USC Citizens for Land Stewardship
Conservation and stewardship of land and natural resources in Upper St. Clair




Butterflies.

Butterflies of Boyce-Mayview Park

A Compilation by Bill Judd

There are 722 species of butterfly north of Mexico. Of that number approximately 120 could reasonably be expected to be found in Western Pennsylvania.

This list is my compilation of the past 5 years and is by no means complete. It should be viewed for what it is - a work in progress by a rank amateur. It is hoped it will be used as a foundation for a continuing study of the park’s butterflies. Obviously much remains to be done. The gaping holes in the list omit butterflies that should be there, that have to be there, and that surely are there. New finds and observations should be reported, noting time, date, location and how effected. Unfortunately taxonomy has not provided butterflies with a stable nomenclature. The groupings are therefore quite general.

A word about collecting. Most identifications (IDs) on the list were obtained by using a 7X close-focusing binocular. Those requiring closer examination were carefully netted, carefully handled and released where found as quickly as possible. Collecting in a small, defined habitat can have a pronounced effect on the population. The killing-jar and pinned specimens as a tool for the ID of butterflies is as outdated as the shotgun is for the ID of birds. The current state of optics renders collecting unnecessary. As conservationists we must look to the preservation of habitats and species for those who follow. Additionally it may also be unlawful to collect species that are listed as threatened or endangered - sadly many of the butterflies are.

Bill Judd, April 2003


True Skippers Snouts
Silver-spotted Skipper American Snout
Wild Indigo Dusky Wing  
Horace’s Dusky Wing Brush foots
Juvenal’s Dusky Wing Meadow Fritillary
Checkered Skipper Variegated Fritillary
Least Skipper Aphrodite Fritillary
Fiery Skipper Great Spangled Fritillary
Common Sooty Wing Silvery Checkerspot
Hobomok Skipper Buckeye
Zabulon Skipper Viceroy
Peck’s Skipper Red-Spotted Purple
Long Dash Mourning Cloak
Tawney-edged Skipper Compton Tortoise Shell
Little Glassy Wing Pearl Crescent
European Skipper Comma
Northern Broken Dash Question Mark
  Red Admiral
Swallowtails Painted Lady
Pipevine Swallowtail American Painted Lady
Tiger Swallowtail  
Black Swallowtail Satyrs and Wood Nymphs
Spicebush Swallowtail Common Wood Nymph
  Northern Pearly Eye
Whites and Sulphurs Little Wood Satyr
Cabbage White Appalachian Eyed Brown
West Virginia White Northern Eyed Brown
Orange Sulphur  
Clouded Sulphur Emperors and Hackberries
  Hackberry
Gossamer Wings Tawny Emperor
Harvester  
Bronze Copper Milkweed Butterflies
Banded Hairstreak Monarch
Striped Hairstreak  
Gray Hairstreak  
Spring/Summer Azure  
Eastern Tailed Blue  
Flitting butterflies.

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