A fine day for butterflies. (Gardening).

Early on a bright summer morning, a group of oddly-clad men and women--some in floppy straw hats, some in boots, some with binoculars slung round their necks, and many wielding long-handled nets--emerged from their cars and scattered out along the margins of a series of linked ponds known locally as the Hattiesburg Lagoons. Poking among weeds and wildflowers with their nets, peering into thickets, venturing into the woods bordering the ponds, they called cheerfully to each other: "Here's a Gulf Fritillary!"

"I've got a Wood Nymph here--or is it a Satyr?"

"Is this a Confused Cloudywing?"

What on earth could these people be up to? Were they all crazy?

"That's exactly what a man from Texas asked us last summer when he stopped his car on a country road to watch us chasing a Sleepy Orange across a farmer's field," recalled Diane.

"And he wasn't too reassured when we told him we were counting butterflies," added Ron.

"At least he didn't hear me bragging about catching a Painted Lady!" Chuck said with a laugh.

Chuck, Diane, Ron, Larry, Liz, Cue, Jean, and the group's leader, David, had gathered on this particular morning as participants in the North American Butterfly Association's annual census. Their objective: to locate, identify, and record as many butterflies as they could within a 15-mile circle on a single day. Almost 700 different species can be found in North America, 146 in Mississippi; of these, the Hattiesburg Count Team might expect to find 20 to 30. After compiling, checking, and rechecking their list, they would send the results to NABA's national office for official tabulation and inclusion in its annually published report.

Why count butterflies? NABA's butterfly census, patterned after the National Audubon's more widely known Christmas Bird Count, provides valuable information about geographical distribution and population sizes of various butterfly species, the effects of weather and habitat changes, and any alarming declines in species richness. For example, a careful scrutiny of the butterflies present in an area that was formerly farmland but is being converted to residential use might show that although the total number of butterflies has remained fairly constant, the number of different species has fallen dramatically. (On the other hand, if new residents have planted butterfly-friendly flowers and shrubs in their yards, the number of different species might well have increased!)

Since 1993, when NABA held its first Butterfly Count, participation has grown rapidly; last year 387 individual counts were held in 45 American states, 7 Canadian provinces, and Mexico. Mississippi alone fielded four counts, in Hattiesburg, Clinton, the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, and the Lower East Pearl River (including its shorelines in both Louisiana and Mississippi).

Although it's clearly useful to have an expert or two on a Butterfly Count team, you don't have to be a bona fide lepidopterist to sign on as a volunteer. The Hattiesburg team, all members of the Pine Woods Audubon Society and more experienced in identifying birds than butterflies, had to consult frequently with Team Captain David Cimprich to confirm the sighting of an unusual Anglewing or to distinguish between the small, brownish Skippers named for their fast, skipping flight but known more familiarly by frustrated team members as LBJs (Little Brown Jobs). Cimprich, Conservation Biologist with the Nature Conservancy, had led and compiled butterfly counts in the Desoto National Forest and in Stone and Forrest Counties for a decade, and was usually able to tell, at a glance, the name of that nondescript little butterfly fluttering in the bottom of someone's net.

Other team members ranged from experienced amateurs to frank beginners. "I'm just here to learn," Liz insisted, even as she added two more desirable species to the master list. Larry, who became a serious student of butterflies through planting a garden attractive to butterflies and then observing their fascinating life cycles from egg to larva to chrysalis to butterfly, proved to be on a first-name basis not only with most of the fritillaries and brushfoots he spotted, but with many caterpillars as well. Diane showed impressive skill with her net, swooping down on skippers and swallowtails and rushing them to the experts for identification. Cile, who credits her interest in lepidoptera to a butterfly collection she made in childhood, used her camera to record the day's adventure. Chuck and Jean pored over their colorfully illustrated field guides, comparing the butterfly on the page in hand with the one in the bush, and attempted to spot distant species through their birding binoculars--not quite as easy as it sounds. Ron, one of the group's keenest birders, proved to have an excellent memory for the complex wing-patterns and border-spots that distinguish look-alike butterflies, but couldn't resist straying off from time to time to search for the Painted Bunting known to be nesting in the vicinity.

By 8:45 the butterfly counters had listed Fiery and Checkered Skippers, Whirlabout, Palamedes, Pipevine and Tiger Swallowtails, Viceroy, and Pearly Eye. By 10, in addition to several more butterfly species, they had spotted a Mississippi kite sailing overhead, found the nest of a Blue Grosbeak with three healthy nestlings inside, and had a thrilling look at the bird considered by many to be most beautiful of all, the male Painted Bunting.

Shortly before noon, while a few members of the team were making their way down the steep banks of the Leaf River to look for Buckeyes, the main party happened upon a dramatic and memorable sight. All along a brushy woods-edge clambered a flowering vine, thick and drooping like a theater curtain, and against this dark green backdrop were hundreds of butterflies--Pipevine Swallowtails shimmering in iridescent greenish blues, then lifting their wings to show bright orange spots beneath; Tiger Swallowtails gleaming gold and black; and Palamedes flashing bold yellow stripes. For a few stunned moments, team members simply gazed in silence. Then some began to call out identifications and numbers, while others scrambled in backpacks to locate wildflower field guides--no one could immediately identify the wild vine that had attracted so many butterflies to sip its nectar.

By the time the mysterious vine had been positively identified as a Brunnichia ovata, everyone was hot, tired, hungry, and somewhat overwhelmed by all they had seen. Even though they were still short of the 21 species reported on their count the previous year, everybody agreed it was time for lunch.

After eating and discussing where to count next, the team decided to split up for a while and then reassemble at Jackson Station on Longleaf Trace. By now it was mid-afternoon and only a few bikers and hikers were in evidence along this stretch of the Rails-to-Trails byway. Catbirds mewed from thickets along the path, and Pine Warblers trilled from a healthy stand of Longleaf Pines on the hillside. After counting a surprising number of Red-spotted Purples flapping and gliding lazily along a row of willows, the team left the Trace to stroll through the pine woods in search of Eastern Pine Elfins and Little Wood Satyrs. Heading back toward Jackson station, in a recent clearcut just beginning to green up, they came upon a low spot where a large number of Tiger, Spicebush, and Eastern Black Swallowtails were clustered together on the muddy ground to engage in the peculiar behavior known as "puddling"--ingesting trace minerals from the gravel and mud. A little farther on, team members sighted, along with several Tiger Swallowtails, their first Giant Swallowtail. And with that find, they decided to call it a day.

They had counted 322 individual butterflies, representing 32 different species--the highest number of species their team had ever reported! Even though the total number of individual butterflies was not quite as high as they had hoped, they were more than satisfied with the surprising number of species. It had been a long, hot, tiring, and rewarding day that included a few special moments they would cherish--the myriads of swallowtails shining gold and blue and black against the Brunnichia vine, the Buckeyes sunning on the sands of the river, and the unexpected sighting of a Gemmed Satyr--first of this species many of them had ever seen. This team, for sure, would be signing up for the Count next summer.

RELATED ARTICLE: BUTTERFLIES IN SIGHT

If you want to have myriads of these dainty, winged creatures in plain view at your home, check your local nursery for these plants.

Nectar-Rich Flowers For Adult Butterflies:

Butterfly bush (Buddleia)

Beebalm (Monarda)

Cape, coral, or Mexican honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)

Impatiens 

Lantana 

Petunia 

Salvia 

Verbena 

Zinnia 

Joe-pye Weed (Eupatorium)

Redroot (Lachnanthes)

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinales)

Cypress vine (Iponeoea quamoclet)

Liatris

Yarrow

Phlox 

Host Plants For Caterpillars:

Milkweed (Monarch)

Passion Flower or Maypop (Gulf Fritillary)

Spicebush (Spicebush Swallowtail)

Parsley, Dill, Carrot (Black Swallowtail)

Ageratum (Painted Lady)

Dutchman's Pipe (Pipevine Swallowtail)

Snapdragons (Buckeye)

Tulip Tree (Tiger Swallowtail)

Black Cherry (Red-Spotted Purple)

Citrus (Giant Swallowtail)

Dogwood (Spring Azure)