BUTTERFLIES OF NORTH CAROLINA Twenty-seventh Approximation Compiled by Harry E. LeGrand, Jr. Graphics by Thomas E. Howard, Jr. March 2020 The enclosed material is an accounting of the species of butterflies of North Carolina, updated annually for the past 26 years. It is not considered to be a “publication”. It is intended to be a guide or “handbook” for butterfly watchers and others interested in butterflies, as there is, as yet, no published book on the butterflies of North Carolina. The county maps for each species represent a mix of specimens, photographs, and unconfirmed sight records. We have taken an unpublished set of county distribution maps for each species in the Carolinas, compiled by Jeff Nekola and Paul Opler in the 1980's, and added records from the past 26 years from many sources, mainly sight records, such that the reader cannot tell which county records refer to specimens or to sightings only. They include records known to the NC Natural Heritage Program and the NC Division of Parks and Recreation (DPR) through the end of 2019. The maps are certainly not complete. However, they should give the reader a general feel for the range of a species in the Carolinas. The vast majority of the over 196,995 records (from North Carolina) were entered by me (from e-mails and other correspondence) on computer from 1995-2019, and the remaining several thousand records were entered by DPR biologists into their agency's natural resources database. Tom Howard has formatted the butterfly data into the county dot maps and flight charts portrayed in the pdf version of this approximation. A feature starting with the 15th approximation is the splitting out of North Carolina county dots into those that are reasonably recent (solid dot), versus those with the last date either prior to 1980 or not known to us (open dot). This feature should show the reader the species, or portions of their ranges, that are clearly in decline. The South Carolina dot map is primarily that as taken from the Nekola - Opler atlas, but we have been adding new county records from that state in recent years with contributions from Dennis Forsythe and Brian Scholtens. Thus, the dot maps for South Carolina are becoming more “complete” than they were previously, but they are still somewhat below those from North Carolina in terms of thoroughness. Because there are now nearly 200,000 records in the database, we feel that the range maps and flight charts are fairly concise for most species in North Carolina. The species are arranged in taxonomic order following Pelham (2020), with the exception that the true butterflies on this website are placed before the skippers. The scientific names also are those used in that reference, with one exception noted on the species account. The common names are taken from the Checklist of North American Butterflies Occurring North of Mexico - Edition 2.3 (North American Butterfly Association 2016), as well as some used on the Butterflies of America (2020) website, with a few exceptions noted in the species accounts. Other common and scientific names are listed beneath the county maps. Information about the life history — based mostly on my field experience — is given for each of the 177 species found in North Carolina. However, the material on food plants is not based on my experience, but on a number of references; Opler and Krizek (1984), Heitzman and Heitzman (1987), Opler and Malikul (1992), and Allen (1997) were the chief sources. Also included in this PDF manuscript is a set of flight date charts (histograms) for each species for each of the three physiographic provinces (Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain) in North Carolina. One purpose of this document is to encourage the reporting of sightings or other records of rare species to the NC Natural Heritage Program. They keep computerized records on these rare species, in hopes of arranging protection for them. Rare species are noted under the “Status and Rank” beneath the map; see Page v of this document for rarity codes. Rare species are also denoted in the Table of Contents (Pages i - iv). This is the first approximation where the website editor is recommending statuses and ranks not currently in use by the NC Natural Heritage Program or NatureServe; these suggested changes are in brackets following the status or rank. You should note, in looking at range maps in field guides, that a number of butterflies are found very close to the North Carolina border, but which have yet to be found in the state (see Appendix A). This is particularly true in the mountains of Virginia, and another butterfly has been found on the Virginia side of the Dismal Swamp but has yet to be reported (to my knowledge) from North Carolina. Sadly, most of these Virginia species have not been seen since before 1950. Of the five species of butterflies found in South Carolina but not in North Carolina (see Appendix A), the Eastern Pygmy-Blue and the Bell’s Roadside-Skipper are each resident species that have been recorded in counties adjacent to North Carolina but still have yet to be found in our state. (South Carolina also has a record for European Peacock, but we feel that this represents an escape and thus is not included in Appendix A.) Thus, it is more likely that new species to North Carolina will be current residents in South Carolina or strays from farther south or west. In summary, we need more investigative field work in North Carolina, especially in the mountains and in the southeastern corner of the Coastal Plain. If you have not already done so, we would encourage you to join the North American Butterfly Association, which began in 1993. It publishes American Butterflies, a quarterly journal on the watching of and conservation of butterflies in North America. Of course, also make sure that you have joined the Carolina Butterfly Society, which began in 1995. In this document, we make mention of a handful of references. We strongly urge you to have a butterfly guide that contains both range maps and color photos of living butterflies. Glassberg’s Butterflies through Binoculars: The East was published in 1999; this is the single best guide for butterfliers to obtain in the Carolinas, as it contains color range maps and color photos, plus excellent text containing key field marks, for all Eastern species. The Brock and Kaufman (2003) guide treats all butterflies of the United States and Canada. It contains color digital photos of all species, with text and range maps on facing pages. This is another “must” to have. Pyle has color photos of both eastern and western butterflies, but no range maps, whereas Opler and Malikul contains black-and-white range maps but few photos. Scott, Shull, and Heitzman and Heitzman have good color photographs of specimens. Allen also has color photos of specimens (of adults), plus excellent color photos of living caterpillars on their hostplants. Cech and Tudor (2005) contains color photographs of all NC species, as well as range maps and excellent text on habitat, life history, and other interesting facts about each species. A fairly new guide by Glassberg, revised in 2017, contains color photos of all butterfly species of North America, including species occurring in adjacent Mexico. Though the text is sparse, there are range maps for all species. These, and other uncited references used in this compilation, are listed below. • SUGGESTED REFERENCES • Allen, T.J. 1997. The Butterflies of West Virginia and Their Caterpillars. University of Pittsburgh Press, PA Allen, T.J., J.P. Brock, and J. Glassberg. 2005. Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America. Oxford University Press, New York. Brimley, C.S. 1938. The Insects of North Carolina. N.C. Department of Agriculture, Division of Entomology, Raleigh. Brock, J.P., and K. Kaufman. 2003. Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. Cech, R., and G. Tudor. 2005. Butterflies of the East Coast: An Observer’s Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Daniels, J.C. 2003. Butterflies of the Carolinas – Field Guide. Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, MN. Emmitt, R. 2005. Butterflies of the Carolinas & Virginias: Interactive CD. [Note - privately published by Randy] Glassberg, J. 1993. Butterflies through Binoculars. Oxford University Press, New York. (now out of print) Glassberg, J. 1999. Butterflies through Binoculars: The East. Oxford University Press, New York. Glassberg, J. 2017. A Swift Guide to Butterflies of North America; Second Edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Glassberg, J., M.C. Minno, and J.V. Calhoun. 2000. Butterflies through Binoculars: Florida. Oxford University Press, New York. Gochfeld, M., and J. Burger. 1997. Butterflies of New Jersey. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ. Harris, L., Jr. 1972. Butterflies of Georgia. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Heitzman, J.R., and J.E. Heitzman. 1987. Butterflies and Moths of Missouri. Missouri Dept. of Conservation. Howell, W.M., and V. Charny. 2010. Butterflies of Alabama. Pearson Custom Publishing. Iftner, D.C., J.A. Shuey, and J.V. Calhoun. 1992. Butterflies and Skippers of Ohio. Ohio Biological Survey Bulletin New Series. Vol. 9, Number 1. Klots, A.B. 1951. A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. Marks, C. 2018. Butterflies of Louisiana: A Guide to Identification and Location. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge. Monroe, J.L., and D.M. Wright. 2017. Butterflies of Pennsylvania: a Field Guide. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh. Nielsen, M.C. 1999. Michigan Butterflies and Skippers: A Field Guide and Reference. Michigan State University Cooperative. North American Butterfly Association.