Orange Phoebis in Virginia

[Mike Soukup]

In addition, there has been an invasion of P. sennae again this year.   It
started about 2 weeks ago here in Annapolis, Maryland.  Now, I see about 10-20
per day in my garden - and about 30-40 if I go out driving around.  Very fresh.

And, with the storm that just came up the coast, I'm going out black witch
hunting as soon as it warms up a bit....

Mark Walker wrote:

> My vote is Pheobis agarithe.  It sounds like one from your description, and
> it doesn't seem to me to be a huge stretch that P. agarithe might
> occasionally move that far up the eastern seaboard from Florida.
>
> How common are they now on the northeastern coast of Florida (or other
> northern locations)?
>
> Mark Walker.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Hilton, Rob [mailto:rhilton at CSA.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 3:10 PM
> > To: LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu
> > Subject: Orange Phoebis in Virginia
> >
> > Around 1 or 2 pm, Saturday August 24, as I was driving north on US 13 in
> > northern Northampton County, Virginia, I saw a large, orange butterfly
> > flying over the road.  It seemed to be identical in shape, size, altitude,
> > and behavior to the many Cloudless Sulphurs (Phoebis sennae) that I had
> > noted that day.  However, it was essentially orange.  I drove more or less
> > under it and kept on going, as I figured relocating it would be
> > impossible.  This butterfly was probably 12 feet or so above the road as I
> > was traveling north around 55 mph.  I knew that there are only a handful
> > of records anywhere near this far north for other Phoebis species, and I
> > figured trying to relocate a single butterfly along a busy highway was
> > next to impossible.  The only other non-Cloudless Phoebis sulphurs I have
> > ever seen were Large Orange (P. agarithe) and Orange-barred (P. philea)
> > nine years ago in Texas.  This past weekend I saw 150-200 Cloudless
> > Sulphurs, both from the car and while walking.
> >
> > All the Cloudless Sulphurs were quite obvious.  I frequently saw them
> > flying across US 13 at heights of 6 to 15 feet, as well as closer to the
> > ground along the side of the highway.  I think I saw around 200
> > individuals during the three days I was in the Eastern Shore of Virginia,
> > and I am quite familiar with Phoebis sennae, having seen thousands of them
> > one day in 1998 at Point Lookout, Maryland as well as many around Cape
> > May, NJ, and various other parts of the Middle Atlantic states.  I didn't
> > note any Colias sulphurs at all this weekend.  I am quite familiar with
> > the Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) and have seen a few Sleepy Oranges
> > (Eurema nicippe) too.
> >
> > The USGS website shows that Orange-barred Sulphur has been noted from
> > three western Virginia counties, single counties in both central
> > Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and three counties in New York and New
> > England.  It also shows that Large Orange Sulphur has been found in two
> > counties in central Maryland, and single counties in New York, New Jersey,
> > and Maine.  The nearest counties to the south are in Georgia and northeast
> > Florida, respectively.
> >
> > I welcome comments on this observation.
> >
> > Returning to the Washington, DC, area on August 26 I noted my last
> > Cloudless Sulphur just east of the Nanticoke River bridge at the Wicomico
> > / Dorchester County line.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Rob Hilton
> > rhilton at csa.com
> > Bethesda, Md.
> >
> >
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