10th Annual BTA Butterfly Count results
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Central Arizona Butterfly Association's 10th Annual BTA tally on September 10 was a day with beautiful warm weather and ten count volunteers who counted and identified butterflies on the grounds and gardens of BTA, in the town of Superior, along the AZ Trail at the foot of Picketpost Mountain, and in and around Oak Flat seven miles East of the Arboretum. This year we observed a total of 36 species of butterflies which was more or less similar to the number seen in previous years although the largest number of species seen was 55 on the 2010 count. This year we saw an impressive 1084 individual butterflies, which was up from the 515 individual butterflies tallied the during our 2015 count. As in previous years, the most abundant species were the American Snout, Queen, Empress Leilia, Sleepy Orange, Cloudless Sulphur, and Pipevine Swallowtail. The most individual butterflies was seen on the grounds of BTA (with 512 individuals, and 17 species). However, the AZ Trailhead also produced a large number of individuals (486) and the largest number of species (22). Oak Flat was not well populated with butterflies this year, only 86 seen (19 species), perhaps because it was so dry and there were so few flowers.
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