Butterfly update, June 2001

2001 is a HUGE year for butterflies so far. Well, at least it is for some species like Red Admirals and American Ladies. Both are more numerous this year than I ever remember. Many other species seem to be doing well this year, such as Great Spangled Fritillaries, which can be seen from late June to mid-July on the Interpretive Trail near the woods.

I have spotted two new species for the site so far this year--the Little Glassywing Skipper and the Meadow Fritillary--bringing the total for the site to 46.

Little Glassywing is in an informal group of similar small, dark brown skippers along with the Dun Skipper that some lepidopterists refer to as "the witches". All of the witches are generally common and can be difficult to identify.

The other new species is the Meadow Fritillary. A colony of them lives at Fermilab just north and northeast of the garden plots. The Meadow Fritillary is not nationally rare, but it is locally rare in the Chicago area. At most only a few other butterfly monitors in northeastern Illinois report it at their sites.

The eastern side of the Fermilab site where the Meadow Fritillaries are found may be Fermilab's best butterfly habitat. But the opposite side of Fermilab, along Indian Creek in the Main Injector area, might also support some unusual butterflies in wetland remnants. The Dion Skipper, a beautiful, bright, orange-red, remnant-dependent, wetland skipper, was found there in the late 1980's. Are the Dion Skippers still around Indian Creek? I look forward to exploring that area this summer.

Tom Peterson
(Tom writes a monthly butterfly update during the summer that posts in the newsbox on the Fermilab homepage)

Complete Butterfly note June 26, 2001
Butterflies of Fermilab homepage