Henry’s elfin at moth light, photographed by Brian Johnson in his backyard (in CMY) April 5, 2023 Brian Johnson’s recent night-time shot of a Henry’s elfin with green highlights inspired some reading into a spring-season butterfly mystery that has surfaced now and again on our Sightings Log for several years.   The mystery revolves around two questions: What plants are the primary hosts for Henry’s elfin on NJ’s Coastal Plain? How frequent (and identifiable) are “greenish” Henry’s elfins here? If either question interests you, the next few weeks are the ideal time to try to help fi ..read more

A southern-broken dash, Wallengrenia otho, photographed by Kathy Horn in the Cape May Meadows, July 20, 2022. Thanks to Kathy Horn’s sharp eyes and quick-thinking camera work, we have added a new species to our South Jersey Butterfly Project’s all-time list, the southern broken-dash, Wallengrenia otho. Our log is in its 15th year, so new species — butterflies that no one has previously reported anywhere in New Jersey’s southern eight counties — do not come often. Until last year we had added no new species at all to our all-time list after June 2017, when Beth Polvino found and photographed a ..read more

Male Dion on Rt 610 power line, CMY, on July 13, 2017 photographed by Jack Miller Dion skipper has an interesting history in the SJBP log.  Since the log began in 2008, Dions have been found in six of our eight South Jersey counties: CMY, ATL, CUM, CAM, BUR, and OCN; only SAL and GLO have not reported the species.  CMY has had by far the most reports with 122;  ATL has had 9 with only 3 reports north of the Tuckahoe River area;  BUR has had 7; CUM has had 5 reports; and CAM has had 1 report (2013). From 2008 to 2011 we collected 19 reports from three counties (CMY, BUR, and ..read more

A painted lady (with nibbled wing) photographed by Robert Koch at Lumberton Leas, BUR, on November 16, 2020 . When we will record our first for 2021? As of the morning of July 1, our South Jersey Log’s list includes 81 species for 2021. We had found 82 species at this time last year. A quick review of the species not yet recorded for 2021 that we have usually found by this time in past years: Checkered White: Recorded all years 2019-2012, sometimes not until July but missed completely last year, 2020 and found only once (a sighting of five individuals) in 2019. No checkered whites have been re ..read more

Can you ID this skipper photographed by John Maxwell at Rancocas Nature Center (BUR) on May 10, 2010? It remains our log’s solo record for the species in South Jersey. Find the answer quickly on Sharon Wander’s new Grass Skippers Tops Guide. (Hint: she notes it is fairly common north of the Coastal Plain.) Sharon Wander has pulled together an amazingly helpful, informative, and easy-to-use document focused on New Jersey’s grass skippers. You can find it on the NABA-NJ Resources page (where you will find lots of other of good stuff): NABA-NJ Resources Page Or, you find it here: Sharon Wander’s ..read more

Q: Without knowing the date or place of this photo, can you identify this butterfly to the satisfaction of all South Jersey observers? A: Don’t even try! “How many different azure species are there in South Jersey?” and “How should we ID them?” are questions that seem to come up each year about this time. Unfortunately, the most accurate answer to both questions seems to be another question:  “Who knows?” As a public service, the SJ Butterfly Project hereby offers five different ways to handle the conundrum. Choose the method that best matches your style and attitude and then take advanta ..read more

(Wikicommons image.) Get ready, everyone!  Sometime in the next month or so, Brood X periodical cicadas should emerge from underground, where they have been feeding on tree roots since 2004.  According to the University of Connecticut’s newest map, Brood X ranges from western New Jersey west through Indiana to eastern Illinois and south to eastern Kentucky and northern Georgia. Periodical Cicada Broods Map from The University of Connecticut. Brood X is represented by purple ovals. How many you will see (and hear!) seems hard to predict and also may depend on where in the state yo ..read more

A male monarch photographed by Kathy Horn at Cape May Point State Park on May 16, 2020. Could this be a new record early date for a male on our log? Kathy Horn’s photograph above sparked a search for comments or other photos on the log of male monarchs arriving in April and May, when the species first reaches our area each spring.   Female monarchs are fairly easy to find in South Jersey in spring, especially as May nears its end.  Many gardeners with milkweed in their yards have seen their first monarch of the year fly quickly to the new shoots and immediately begin laying eggs ..read more

South Jersey Butterflyers & Friends, As everyone knows, we are living through a disorienting and frightening time.  Decisions that were so simple two months ago have become problematic.  Even “Where should I go walking today?” has become a complicated question. Governor Murphy’s Executive Order on April 7 closing all state and county parks has also created a problem for us as moderators of the South Jersey Butterfly Sightings Log.  We want to encourage everyone to get out and search for butterflies — walking outdoors in safe areas is good for any naturalist’s mental an ..read more

An amazing IPhone close-up of  a Henry’s elfin taken by Keara Giannotti, one of our new contributors, at Camp Creek Run, BUR, on March 31.  We recorded 19 species in March, 2020, the best count for the third month of the year since March 2016, when we also found 19.  We also broke three earliest First-Of-Year records for the log and tied two others. Our March 2020 list: black swallowtail [3/17/20 FOY ties 3/17/12 for our earliest ever] cabbage white falcate orange-tip [3/20 one day earlier than previous earliest, 3/21/12] clouded sulphur orange sulpur American copper [3/27 one day earlier t ..read more