Fourth of July Butterfly Counts in Western Putnam County, Tennessee, 2002–Present
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| Adult Ocola Skipper below, photographed at Burgess Falls Nursery 24 July 2003 during the Putnam County West butterfly count; photo SJS. |
The first annual Fourth of July Butterfly Count in western Putnam County was conducted 22 July 2002 with two observers—Stephen J. Stedman and Daniel L. Combs—taking part. These counts, currently sponsored by the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) and formerly by the Xerces Society, may take place on any date during June and July and are usually conducted on approximately the same date each year to increase comparability of the resulting data.
The count in western Putnam County is centered about one mile west of Baxter, Tennessee. About half of the area within the 15-mile-diameter count circle is forested, the other half being mainly agricultural or suburban in habitat. Much of it includes the escarpment between the Highland Rim and the Central Basin or the rim itself.
Sixty-two species of butterflies were registered during the first six years of this count, a little more than two-thirds of the species known to have occurred in the county. The data from these counts have provided a good indication of the relative abundance of these species, revealed the considerable variation in population number that may occur with some species from year to year, and provided early or late dates of the flight season for many species.
To see a map of the area where this butterfly count is conducted, click on the following link:
Table 1. Results of Putnam County West Butterfly Counts, 2002–2011.
| Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Date (July) | 22 | 24 | 28 | 25 | 24 | 26 | 30 | 24 | 28 | 30 |
| Compiler | SJS | SJS | SJS | SJS | SJS | SJS | SJS | SJS | SJS | SJS |
| Observers | DLC | DLC | DLC | RV | RV | EKL | JuF | EKL | BLB | |
| RV | WAW | JCF | SEP | SEP | CDW | |||||
| BHS | BHS | JCF | ||||||||
| Total Observers | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Total Parties | 1 | 1 | 1–2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Hours on Foot | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6.5 |
| Hours by Car | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 3.5 | 8.5 |
| Total Hours | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7.5 | 15 |
| Miles on Foot | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Miles by Car | 53 | 77 | 50 | 40 | 60 | 78 | 30 | 50 | c. 45 | c. 100 |
| Total Miles | 55 | 78 | 52 | 42 | 63 | 80 | 31 | 51 | 48 | c. 103 |
| Start CDT | 0840 | 0930 | 0830 | 0720 | 0725 | 0710 | 0912 | 0800 | 0750 | 0808 |
| End CDT | 1740 | 1730 | 1730 | 1620 | 1725 | 1550 | 1530 | 1830 | 1730 | 1750 |
| Sky AM | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 2 |
| Sky PM | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2/5 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Sunshine % AM | 50 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 90 | 90 | 50 | 25 | 75 | 15 |
| Sunshine % PM | 25 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 90 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 75 | 15 |
| Wind AM (Beaufort) | 0 | 1 | 0–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0–5 | 0–5 | 0–5 |
| Wind PM (Beaufort) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-2 | 0–10 | 0–5 | 0–5 |
| Low Temp. (F) | 76 | 62 | 62 | 72 | 65 | 70 | 78 | 70 | 78 | 80 |
| High Temp. (F) | 93 | 84 | 87 | 97 | 85 | 93 | 88 | 83 | 93 | 84 |
| Silver-spotted Skipper | 68 | 41 | 50 | 39 | 65 | 18 | 30 | 21 | 161 | 70 |
| Hoary Edge | 2 | -- | -- | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
| Southern Cloudywing | 1* | -- | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | 1 | 2 |
| Northern Cloudywing | 1 | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Hayhurst's Scallopwing | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Horace's Duskywing | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
| Wild Indigo Duskywing | -- | 6* | 11 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 16 |
| Duskywing sp. | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Common/White Checkered-Skipper | -- | -- | 28 | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 7 |
| Common Sootywing | 1 | -- | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 13 | 3 | -- |
| Swarthy Skipper | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Clouded Skipper | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 3 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Least Skipper | -- | -- | 8 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 8 | 5 |
| Fiery Skipper | -- | 4* | 2 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 1 | -- | 7 | 8 |
| Sachem | 1* | 28 | 30 | 134 | 90 | 40 | 10 | 55 | 7 | 19 |
| Peck's Skipper | -- | 5 | 5 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | -- | 4 |
| Tawny-edged Skipper | -- | -- | 2 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 2 | -- | 1 | 9 |
| Crossline Skipper | -- | -- | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Northern Broken-Dash | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
| Little Glassywing | -- | -- | 20 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 5 | 35 |
| Delaware Skipper | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Zabulon Skipper | -- | -- | 3 | -- | 3 | -- | -- | -- | 11 | 3 |
| Dun Skipper | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 23 | -- |
| Com. Roadside-Skipper | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Ocola Skipper | -- | 1* | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Skipper sp. | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Pipevine Swallowtail | 3 | 3 | 2 | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | 2 | -- |
| Zebra Swallowtail | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Giant Swallowtail | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Black Swallowtail | 3 | 7 | 3 | -- | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| E. Tiger Swallowtail | 50 | 94 | 37 | 151 | 14 | 3 | 157 | 20 | 155 | 67 |
| Spicebush Swallowtail | 48 | 36 | 15 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 47 | 6 | 31 | 64 |
| Swallowtail sp. | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Checkered White | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5 | -- | -- | 8 | 3 |
| Cabbage White | 3 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 20 |
| White sp. | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Clouded Sulphur | 5 | 17 | 80 | 25 | 6 | 6 | -- | 12 | 40 | 133 |
| Orange Sulphur | 9 | 9 | 31 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 80 | 94 |
| Cloudless Sulphur | 1 | -- | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 5 | 17 |
| Little Yellow | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Sleepy Orange | 7 | -- | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 6 | -- | 1 | 5 |
| Sulphur sp. | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| American Copper | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Red-banded Hairstreak | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Gray Hairstreak | 2* | 3 | 4 | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 12 | 1 |
| Eastern Tailed-Blue | 24 | 31 | 15 | 37 | 9 | 40 | 6 | 39 | 53 | 109 |
| Summer Azure | 2 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -- | 5 | -- |
| Blue sp. | 3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| American Snout | 12 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 3 |
| Monarch | -- | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 5 | -- | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Gulf Fritillary | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 3 |
| Variegated Fritillary | 31 | 10 | 16 | 63 | 24 | 97 | 5 | 60 | 87 | 138 |
| Great Spangled Fritillary | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -- | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Red-spotted Purple | 11 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Viceroy | -- | 1 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Hackberry Emperor | 29 | 12 | 6 | 33 | 22 | 10 | 36 | 2 | 13 | 16 |
| Tawny Emperor | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- |
| Silvery Checkerspot | 7 | 15 | 14 | 19 | 34 | 14 | 32 | 7 | 5 | 9 |
| Pearl Crescent | 19 | 27 | 22 | 95 | 28 | 108 | 9 | 16 | 147 | 49 |
| Common Buckeye | 5 | 16 | 10 | -- | 3 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 67 |
| Question Mark | 8* | 6 | 3 | 7 | -- | 5 | 4 | 3 | 11 | -- |
| Eastern Comma | -- | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | -- | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Polygonia sp. | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1* | -- | -- | -- |
| American Lady | -- | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
| Painted Lady | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 3 | -- | -- | 2 | -- |
| Red Admiral | 1 | 4 | 5 | -- | 1 | 3 | 1 | -- | 2 | 1 |
| Southern Pearly-eye | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Northern Pearly-eye | 1 | -- | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 2 | 5 |
| Creole Pearly-eye | 1* | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Pearly-eye sp. | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Gemmed Satyr | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Carolina Satyr | 12 | 8 | 42 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Total Individuals | 431 | 460 | 526 | 770 | 400 | 478 | 408 | 343 | 966 | 1032 |
| Total Species | 36 | 34 | 48 | 41 | 40 | 39 | 33 | 30 | 48 | 45 |
* = Photographed on count day
BLB = Brad L. Beatty
DLC = Daniel L. Combs
JCF = Janie C. Finch
JuF = Judy C. Fuson
EKL = Edmund K. LeGrand
SEP = Susan E. Pirolo
BHS = Barbara H. Stedman
SJS = Stephen J. Stedman
RV = Rita Venable
WAW = Winston A. Walden
CDW = Carol D. Williams
Several photographs (EKL) of an unusual Polygonia found during the 2008 count are available via these links:
A photograph by Rita Venable of a butterfly observed during the 2004 count may be viewed by clicking on the link below:
Photographs by SJS of some of the butterflies observed during the 2003 count may be viewed by clicking on the appropriate link below:
Photographs by SJS of some of the butterflies observed during the 2002 count may be viewed by clicking on the appropriate link below:
Quick links to other sections of this website:
