified sulphurs

	Coppers and Hairstreaks	LYCAENIDAE
7	Blue Copper	Lycaena heteronea
1	Coral Hairstreak	Satyrium titus
1	Grey Hairstreak	Strymon melinus
4	Ancilla Dotted Blue	Euphilotes enoptes
8	Northern Blue	Lycaeides idas
4	Melissa Blue	Lycaeides melissa
2	Boisduval's Blue	Plebejus icarioides
1	Acmon Blue	Plebejus acmon
9	unidentified blues

	Brushfoots	NYMPHALIDAE
1	Edwards' Fritillary	Speyeria edwardsii
2	Callippe Fritillary	Speyeria callippe
6	unknown fritillaries
1	Northern Checkerspot	Chlosyne palla
6	Snowberry Checkerspot	Euphydryas chalcedona colon
3	Northern Crescent	Phyciodes selenis
1	unknown crescent
1	unknown comma
1	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa
2	Milbert's Tortoiseshell	Nymphalis milberti
8	Lorquin's Admiral	Limenitis lorquini
4	Common Wood-nymph	Cercyonis pegala
73	Small Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis oetus
3	unknown wood-nymphs
1	Chryxus Arctic	Oeneis chryxus

	Skippers	HERPERIIDAE
4	Common Branded-Skipper	Hesperia comma
9	Western Branded-Skipper	Hesperia comma colorado
2	European Skipper	Thymelicus lineola
11	unindentified skippers

	Total # butterflies: 317	Total # species: 32