The Butterflies of 2015: A Photographic Review

Since Andrew got the obligatory "2015 review" on birds done, I've taken it upon myself to do the butterfly version.

Simply put, 2015 was a fantastic year for butterflies. I finished with a total of 71 species in Kansas, by far my best ever. But that wasn't the most exciting part. This summer was apparently on of the best for strays in the last 20 years (fide Chuck Ely). We found, in order, a Sickle-winged Skipper (3rd state record, seen by Anthony only), an Arizona Sister (6th state record), a Long-tailed Skipper (3rd or 4th state record, seen by Joseph only), a Tailed Orange (7th state record), and last, and definitely not least, an apparent Purple-washed Skipper Andrew found in their yard. You may recall that we identified it as an Ocola Skipper, the geographically closest Panoquina, in our earlier post about that sighting. However, Dan Jones, of Rio Grande Valley Butterflies, pointed out that the field marks were consistent with the Purple-washed Skippers he sees down there. Any Panoquina would be a first for Kansas, but Purple-washed was completely off our radar!

Sickle-winged Skipper. Photo by Anthony

Arizona Sister. Photo by Joseph

Arizona Sister. Photo by Joseph

Long-tailed Skipper at the Dyck Arboretum in Hesston. Photo by Joseph

Tailed Orange. Photo by Joseph

Presumed Purple-washed Skipper. Photo by Andrew

Presumed Purple-washed Skipper.  Photo by Andrew

Note the small white spot anterior to the large arrowhead-shaped one visible on the far upperwing, this, along with the purple sheen and straight line of dots on the underside of the wing, is apparently fairly diagnostic for Purple-washed.

Red-banded Hairstreak. Photo by Joseph

Surprisingly, I found two Red-banded Hairstreaks in Reno Co this year. They are common in southern Kansas, but seldom come this far north.

Little Wood Satyr. Photo by Joseph

Bordered Patch. Photo by Joseph

Southern Dogface. Photo by Joseph

Melissa Blue. Photo by Joseph

American Snout. Photo by Joseph

Common Wood Nymph. Photo by Joseph

Silver-spotted Skipper. Photo by Joseph

Delaware Skipper. Photo by Joseph

I'm really looking forward to "lepping" this year, and while my butterfly list is currently zero, I hope to get at least 75 species. Now, to go and find some Viceroy hibernacula to get my list started!

Joseph