Woodland butterflies

On a recent butterfly outing, we were fortunate to find a flurry of activity in the understory of Wolf Creek Park in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. There must have been a recent hatch of these woodland butterflies and several were drying their wings in the late morning breeze.

This photo would make a good $100 butterfly quiz. Can you name this species from a top-side view?

Does this help? Two of the same species on one stem. The woods was thick with the beasties!

Northern Pearly Eye, Enodia anthedon. Not so tough from this angle. Pearly Eyes favor damp-to-wet woodlands and use bottlebrush grass (Hystrics patula) for their larva form.

You'll have to look twice to see the differences between Pearly Eyes and a rarer species, the Eyed Brown. Pearly Eyes are more of a woodland species, while Eyed Browns prefer marsh or wetlands. The Eyed Browns are also lighter in general color and their markings are not as vivid.

Jim Davidson just gave an amazing butterfly and host plant program today at the Midwest Native Plant Conference. I am looking forward to some more time in the field and programs by some of Ohio's best botany (and butterfly) experts.

The next quiz question might be how many of these fantastic native plants can I cram in my car? With so many vendors to shops, I may go crazy! Hope you'll stop by to shop for native plant deals on Saturday!