268 Butterflies Fluttered By

Last week a group of 8 butterfly enthusiasts spent two days counting these winged beauties. Poor weather at the official North American Butterfly Association Count on July 4 motivated the group to perform their own count here at the Arboretum, a haven for butterflies. The final tally revealed an impressive 33 species and 268+ sightings in just four hours!

Here's the complete list of their findings (click each for images and more information):

• 105+ cabbage white
• 43 orange sulphur
• 17 monarch
• 15 silver spotted skipper
• 14 red admiral
• 12 pearl crescent
• 12 tiger swallowtail
• 9 clouded sulphur
• 7 eastern tailed blue
• 7 zabulon
• 6 pecks skipper
• 4 least skipper                                            
• 3 meadow fritillary
• 3 sachem
• 2 black swallowtail
• 2 horace duskywing
• 2 spicebush swallowtails
• 1 european skipper
• 1 gray hairstreak
• 1 question mark
• 1 tawny-edged skipper
• 1 viceroy
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  268+ butterflies! How many have you spotted?