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Annual Butterfly Count, Manassas Circle

Red-banded HairstreakThis count is part of a national program led by the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), which compiles information about butterfly populations and distribution that is used to study effects of climate and habitat change on North American butterflies.

Every year we form teams and see how many butterflies we can find within our count circle. We submit our compile results to NABA's national database for butterflies. We are also seeking tips on specific areas to survey - please contact us at alliance@pwconserve.org if you have suggestions.

The Massas Circle of the Annual Butterfly Count covers 113,000 acres centered on Manassas Airport. To view our survey area on Google Earth, use the coordinates 38.724270, -77.500466 as the center point for a circle with a 7.5 mile radius.

July 18 2021 July 19 2020 July 20 2019 July 28 2018 August 6 2017
Species          
PAPILIONIDAES, Swallowtails          
Pipevine Swallowtail 4 6 4 3 13
Zebra Swallowtail 8 1 4 22 2
Black Swallowtail 7 2 4 1 8
Giant Swallowtail 0 0 0 0 0
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 27 6 177 40 33
Spicebush Swallowtail 3 0 9 1 17
PIERIDAE, Whites & Sulphurs          
Checkered White 0 0 0 0 0
Cabbage White 96 75 92 99 60
Clouded Sulphur 2 7 32 6 5
Orange Sulphur 17 43 9 27 10
Cloudless Sulphur 0 1 3 0 6
Little Yellow 0 0 0 0 0
Sleepy Orange 5 3 19 1 6
LYCAENIDAE, Harvesters and Coppers          
Harvester 0 0 0 0 0
American Copper 0 0 0 0 0
Juniper Hairstreak 5 2 2 1 1
White M Hairstreak 0 0 0 0 0
Gray Hairstreak 2 8 8 3 3
Red-banded Hairstreak 2 0 7 3 9
LYCAENIDAE, Blues          
Eastern-tailed Blue 113 135 108 93 55
Summer Azure 1 3 4 4 10
NYMPHALIDAE, Brushfoots          
American Snout 3 0 2 8 1
Variegated Fritillary 9 0 13 4 5
Great Spangled Fritillary 2 2 8 13 4
Meadow Fritillary 0 0 0 1 0
Silvery Checkerspot 0 43 123 59 4
Pearl Crescent 59 47 92 62 42
Question Mark 5 0 1 1 0
Eastern Comma 3 0 4 0 3
Mourning Cloak 0 0 0 0 0
American Lady 4 1 1 3 1
Painted Lady 1 0 3 2 6
Red Admiral 2 2 18 8 5
Common Buckeye 1 18 29 1 16
Red-spotted Purple 10 2 19 12 5
Viceroy 2 0 4 1 6
Hackberry Emperor 7 9 6 21 14
Tawny Emperor 1 0 0 0 0
NYMPHALIDAE, Satyrs          
Northern Pearly Eye 0 4 3 0 20
Appalachian Brown 0 0 0 0 3
Carolina Satyr 0 1 0 0 1
Little Wood Satyr 1 3 0 0 0
Common Wood Nymph 1 0 5 6 14
NYMPHALIDAE, Milkweed Butterflies          
Monarch 9 10 9 38 23
HESPERIIDAE, Spread-wing Skippers          
Silver-spotted Skipper 13 3 35 36 48
Long-tailed Skipper 0 0 0 0 0
Southern Cloudywing 1 1 0 3 7
Northern Cloudywing 0 0 0 0 0
Horace's Duskywing 6 2 5 10 13
Wild Indigo Duskywing 5 1 0 9 2
Common Checkered Skipper 0 0 0 1 0
Common Sootywing 0 0 1 0 3
HESPERIIDAE - Grass-Skippers          
Swarthy Skipper 0 1 0 2 2
Clouded Skipper 0 0 2 0 0
Least Skipper 53 52 34 19 6
European Skipper 0 0 0 0 0
Fiery Skipper 0 0 1 0 0
Peck's Skipper 27 18 59 17 3
Tawny-edged Skipper 3 2 1 2 1
Crossline Skipper 1 0 1 6 4
Little Glassywing 0 0 2 1 18
Sachem 266 155 24 16 32
Northern Broken Dash 0 0 0 0 4
Southern Broken Dash 0 0 0 0 1
Delaware Skipper 0 0 0 0 0
Hobomok Skipper 0 0 0 0 0
Zabulon Skipper 2 4 15 13 111
Dun Skipper 0 0 1 4 37
Ocola Skipper 0 1 0 0 0
TOTAL INDIVIDUALS 789 674 1003 683 703
TOTAL SPECIES 41 36 45 44 49