fbpx
Home Mariton: Striped Hairstreak Butterfly

Mariton: Striped Hairstreak Butterfly

June 25, 2013
By Natural Lands

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager.  Photos by Carole Mebus.

MEBUS StripedHairstreakMaritonFieldButterflyCount0622

Striped Hairstreak

We saw a Striped Hairstreak (Satyrium liparops) on the Butterfly Census on Saturday!  Not only was this a new sighting for Mariton, but it was a new sighting for everyone there.  What a great find.  Imagine our surprise when Virginia located another Striped Hairstreak on Tuesday’s Butterfly Walk. 

Saturday was a good day.  We counted 19 species and 202 butterflies.  Cabbage Whites were the most abundant on the count.  Looking back over the records, they are often the most abundant, but not always.

MEBUS GSFritillaryOnButterflyWeedMaritonField0622-2

Great Spangled Fritillary

We counted 38 Great-spangled Fritillaries, a close second.  These are very common at Mariton, and very beautiful. 

MEBUS SilverSpottedSkipperOnMilkweedMaritonField0622

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skippers were also very abundant. I always find it strange that this species is so abundant at Mariton.  The main food for the caterpillars is Black Locust.  We don’t have any of those trees on the property, and the nearest ones that I know of are about a mile away. 

If you like butterflies, the milkweed and butterfly weed is prime at Mariton right now.  Butterflies are abundant.  And if you look closely you may see a Striped Hairstreak.