How many insects do you see in a day?
Probably far more than you actually notice!
The next time you’re out hiking or taking a walk in your neighborhood, challenge yourself to pay attention to every insect that flutters by. You may be amazed by what you see- we certainly were.
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| Zebra swallowtail butterfly feeding on blazing star flower |
At the beginning of the count, our team headed out to the coastal salt flats in the hopes of seeing a salt marsh skipper, a small and fast-flitting butterfly with a distinctive white slash on its wings. Starting down the trail towards the salt flats, we immediately began seeing butterfly activity. Dainty sulphur butterflies, cassius blues, and fiery skippers darted around the path, feasting on nectar from the abundant wildflowers. As we walked, it took some time to train our eyes to detect the fluttering motion of tiny butterflies- even the smallest had to be noticed, identified, and counted. Some butterflies that we counted had wingspans of less than an inch and were hard to see from a distance, but through our binoculars we were able to observe their tiny and intricately patterned wings and identify each species. Dragonflies and bees buzzed around us, making it harder to focus on the butterflies we were there to find.
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| Salt flats lined with sea purslane and mangroves |
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| Dragonfly perched on a sea purslane leaf |
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Dainty sulphur butterfly
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On the edges of the salt flats the mangroves were blooming and we finally found the elusive salt marsh skipper. Perched on a mangrove, it posed kindly for our cameras. A Horace’s duskywing fed on a sea purslane flower at ground level just long enough for us to identify it and tiny crabs scuttled around under our feet as we walked. We left victorious and were visited by a red-tailed hawk on our way out!
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Salt marsh skipper resting on a mangrove leaf
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Horace's duskywing on a sea purslane flower
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Moving into the uplands, we entered a very different landscape. We hiked through oak hammock and pine flatwoods and found zebra swallowtails, black swallowtails, and white peacock butterflies. More dainty sulphur butterflies flitted through the grass and wildflowers along the road, along with phaon crescents and one tiny rosy maple moth (moths aren’t included in the count, but they’re still fun to see).
All in all, on the two preserves we visited, we counted 54 individual butterflies and 17 separate species - not bad for an afternoon’s work. Our area counts were submitted to NABA, and they’ll compile all of our area’s data together to get a good idea of the distribution of different butterfly species around Tampa Bay.
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White peacock butterfly showing off its spots
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| Tiny phaon crescent butterfly fluttering on a wildflower |
Our butterfly counting skills improved throughout the day - practice makes perfect. Some team members had less butterfly identification experience than others, but we all worked together to find, identify, and photograph as many butterflies as we could. Participating in this count was not only a means to an end. Our team did gather lots of data, but we also were reminded to pay attention to the world around us. When we walk through the woods it’s so easy to stare at the trail or straight ahead, thinking only about where we’re going. It’s harder (but ultimately more rewarding) to stay present and take in our surroundings. As we found out, even the tiniest insects fluttering through the underbrush are worth looking at.
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Stumps on the salt flats
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Sea purslane field
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