Mulberry wing

Mulberry wing

Ed’s Butterfly Page

 Welcome

Welcome to Ed’s butterfly page. Here I have lists and maps of my butterfly observations. To see my photographs of Michigan butterflies, click here. 

I have only recently started to observe and photograph butterflies. As my academic career wound down, I started to make time to pursue my broader interests, including a childhood fascination with nature. I revived my interest in photography, and found that butterflies make the perfect photographic subject — their amazing diversity and beauty gives focus and purpose to my wanderings.

I strive to be a knowledgeable hobbyist, but after a long academic career, it is refreshing and invigorating to have an interest in which I am free from the expectation of expertise. Instead, I revel in the pure joy of being among these amazing creatures.

Sandia hairstreak

 

My camera gear

I am a self-taught photographer — barely an amateur — who learned a few painful lessons through much trial-and-error in the early 1980s, after my wife and I bought a fully manual Olympus OM-1N camera and shot vast numbers of rolls of Kodachrome 64. The OM-1 was the original lightweight 35mm SLR, and I have always associated photography with the ability to carry everything I need in a small bag. When I approached retirement and sought to resume my interests in photography, I looked for a camera that I could easily carry on long hikes or backpacking trips. I was thrilled to learn that Olympus retained its focus on lightweight gear by concentrating on the micro 4/3 format. I bought an EM-10 Mark ii with a set of kit lenses and began to experiment with landscapes, birds, insects, rocks, plants, and anything else I found on my rambles. I also bought a 60mm macro lens and tried my hand at focus stacking. When it became clear that I wanted to concentrate on photographing insects, I bought a 75-300mm zoom lens. This now constitutes my lightweight kit that I take on long hikes where I might want to photograph birds as well as insects. I was later able to squirrel away enough money to buy an EM-1 Mark ii and a Panasonic/Leica 100-400mm zoom. This is my go-to camera when I know I am on the hunt for butterflies. Finally, I have an Olympus 20-100mm travel zoom that I have used a few times for some butterfly photos, including ones taken in New Mexico and Arizona. All my photos have their exif data and you can see what equipment I used.

Butterfly identification

I am a real newbie when it comes to butterfly identification. Each of the species and subspecies that I list below has been verified by the wonderful experts who volunteer for the website Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA). These folks have put up with my overenthusiastic, and wildly uninformed, suggestions for butterfly IDs, and have corrected me with admirable patience. In the process I have learned a ton, but continue to struggle with crescents, azures, and any number of other tough cases. I am truly grateful that the BAMONA experts are so willing to help the lay public.

With that said, I love to learn. As I do with all my interests, I have collected a small group of butterfly-related books. They are all general-interest, non-academic books. If you are interested, you can find the listing here (in progress).

Observation database

I maintain a database of my observations using SQLite. Each entry corresponds to a photograph I have taken. Either the photo has been identified through BAMONA, or I have identified it with high probability. There are no entries without a photograph as evidence. So, even though I have seen butterflies that I could clearly identify (such as a Zebra swallowtail), I did not enter those observations if I did not get a clear photograph. Also, I generally make only a single entry for each species seen at a certain site on a certain day. So, if I see, say 30 cabbage whites at a certain site, I make a single entry and note the number seen.

I use my database to create the maps, graphs, and lists shown below.  I generate a large csv file using an SQL query, which I read into Python. From there I generate lists and write them directly to pdf files using ReportLab. Also, I use Python to create frequency graphs using matplotlib. Finally, I generate a csv file containing marker data to read into Map Marker Pro, to create the maps for this WordPress website.

Keep in mind that one entry in a list, on a map, or in a plot represents a sighting of a certain species at a site, and is NOT indicative of the number  of individuals seen.

Observation maps

The first map below shows all of the observations entered in my database. To reduce clutter, I have also broken down the species by family, and then by subfamily (according to BAMONA taxonomy). You can filter the markers by species using the icon in the upper right. The species are listed by common name (using BAMONA nomenclature). To see how these correlate to scientific names, please see my lists below, or visit the BAMONA website.

When you hover on a marker you will see the common name. When you click on the icon, the location, date, and time are shown. If there is a BAMONA entry for this observation, a clickable link is shown that will take you to the BAMONA web page. 

All Butterflies

Papilionidae (swallowtails)

Papilioninae

 

 

Riodinidae (Metalmarks)

Riodininae

 

 

Pieridae (whites and sulphurs)

Coliadinae (sulphurs)

Pierinae (whites)

Lycaenidae (harvesters, coppers, hairstreaks, blues)

Lycaeninae (coppers)

Miletinae (harvester)

Polyommatinae (azures, blues)

Theclinae (hairstreaks)

Nymphalidae (brushfoots)

Apaturinae (emperors)

Danainae (monarch, queen)

Heliconiinae (fritillaries)

Libytheinae (snouts)

Limenitidinae (viceroy, white admiral)

Nymphalinae (crescents, checkerspots, commas, ladies)

Satyrinae (satyrs, browns, ringlets, wood-nymphs, arctics)

Charaxinae (leafwings)

Biblidinae (common mestra)

Hesperiidae (skippers)

Hesperiinae (grass skippers)

Pyrginae (spread-wing skippers)

Observation lists

All birders and butterfly enthusiasts love to make lists. I’ve only been taking pictures for a couple of years, and my lists are woefully short compared to those of serious butterfly watchers. Still, I hope you find them interesting, and potentially helpful. 

Summary list

Observations by state

Observations by county

 

 

 

 

Number of species by site

 

 

 

 

A few favorite sites

 

 

 

 

Note that the Michigan Nature Association Red Cedar River Plant Preserve is a tiny 10 acre natural area surrounded by subdivisions within the city limits of Williamston. It’s evidence of the importance of preserving the remaining pockets of diversity within our urban areas.  

 

My images