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I hope the final newsletter of the 2022 Lepidoptera season finds you well and ready for the upcoming holidays and new year. It's that time of year to engage in some retrospection about all that happened this season.
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This was a solemn year for butterfly populations. Late season frosts in April for the third consecutive year impacted the important first brood cycles of multiple species of butterflies. Our habitat was devoid of Black Swallowtail and Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars, both typically an abundant species. Only a handful of Spicebush Swallowtails for the year and roughly a dozen or so Monarch caterpillars. The NABA counts we conduct also reflected a stark decline in adult populations. This is the first time since 2012 when I began raising caterpillars that I do not have any overwintering Swallowtail chrysalises. My hopes for population rebounds in 2023 are guarded.
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Since surveying diurnal Leps was a somber experience, I turned to the Dark Side and began conducting moth surveys in under-reported counties within the state. The quantity and quality of the observations justified the creation of a multi-year moth survey project for the remaining under-reported counties. A partnership with the North Carolina Entomological Society is being planned that will recruit student participants to assist with the project.
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Our free Yard Consultation service experienced exponential growth this spring with an overwhelming number of requests. I am still catching up with long overdue reports from the spring. If you have not received your report I profusely apologize. I've been attempting to incorporate some automation and technology into how reports are created to streamline the process.
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A very big project that I will be working on during the winter months is the development of our Volunteer Program. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer there is a link below to join our emailing list to be notified about updates to our volunteer program.
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Until next March, I wish you a pleasant and happy holiday season and auspicious new year!
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The cycle of migrating and overwintering has begun. A time for rest. A time to reflect on the type of butterfly activity we’ve had this year, and start making a list of what types of nectar and host plants to possibly add to the yard next year. Are there butterflies that have been reported in your area,
but you’ve not been fortunate enough to sight them on your property? Carolinaleps has been helpful to me in the past, and I expect it will continue to aid in the evolution of my garden. Debby Roos and her “Pollinator Paradise” garden at Chatham Mills is another resource I often use.
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On May 12 the North Carolina Senate passed SB#628 “An Act to Require
the Use of Native North Carolina Plants and Seeds on State Property and
Highways and on Local Projects that use State Funds for Landscaping.”
The bill now goes to the House for a vote. If passed it could be the
strongest native plants legislation ever in North Carolina, and possibly the
strongest native plants legislation of any state.
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When I met Lior and John in 2015/16, they had a message that they’ve
consistently demonstrated by “doing”: the children of today hold the key to
making positive changes for butterflies. Teach them about butterflies and
the ways they can have a positive impact on our Lepidoptera. I strongly
support this. If you are surrounded by children on a regular basis, perhaps
you may have a “built in” opportunity to teach this target group!
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Now Accepting Applications for Plant Donations to HOAs, Organizations, Nonprofits, Schools & More
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Plants donated to Mayo River State Park, August 2022
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Since our beginning we have donated plants each year to HOAs, schools, organizations, and other non-profits as part of our mission to provide assistance with creating Lepidoptera friendly gardens and habitats. How we accomplished this was through an unnamed program with an informal process that relied upon chance encounter, random inquiries seeking donations, and word of mouth. The demand for such donations was minimal due to COVID restrictions preventing social gatherings of groups and organizations.
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Now that life has returned to pre-pandemic activities we recognize that an officially named program and formalized process is warranted. However, we do not yet have a creative sounding formal name for this program. We solicit your creative input for a catchy sounding and/or clever sounding name. Send your creative name suggestions or clever acronyms to lior@backyardbutterflies.org
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Meanwhile, our goal for 2023 is to donate 100 plants to qualifying groups or organizations. We have created an application for groups and organizations to submit. A link to the application was added to our homepage under "Services" in the top menu bar. If you know of a qualifying organization that would benefit from a donation of plants, please share with them the link to our application.
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We are excited to announce that we will be launching our Volunteer Program next spring. If you are interested in sharing your skills and talents with Backyard Butterflies you can join our Volunteer Email List to receive notifications and updates.
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For next year's Leps Season we need volunteers to assist with the following:
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• Community Outreach Events
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• Open House & Plant Swap
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• Newsletter & Social Media
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