BUTTERFLY MIGRATION SEASON
More than 155 species of butterflies have been recorded in Arkansas, but not all are common and not all are found statewide. Some, in fact, are vagrant species that merely pass through the state during the annual butterfly migration. To see the greatest variety of Arkansas's butterfly species, observers should visit as many types of habitat as possible, searching pine, deciduous and mixed forests, prairie remnants and old fields, wetlands, glades and other Natural State habitats.
The state's butterfly migration season generally begins in March, although a few random adults may manage to survive in warm winters and be seen earlier. Among the first species regularly observed each spring are falcate orange tips, clouded and cloudless sulphurs, eastern tailed-blues, spring azures, mourning cloaks, question marks, common buckeyes, red-spotted admirals and painted ladies. As April progresses, species that may join the early ones include more than 40 kinds of skippers, 11 different types of hairstreaks, six swallowtails, the American copper and the gulf fritillary.
May generally brings the appearance of Diana fritillaries, viceroys, snouts, pearl crescents and Baltimore checkerspots. In June, three types of pearly eyes, four satyrs and common wood nymphs may join the cast, as well as hackberry and tawny emperors, great-spangled and regal fritillaries, and gorgone and silvery checkerspots. Among the last species to make their appearance each year are the giant swallowtail and the goatweed butterfly. By October, the season is winding down. A few species routinely persist into November and may last for a time into warm Decembers.
VIEWING LOCATIONS
More than 90 species have been listed on the butterfly checklist for Mount Magazine, the state's highest peak and home to Mount Magazine State Park. The park and the nearby town of Paris host a butterfly festival each June. The 4,885-acre Rick Evans/Grandview Prairie Wildlife Management Area in southwestern Arkansas includes the largest contiguous, publicly owned tract of blackland prairie in the U.S. The area offers a variety of habitats, but its prairie wildflowers make it of special significance to butterfly watchers.
In Central Arkansas, the Bell Slough Wildlife Management Area and Camp Robinson Wildlife Demonstration Area, located near Mayflower off Interstate 40 between Little Rock and Conway, are rapidly approaching Mount Magazine's species total for butterflies. At Petit Jean State Park near Morrilton, the Seven Hollows Trail passes through an area recovering from a year 2000 forest fire and is an excellent spot for observing butterflies and nature's pattern of succession.
Another hotspot for butterfly enthusiasts, especially in June, is the Ouachita National Forest's self-guided Pine-Bluestem Buffalo Road Tour in western Arkansas. The Governor Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center at Pine Bluff and the Forrest L. Wood Crowley's Ridge Nature Center near Jonesboro, two Arkansas Game and Fish Commission facilities, offer gardens and habitats attractive to butterflies.
BUTTERFLY TIPS
As veteran butterfly watchers know, butterflies must warm themselves to a certain level before they can begin flight. Therefore, on cloudy, cool days in spring and autumn they may not fly at all. Many butterfly larvae (i.e., caterpillars) feed on specific types of plants and adults of those species frequently can be found near the host plants. Butterflies also gather around hilltops, mud puddles and fresh scat piles.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
- Butterflies of Arkansas (U.S. Geological Society guide with text description and color photos of most species)
- Arkansas Audubon Society Butterfly Checklist (includes abundance, flight months, regional distribution and host plants; compiled by Herschel Raney)
- Butterfly Web Site (features photos and work of Herschel Raney, compiler of Arkansas Audubon butterfly checklist; species occurrence maps by county)
- Southern Lepidopterists' Society