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Page 8B
July 6, 2022
iBeporter
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Butterfly Count finds 29% fewer butterflies in 22
One of the butterflies seen in Monroe County on the 2022
Butterfly Count was the lace-winged roadsie skipper shown
above. (Photo/Terry Johnson).
or well more than a
quarter of a cen
tury, the Piedmont
National Wildlife
Refuge/Rum Creek Wildlife
Management Area Fourth
of July Butterfly Count has
been held just prior to the
Fourth of July. The 2022
count was
staged June 24.
Typically,
team mem
bers are
brimming
with optimism
before the
sun rises on
a new count.
However, this
year many
participants
harbored the foreboding
feeling this would be one of
the worst counts on record.
These fears were fueled,
in large part, by the fact
that those team members
that live in this neck of the
woods had been seeing
far fewer butterflies than
expected during the weeks
leading up to the count.
Although many of them
plant nectar and host plants
for butterflies in their yards,
few, if any, butterflies had
been using them. Many
commented, although they
thought last year was bad,
this year was worse.
If that was not enough,
the count was being staged
during the years worst heat
wave. The forecast prom
ised high temperatures and
a heat index well above 100°
F. Add to that the fact the
conditions were extremely
dry. The rain gauge at my
home had registered only
a half of an inch of rain
during the entire month of
June.
The Fourth of July But
terfly Count is coordinated
by the North American
Butterfly Association. Our
local count is sponsored by
the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service,
the Georgia Wild
life Conservation
Section and The
Environmental
Resources Network
(TERN).
This count is one
of more than 400
counts held annual
ly across the Unit
ed States, Mexico
and Canada. Each
count is conducted within
a count circle 15-miles in
diameter. The Piedmont
NWR/Rum Creek WMA
count encompasses the
Rum Creek WMA and the
Piedmont NWR as well as
much of eastern Monroe
and western Jones and
a small section of Jasper
counties.
The data gleaned on
these surveys are used to
ascertain the distribution of
scores of butterfly species,
as well as the impacts of
land use and weather on
these special insects.
This year the Piedmont
NWR/Rum Creek WMA
count team tallied a total of
1,297 individual butterflies
representing 57 species. In
comparison, last year 56
species and 1,817 individu
als were found and identi
fied. I should also note
a record 67 species were
recorded in 2018. The 2022
figures represent a 1.78
percent increase in species
seen and a 28.89 percent
decrease in individuals
spotted.
Topping the roster of
the butterflies most often
seen this year was the pearl
crescent (221). Round
ing out the list were the
Carolina satyr (191), sleepy
orange (130), fiery skipper
(98), southern cloudywing
(84), silvery checkerspot
(72), common buckeye
(46), eastern tailed-blue
(45), barred yellow (43) and
hoary edge (30).
I should mention that the
five species most often seen
accounted for a whop
ping 55 percent of the total
individual butterflies spot
ted this year. On the other
end of the spectrum, 10
species (zebra swallowtail,
giant swallowtail, spicebush
swallowtail, banded hair-
streak, Appalachian brown,
little wood-satyr, northern
cloudywing, crossline
skipper, tawny emperor,
and creole pearly-eye) were
each represented by a single
individual.
It is truly amazing that
57 species were discovered.
At the same time, it is not
surprising that overall but
terfly numbers were down.
This part of the state has
suffering from a prolonged
drought coupled with
extremely high tempera
tures for weeks on end. This
has undoubtedly had a
deleterious impact on both
the abundance and palat-
ability of caterpillar plants
and/or nectar for adult
butterflies. This year some
of the butterflies that were
able to survive to reach
adulthood are often smaller
than usual. This is a direct
reflection on the amount
and quality of the food they
consumed as caterpillars.
Until the data collected
and comparisons with
other counts are in, it is
impossible to know for
certain what happened
this year. However, the
volunteers that participated
in this years count effort
feel weather before and on
count day impacted the
results.
They also realized they
had weathered extremely
trying weather conditions
attempting to ferret out
butterflies on the day of
the count. They sweated
through high humidity, a
high temperature of 97°F,
and a heat index of 108°F.
One senior member of
the count said, “It was the
worst weather he had ever
seen on a count.” While we
grumbled about the trying
conditions we endured,
everyone is cognizant of the
fact that, to be meaningful,
surveys such as the one we
endured this year are just as
important as those held in
more hospitable conditions.
Perhaps next year will be
better.
Terry Johnson of Forsyth
is retired Program Manager
of the Georgia Nongame-
Endangered Wildlife
Program. He has written the
informative column ‘Monroe
Outdoors’for the Reporter
for many years. His book,
“A Journey to Discovery,” is
available at The Reporter.
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