Catahoula NWR Butterfly Count 2016

A Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis) poses on Tom, Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit

   I took part in the Catahoula NWR Butterfly Count on June 25, 2016. This was the first year that this count was conducted. There were six participants, with Craig Marks organizing the count. Other participants were Rosemary Seidler, Vicki LeFevers, Jeff Trahan, Tom Pollock. We covered locations within a 7.5 mile radius of the count circle center which was at the refuge headquarters. We began on the Headquarters Unit, where we split up into two teams (Tom, Craig, Jeff, and I taking the east and south part of loop; Rosemary and Vicki the north) to cover more area. After that we did the same on the Willow Lake Unit (R and V along gravel road, the rest on foot nearer the entrance). The NWR is bottomland hardwood forest, second-growth, grassy and brushy areas, and open water and swampy wetland. Habitat shots from these areas:

species found around this spot included Monarch, Little Yellow, Fiery Skipper, and the Checkered-Skippers

species found around this spot on Willow Lake Unit included Pearl Crescent and Fiery Skipper

species found in this area on Willow Lake Unit included Question Mark and Pearl Crescent

To get some sightings from the upland, piney-woods portion of the count circle, we all then went to part of Blade Loop, a road north of Rhinehart and southeast of Jena and not on the refuge. Habitat shots from that area:

species found around this spot at Blade Loop included Whirlabout, Gray Hairstreak, and Eastern Tailed-Blue

species found around this part of Blade Loop included Great Southern White and Common Buckeye

The list...
29 species, 500 individuals. Conditions: sunny and hot, near calm to light breeze. Circa - 9:50 am to 2:30 pm. The complete list, compiled by Craig, is below. After that, a few notes about what was found where, and other odds and ends.

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit

Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa)

Pipevine Swallowtail - 6
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 1
Spicebush Swallowtail - 2

Cloudless Sulphur - 14
Sleepy Orange - 3
Little Yellow - 89
Great Southern White - 2

Gray Hairstreak - 2
Eastern Tailed-Blue - 2

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas), Blade Loop at junction w/ Roark Bottom Rd

American Snout - 13
Monarch - 4
Gulf Fritillary - 8
Pearl Crescent - 163

a pair of Phaon Crescents (Phyciodes phaon), Headquarters Unit

Phaon Crescent - 28
Common Buckeye - 15
Question Mark - 12
Viceroy - 2
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 1
Goatweed Leafwing - 2
Hackberry Emperor - 39
Little Wood-Satyr - 1
Carolina Satyr - 3

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) nectaring on Swamp Milkweed, Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit. Compare to Viceroy below

Viceroy (Limenitis archippus), Headquarters Unit. Compare to Monarch above

Silver-spotted Skipper - 2
Tropical Checkered-Skipper - 32

A (Common or White... cannot be told apart in the field) Checkered-Skipper nectaring on Frogfruit (Phyla), Headquarters Unit. Tropical Checkered-Skipper is also similar, but the more experienced participants had no trouble telling Tropical from C/W.

Common/White Checkered Skipper - 6
Southern Skipperling - 1

Southern Skipperling (Copaeodes minima), Catahoula NWR Willow Lake Unit

Fiery Skipper - 45
Whirlabout - 1
Clouded Skipper - 1

Whirlabout (Polites vibex) nectaring on Ironweed (Vernonia), Blade Loop, La Salle Parish, Louisiana

    Hackberry Emperors, which are attracted to sweat, landed on us several times that morning on the HQ Unit. Phaon Crescents were present near Frogfruit: a host plant for the Phaon's caterpillars, whose flowers are popular with a number of butterfly species. Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias) also attracted many butterflies (see: video of Pearl Crescents nectaring on milkweed at Willow Lake). We located a tiny Southern Skipperling in a mowed grassy area on the Willow Lake Unit. I believe it was Jeff or Craig who pointed out the presence of Bermuda Grass, the skipperling caterpillar's host plant.

 
   Great Southern White is not a common butterfly in this part of the state, being more typically seen in south Louisiana. My personal experience with this species was in coastal Cameron Parish last summer, where they were abundant. However, Vicki spotted the species at the HQ Unit of the refuge, and then she and Mark saw one on Blade Loop. This is a new species for La Salle Parish.
   Rosemary spotted the Whirlabout, which was nectaring on Vernonia along a wooded stretch of Blade Loop. Craig located the day's two Gray Hairstreaks nearby. Eastern Tailed Blue was also present.

possibly a Vetch Looper?

   Besides butterflies, there were also moths to be seen that day. These included numerous Cross-lined Waved moths (Timandra amaturaria) and several of what look to me like Vetch Looper Moths (Caenurgia chloropha) or some similar species, among others.
   I'll include birds, flowers, etc. from this outing in an upcoming post about Catahoula NWR covering this May-June and another post summing up various off-refuge La Salle Parish locations for May-June.