Butterflies of the University of Florida
Natural Area Teaching Lab
(Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea & Hesperioidea)

Most Recent Update Jan. 1999

Hugo L. Kons Jr.
Dept. of Entomology & Nematology
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32607

Abstract

Seventy-four species of butterflies and skippers (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) were collected during surveys of the University of Florida Natural Area Teaching Lab in Alachua County, Florida (T 10S-R 19E-S Sec 12). During surveys conducted from the fall of 1996 to the fall of 1998, nineteen species were recorded based on only one or two specimens, five additional species were recorded from fewer than ten specimens, and the remaining species were encountered in higher numbers during certain times of the year. Of the three primary habitat types present in the natural area, the open disturbed habitats were most productive for adult species diversity, followed by hammock and then upland pine habitat.

Introduction

The University of Florida Natural Area & Teaching Laboratory (NATL) contains 40 acres of natural habitats maintained for scientific research, conservation, and teaching purposes. Habitat types present include hammock, upland pine, disturbed open field, cat tail marsh, and shallow pond. An active management plan has been developed for this area, including prescribed burning to restore the upland pine community and establishment of plots to study succession (NATL).

The author has collected extensively for surveys of Lepidoptera (including butterflies, skippers, and moths) in NATL. The majority of specimens upon which this document is based were collected from September 1996 to August 1997; however, more occasional survey work has occurred since that time and is ongoing. The surveys conducted include data from all months of the year, although the amount of survey varies among different months.

The primary purpose of this document is to report the documented diversity and composition of NATL's Lepidoptera fauna in the superfamilies Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea (butterflies and skippers). I also present information on adult habitat association and flight season. This document is intended to be updated as new information becomes available from the author or other sources.

A voucher-specimen-based species inventory enables future comparisons of diversity and composition of NATL's Lepidoptera fauna. This is fundamental to evaluating whether the natural area habitats are being preserved, degraded, or enhanced for Lepidoptera over time. In addition, the following information is useful for studies of distribution, phenology, habitat association, and local biodiversity of Florida Lepidoptera. Furthermore, this document can aid persons interested in finding particular species.

Materials & Methods

Butterfly and skipper surveys were conducted in NATL habitats by netting specimens and attracting specimens with a bait trail. Bait consisted of a mixture of bananas, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and/or syrup painted on trees along trails.

Voucher specimens of adults and larvae were collected, curated, and labeled consistent with the procedures described in Techniques for Collecting and Curating Lepidoptera (Kons 1996, unpublished). Specimen identification was done by comparing NATL specimens with long series of Florida butterflies in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (housed in the Division of Plant Industry's Doyle Conner Building), combined with taxonomic information presented in Scott (1986) and Minno and Emmel (1992). The information presented in this document is substantiated with voucher specimens currently housed in Gainesville in the author's personal research collection.

Results

Surveys to date have yielded specimens of 74 species of butterflies and skippers from NATL. An additional six species have been collected along Southwest 20th Avenue less than 1.5 miles from the NATL boundary. Nineteen of the NATL species are recorded from only one or two specimens. In addition, Euphyes vestris, Lerodea eufala, Calpodes ethlius, Pieris rapae, and Satyrium favonius have been infrequently encountered in NATL (fewer than 10 specimens have been taken). The remaining species have been encountered in greater numbers during at least part of the year.

The greatest diversity of butterfly adults (at least 65 species) was recorded from the open disturbed habitats. At least 50 and 42 species were recorded from the hammock and upland pine habitats (not counting open areas on the edge), respectively.

Explanation of the butterfly check list: A list of all butterfly species collected from NATL (for which the author has examined voucher specimens) is presented. The far left column indicates reference numbers for Miller and Brown (1983) in the Hodges (1983) Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico. Nomenclature follows Harvey (1991) for the Nymphalidae and Miller and Brown (1983) for the remaining families. An “*” to the left of a species name indicates only one or two specimens of that species were collected in NATL. An “L” in this location indicates larvae of that species have been collected in NATL and/or oviposition has been observed.

The “Habitat” column provides information on the NATL habitats where adults of a species have been collected (open disturbed area, hammock, and/or upland pine). Hammock and Upland Pine designations are based on the boundaries presented on the NATL Revised Plan map (map) (propmap.pdf using AcroRd32.exe.). The column for open disturbed areas refers to the portion of the map labeled “Old-Field Succession” and the open edge along the east border bordering the Division of Plant Industry Doyel Connor building. A “X” in a column indicates a species has been collected in that habitat, and a “x” indicates, based on qualitative generalization, that a species has been collected in that habitat but relatively rarely compared to the columns with a “X”.

The flight season portion of the check list is based on spreadsheets with the author's butterfly specimen data for 1996 (fall) and 1997, plus some additional 1998 data. The spreadsheets contain both NATL data and records from other Gainesville localities surveyed by the author during the same time interval as NATL surveys. If the adult of a species has been collected in NATL (or around the Entomology Building right across the road from NATL) at a particular time of year, a “X” appears in the appropriate column. If a species recorded from NATL was collected elsewhere in Gainesville but not specifically in NATL at a certain time of year, a “x” appears in the column for that time of year. The flight season data for Gainesville localities other than NATL are not entirely complete, as a relatively small portion of specimens have not yet been processed. Also, note the flight season data for the other Gainesville localities does not include records from other collections; summarizing these records is beyond the scope of this project. The column headings E, M, and L are defined as follows:

 

E

Early in a month, days 1-10

 

M

Middle of a month, days 11-20

 

L

Late in a month, days 21-end of month.

If these letters appear in bold print, specimens were collected in NATL at that time of year. If they are underlined but not bold faced, no Natural Area surveys were conducted during that time of year but specimens are available from other Gainesville surveys. If neither is the case, the column is empty and the heading letter is neither bold faced nor underlined.

Table 1 presents the total diversity of butterfly species from each family recorded from each month. This data is given for NATL, and for this locality plus all the author's other Gainesville collecting localities (where surveys were conducted during the same time interval as for the natural area) combined. However, for the combined localities, only species that have been recorded from the natural area are included. The other Gainesville collecting sites where additional flight season data was obtained include Southwest 20th Avenue within 1.5 miles of the NATL boundary, Southwest 20th Lane, a row of Lantana on Archer Road bordering a stream, field, and wooded area just west of the the intersection of SW 34th Street and Archer Road, the vicinity of the Gainesville Airport (two dates), southeast Gainesville (one early Nov. date), and Owens Illinois Park on the east side of Newnan's Lake (just outside Gainesville). Figure 1 presents a graph comparing the total number of butterfly species recorded from NATL for each month with the monthly totals for NATL butterfly species collected from the combination of all the author's Gainesville collecting localities during the survey period. Figs 2 and 3 show the same data with individual lines for the five families.

Discussion

Habitat Association: While the habitat column of the check list shows which habitats adults were collected in, true habitat requirements of a butterfly population include the habitat requirements of both the adult and immature stages. For those species which have been reared from NATL, the immatures were collected in areas also frequented by adults. However, some species which were found primarily in open, disturbed habitat in association with abundant nectar sources are only recorded to feed on trees as immatures (based on host data in Scott (1986)). For some species, the observation that they were found primarily in open disturbed habitats may be incidental to the adults being most conspicuous in these habitats.

Within the boundary of the upland pine area designated on the aforementioned map, the portion of this habitat south of grid line 8 was the least productive NATL habitat for adult butterflies (however, it was also the least surveyed habitat). The butterfly species recorded in this area were notably more common (based on qualitative generalization) in other portions of NATL.

All Papilionid species except for P. polyxenes were most common in woodland habitats, although they frequently flew out into the open habitats. Most Hesperiid species in NATL occur in the open habitat or in both the woodland openings and the disturbed open areas. The only member of this family that appears to be restricted to woodland (hammock) habitat and was not found in open field habitat is Amblyscirtes aesculapius. With the exception of Phoebis sennae which is common in both forested and open areas, the Pierids recorded from the natural area are seldom found very far into the forest from the open habitats they frequent, although at times Eurema are found along sunny firelanes and trails through forested areas. Among the Lycaenidae, H. ceraunus and S. melinus adults are associated with the open habitat, and while the adults of the remaining species were usually found in the open habitats as well (except for C. cecrops, found commonly in both open and forested areas), the larval hosts of these species are trees (Scott 1986). The Satyrines all appear to be woodland-associated and have rarely been found in the disturbed open areas except along wooded edges. The remainder of Nymphalidae is represented in the Natural Area by a variety of woodland and open habitat-associated species.

Flight Season and Species Diversity: The flight season data available at present can generally not be interpreted as the complete flight season of a given species (with the exception of singly brooded spring species for which their entire brood was encompassed by a period when fairly regular collecting occurred during 1997) and they do not justify direct comparisons of species diversity present between months. The amount of survey effort varied for different times of the year, and certain times received very limited surveys (December to mid January and late May through late August). Flight season data on Florida butterflies presented in Scott (1986), Gerberg and Arnett (1989), and Kimball (1965) indicate that no species of butterflies in Florida (with the possible exception of Cercyconis pegala) are particular to these times of the year. Consequently, the limited survey at these times of the year is not likely to have resulted in the failure to record resident species. However, additional survey during these times would certainly be helpful in filling in flight season data for a number of species (many more species are expected to occur in the Natural Area at certain times of the year than were actually recorded). In the author's judgment, overall collecting effort should have been sufficiently extensive to uncover the vast majority of resident butterflies present in the NATL during the survey interval. However, there is always the possibility of finding additional species that either become temporarily established or occur as dispersers or strays (such as the five species collected within 1.5 miles of the Natural Area boundary).

Some butterfly species may not always be present in the natural area during all times of the year indicated on the flight season chart. The phenology of broods may vary from year to year due to differences in weather, and nonresident species without regular migrations are expected to be unpredictable regarding their presence in NATL. Also, some species were encountered in very low numbers in NATL during part of their flight season, or are generally difficult to uncover without the aid of attractants such as bait or flowers.

Residential Status of UF Natural Area Butterflies: In addition to a Lepidoptera biodiversity inventory, it is useful to know which of the species recorded are permanent residents of NATL, which only establish temporary breeding populations, and which are dispersers, migrants, or strays. For many species, in a given area such determinations are difficult to make with certainty (especially when extensive flight season data over a number of years is lacking, as is the case for NATL) and usually must be based on indirect evidence with considerable subjectivity. The presence of immature stages indicates at least a temporary breeding population (species labeled “L” in the checklist), and the presence of many adults in fresh condition is suggestive of but does not guarantee this.

Walker (1991) has established that four species which occur in the NATL, Urbanus proteus, Phoebis sennae, Agraulis vanillae, and Junonia coenia, migrate through Gainesville northward in the spring and have a return migration southward during the fall. While all these species were collected during some winter months of 1996 (late season), 1997, and 1998, U. proteus and A. vanillae can not overwinter as far north as Gainesville during some years (Walker 1991). Two additional species, Urbanus dorantes and Heliconius charitonius, which are at times common and breed in NATL, may not be able to survive some periods of cold weather in Gainesville and be “frozen back south” until they recolonize after northward migration during periods of warm weather. This also occurred with Anartia jatrophe in Gainesville during 1997 (immatures were collected); however, only a single specimen of this species was collected in NATL. Also, it is well known that Danaus plexippus is an annually migrating species which apparently does not overwinter in the Gainesville area. No evidence of D. plexippus breeding was uncovered on the few potential Asclepias hosts which occur in the north portion of the upland pine area.

Failure to find a conspicuous diurnal species in a small area consistently at any time of the year, plus uncovering few specimens despite extensive survey, favors the possibility that such species are not residents of that local area. For NATL, this applies to all species marked with a “*” in the check list, and to a lesser extent to Euphyes vestris, Lerodea eufala, Calpodes ethlius, Pieris rapae, and Satyrium favonius. Note that some of these 23 species have been found in numbers less than one mile from the NATL boundary, while for others no additional records were obtained from the author's collecting near NATL.

Phyciodes phaon, a very common and widespread resident of the Gainesville area but relatively infrequently encountered in NATL, may not be a resident of NATL because its known larval hosts (Lippia (Gerberg and Arnett 1989) and Justicia ovata (T. Feldman 1997, unpublished data)) were not found during surveys. In addition, E. nicippe, E. lisa, and P. protodice, while found in some numbers in NATL on occasion, have at times not been uncovered in Natural Area surveys when they were numerous within 1.5 miles of the NATL boundary.

The remaining species recorded from NATL are those species most likely to be permanent residents of NATL as well as in the Gainesville area. Fresh adults of all these species were encountered in numbers in NATL on multiple survey dates, Gainesville is within the breeding range given in Scott (1986), and no evidence was obtained inconsistent with resident status.

Management: The burning and proposed burning in the upland pine habitats to attempt restoration of the historical upland pine community is not predicted by this study to have substantial negative long-term impacts on NATL's butterfly populations. As noted earlier, the south portion of this area is not very productive for butterflies at present. The western portion, however, may contain some of the NATL's prime habitat for Battus philenor (based on adult observations) and Eurytides marcellus (based on host plant distribution), so these species could be temporarily negatively impacted after burns. E. marcellus was not seen in the NATL after several surveys immediately following the March 1998 burn of the north portion of the upland pine (B. philenor was found in low numbers), but was found in numbers in a nearby location on one of the same days. However, since these two swallowtails are strong-flying mobile species with other suitable habitat near NATL, they would consequently be expected to quickly recolonize once the restoration is complete and less extensive burning is initiated. In fact, both of these species were found in NATL surveys during the fall of 1998. No observations suggest that any other NATL butterfly species are primarily associated with the upland pine habitat.

Acknowledgments

I thank T. J. Walker and T. C. Emmel for their reviews of this manuscript. Also, I thank J. B. Heppner for providing access to the Florida State Collection of Arthropods. T. J. Walker also provided information about the University of Florida Natural Area and management plans, and information about butterfly migration in the Gainesville area.

References

Feldman, T. 1997. (pers. com., unpublished larval host data for Phyciodes phaon from Alachua Co., FL)

Gerberg, E. J. and R. H. Arnett, Jr. 1989. Florida Butterflies. Natural Science Publications, Inc. Baltimore, MD.

Harvey, D. J. 1991. Higher Classification of the Nymphalidae. Appendix B in The Development and Evolution of Butterfly Wing Patterns by H. Frederick Nijhout. Smithsonian Institution Press.

Miller, L. D. and F. M. Brown. 1983. Butterfly section in the Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico by R. W. Hodges. Great Britian, University Press, Cambridge.

Kimball, C. P. 1965. Lepidoptera of Florida. Div. of Plant Industry. Gainesville, FL.

Kons, H. L. Jr. 1996. Techniques for collecting and curating lepidoptera. (unpublished)

Minno, M. C. and T. C. Emmel. 1992. Butterflies of the Florida Keys. Scientific Publishers. Gainesville.

Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press. Stanford, CA.

Walker, T. J. 1991. Butterfly migration from and to peninsular Florida. Ecol. Entom. 16: 241- 252.

To contribute additional butterfly specimen records (or moth records) for the University of FL Natural Area Teaching Lab, contact the author at the address given or hlko@ifas.ufl.edu. I will be interested in examining the voucher specimens for such records. Any additional butterfly records will be gratefully acknowledged in future updates of this manuscript.