Top Photo: Eastern tiger swallowtail.

Three butterflies known for early season flights have been seen this past week.

There are two flight periods when eastern tiger swallowtails can reliably be seen, now, and late summer to fall. There are two separate broods. The butterflies you see now, in spring, have overwintered as pupae and are smaller than the individuals that you’ll see in summer. As caterpillars, they fed on late season, less nutritious foliage in late summer and fall before going into a chrysalis. They don’t get quite as large as their summertime relatives.

Azures are small, low flying butterflies. The upper surfaces of their wings are blue while the undersides are whitish with various black markings. There are two look-a-like species that can be seen here, spring azure and summer azure. Interestingly summer azures can be observed earlier in the season than spring azure.

Another low flying spring butterfly is falcate orangetip. They are small white butterflies. The males have orange colored scales on the tips of their forewings. The second half of March through the middle of April are the best times to see them. Your chances increase if there are mustards in the area. Even so, if you don’t see one by the end of April, you probably won’t see one.

Keep your eyes open for these and other butterflies as more species begin to emerge. Some likely candidates are question mark, comma, mourning cloak, American snout…

Get out and have a look around.

Ranger Greg