Butterflies at Last

It’s been another weird year here for butterflies. Similar to last year, we had some spring butterflies (in the case of Eastern tiger swallowtails, that is the emergence of those that overwintered in their chrysalis) and then a long “dry” spell of nothing until July. That drought would seem to indicate that the first generation (those who come from eggs laid by the overwintered generation) wasn’t very robust.

Synchronized American ladies on white Echinacea purpurea

Like last year, butterflies didn’t seem to ‘catch up’ and appear in noticeable numbers until July. That is when a couple of butterfly magnet plants start to bloom: buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora). My neighbor has the buttonbush and I walked over there on July 8 after seeing nothing on my buckeye and was surprised to see about 12 tiger swallowtails fluttering around her blooming plant.

Eastern tiger swallowtail on buttonbush (Cephalanthus)

This has been the week that I’ve really started to see good tiger swallowtail numbers at my house, as well as other butterflies. They are enjoying the remaining blooms on the Phlox paniculata, the cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum), the cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), and the devil’s walking stick (Aralia spinosa). The Joe pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum) is just about to open and I know they’ll love that too.

Tiger on Phlox paniculata

At my place this week I also had American lady butterflies, spicebush swallowtails, numerous skippers, hairstreaks, and summer azures (which were laying eggs on my wingstem (Verbesina)). On Saturday I went to visit a place with a lot of flowers (Night Song Native Plant Nursery), and also saw Gulf fritillaries, common buckeyes, long-tail skippers, as well as the tiger swallowtails.

Of course we had another wet spring this year so that could be the cause for the dip in May and June. This post is a way to document what I observed as well as to help others know they are not alone if their numbers have been down. 

There was one other difference this year that I’d like to mention. Several folks in the metro Atlanta area saw more Monarch butterflies than usual after the spring migration. Females continued to visit the area in May, June, and even in early July, laying eggs where they found milkweed. Even though they weren’t in my yard, I helped raise some of those and reported their presence to Journey North for citizen science. And, as I posted earlier, I also had fun raising some Queen butterflies from eggs laid by a female that came through the area in late May.

American lady on Silphium

American lady on Rudbeckia fulgida