Butterfly
Highlights for 2004 at Fermilab
Tom Peterson
October 21,
2004
After early September, I saw few
butterflies
other than the ubiquitous yellow Clouded
Sulphurs and Orange Sulphurs.
Today was a sunny, 60 F day, so I went to a place where I have found Purplish
Coppers in October for the past few years, and, sure enough, there
was a male (top photo below) flying around patrolling the area and
occasionally
visiting the white asters. Just after I took this first photo, a
very fresh-looking, brilliant orange female appeared, also visiting
asters.
Literally within seconds, the male was on the same flower with her, he
turned around so they were "back-to-back", and they were mating.
(Second photo below.) I just happened to be in exactly the right
place at the right time to witness one of those small but amazing
events
in nature. A great way to finish the butterfly season!
September 7,
2004
The Question
Mark winter form and Eastern
Comma
winter form are flying now around woods edges, sometimes coming out
to nectar on the asters and goldenrod, but more often just perching on
tree trunks, branches, or leaves. The bright orange upperside
contrasts
with the orange-brown to gray underside. These butterflies will
hibernate
here in the woods and fly again in the spring.
August 30, 2004
Last Friday, a Little
Yellow was flying among all the Orange
Sulphurs in a field of clover south of the Main Ring. I do
not
see those very often here. Today a Giant
Swallowtail flitted across road A near the woods edge, the first I
have seen here this season. Also along the woods edge are Question
Marks (fresh-looking winter forms)
and Gray Commas. At noon today,
there
were at least four Purplish Coppers
nectaring
on the flowering arrowhead plants in the drainage ditch along road
C-west,
north of PS1, and a Meadow Fritillary
briefly joined them.
August 20, 2004
On lunch hour walks this week, I have
seen many Orange Sulphurs visiting
the
clover along the sides of the bike path. There are also some of
the
lemon-yellow Clouded Sulphurs, but
it
seems like most are the orange-yellow Orange Sulphurs. This is
not
unusual, these are typically common butterflies in late summer.
Sulphurs
sit with their wings folded, so one can typically only get photos of
the
underside of the live butterflies.
August 17, 2004
Lots of Tiger
Swallowtails are still flying. I saw as many as two or three
at once nectaring at thistle along the woods edge today. Each
time
that I have been out during the past few weeks, Tiger Swallowtails have
been the most conspicuous butterfly. But it is not a big time for
any other species right now, and in particular, I have seen rather few
Monarchs
so far this August.
July 31, 2004
A short walk on the interpretive trail
to the woods edge on Saturday revealed a great variety of mid-summer
butterflies.
Common
Wood-Nymphs and Monarchs are in the
prairie
with the ubiquitous
Sulphurs and Cabbage
Whites. Viceroys,
Red-spotted
Purples, Gray Commas, Great
Spangled Fritillaries, and Tiger
Swallowtails including several female dark forms were flying at the
woods edge. Northern Pearly-eyes
were flying in the woods. Also, a quick stop at the model
airplane
flying field confirmed that Meadow
Fritillaries
are still out.
July 14, 2004
If you take a walk in our prairie now,
you will almost certainly see some medium-sized, dark brown butterflies
flying low through the tall grass. They may even appear plain
black.
These are Common Wood-Nymphs, a
member
of the Satyr family. If you try to find a butterfly that looks
like
our Common Wood-Nymph in a field guide, it may be confusing, since
these
butterflies are highly variable in color and markings. For
example,
the illustration in the Zim Golden Nature Guide series shows the Common
Wood-Nymph with a large yellow patch on the front wings, which those in
this area lack. Common Wood-Nymph caterpillars feed on grasses,
and
the butterflies seem to thrive in our tallgrass prairie restorations as
well as in old fields. In July, Common Wood-Nymphs may be the
most
abundant butterfly at Fermilab. A short distance away, in the
woods,
a very similar-looking butterfly is flying right now, the Northern
Pearly-eye. Northern Pearly-eye is unusual for a butterfly in
that it seems to prefer the shade of the forest. Pearly-eyes
often
perch on tree trunks, where they blend in well with the color of the
bark.
July 2, 2004
Dion Skippers
are abundant this week in some of Fermilab's marshes. They are
very
local, seldom straying out of their marsh home, and rather rare in
northern
Illinois. Dion Skippers are one of the butterflies that serve as
a "canary in the coal mine" for natural areas, since they can only
survive
in relatively pristine, undisturbed marshy sedge meadows.
Yesterday,
Bob Lootens and I found at least a dozen Dion Skippers flying in some
sedges
at the south end of the A.E. Sea on the eastern side of the Fermilab
site,
and we also saw several Dions in some other places around the A.E. Sea
edge. This makes two large populations of Dion Skippers here at
Fermilab,
the other being three miles to the west along Indian Creek. We
are
also seeing Dion Skippers in marshy areas inside the Main Injector ring
and Main Ring where they have not been seen before. The presence
of these wetland skippers are a testament to the careful and successful
management of the Fermilab land by our FESS Roads and Grounds people.
June 28, 2004
All the local "anglewings" (genus Polygonia)--Question
Mark,
Eastern Comma, and Gray
Comma--were flying this weekend at the western edge of the woods
north
of the interpretive trail.
Coral Hairstreaks
are now abundant under the power lines on the eastern side of the site,
and Meadow Fritillaries are still
flying
there as well.
June 22, 2004
Great
Spangled Fritillaries are flying now and are especially common in
fields
along woods edges. These large, orange butterflies may be
mistaken
for Monarchs at a distance. In flight they often appear to simply
have a dark center and lighter orange fringe. When seen up close,
the intricacy of their markings becomes apparent. Great Spangled
Fritillaries are very fond of thistle and milkweed flowers, so patches
of those flowers often provide an opportunity to see one up
close.
Yesterday at noon, I happened upon a variant with more extensive black
than usual, shown on the Great
Spangled
Fritillaries page.
June 14, 2004
This past weekend brought a lot of great
sightings; the heart of the butterfly season is here. Among the
uncommon
butterflies found at Fermilab, Purplish
Coppers
and
Bronze Coppers are flying, probably
the first adult generation of three in a season. Bronze Coppers
are
especially numerous for this early in the season. They may be
found
in various places around pond edges, including on the transfer hall
berm
just east of the reflecting ponds in front of Wilson Hall. A
second
generation of Meadow Fritillaries
are
beginning to fly. Meadow Fritillaries are not common in the
Chicago
region but thrive here at Fermilab in our open fields. A good
place
to spot them will be just north of the Batavia Road entrance, under the
power lines, later this week. There appear to be four adult
generations
in a season, about every 7 weeks starting around May 1. This
appears
to be a big year for Question Marks.
I had already seen many, but there were literally dozens in one damaged
elm tree in Batavia over the weekend, attracted by the sap in a large,
split branch. Question Marks often visit suburban yards; their
caterpillars
feed on elm, among other plants.
June 7, 2004
Last Friday, June 4, Bob Lootens and I
encountered a Cloudless Sulphur
just
north of Batavia Road on the east side of the site. This was the
first one I have seen at Fermilab, a southern butterfly which disperses
north, typically later in the summer. Some of our more typical,
local
butterflies are becoming abundant. Over the past few days I have
seen many Question Marks (summer
forms)
and Red Admirals. Spring
Azures are the small blue butterflies which are common right now
and
may be seen especially around the flowering Dogwoods on site. Little
Wood-Satyrs are still common around woods edges. The small
orange
and brown skippers, Peck's Skipper and
Tawny-edged
Skipper, are visiting clover on mowed paths such as the Prairie
Interpretive
Trail and along road edges.
June 1, 2004
In early June, a rather inconspicuous
small butterfly, the Little Wood-Satyr,
is among the most abundant butterflies at Fermilab. Many are now
flying around the brushy woods edges on the eastern part of the
Fermilab
site. Like the other members of the Satyr family, it has a low,
bouncing
flight through tall grass and shrubs.
May 13, 2004
Yesterday, I had a message from Bill
Griffing
(ES&H) that Tim Miller (ES&H) had found a Luna moth during
their
lunchtime walk along the path between the Lederman Science Ed Center
and
Wilson Hall. When I went to look in the evening, I found three
Luna
moths, including a very fresh looking one which is pictured on the Giant
Silk Moth page. These beautiful members of the Giant Silk
Moth
family (Saturniidae) feed as caterpillars on walnut and other trees and
overwinter in a cocoon on the ground. Like other giant silk
moths,
they do not feed as adults and live only about a week or so. They
rest during the day, usually well-hidden in the green vegetation, fly
at
night, and are quite attracted to lights.
April 29, 2004
Butterflies are emerging, another sign
of spring. On April 29, I was surprised to hear of an unexpected
sighting. Martin Valenzuela, of FESS Roads and Grounds group, had
spotted Meadow Fritillaries flying here at Fermilab. Martin
called
Bob Lootens, who confirmed the sighting. Meadow
Fritillaries are rare in the Chicago region. Although we have
seen them here at Fermilab for the past few years, to find Meadow
Fritillaries
this early in the season is quite a surprise and may indicate that
there
are more generations per year than the field guides generally
indicate.
This butterfly depends on open fields with short vegetation (true to
its
name--Meadow Fritillary) and is thriving in the fields and prairies of
Fermilab.