We did our 2015 butterfly count on Thursday, July 9th this year.  We had 5 people helping – Me, Mike Reese, Joanne and Phil Kelly, and Randy Powers.  Here’s a ‘bench photo’ of the crew (I’m taking the photo).

Click HERE for the results of the count.

We didn’t see as many individuals as we usually do, but we got more species – our old record was 39 – this time we had 41.

One of those was a new species for our farm – a Hickory Hairstreak.  It wasn’t very cooperative, so I only have one bad photo.

I never take many photos during the count – I’m usually the person who records the sightings, so I’m pretty busy – but here are a few.

Acadian Hairstreak

Mated Banded Hairstreaks – we saw 81 Banded Hairstreaks – at least.  They were very active, swirling around oak trees in the savannas and the edges of the prairies.  It made them very hard to count.

A weevil – possibly Polydrusus formosus or Polydrusus impressifrons