Butterfly, Dragonfly and Damselfly Species at Harvard Forest 2015

I report on preliminary observations of butterflies in small meadows in the vicinity of “Harvard Farm” (formerly Petersham Country Club) in Petersham, MA, from 16-20 July 2015. I sampled butterflies at 10 locations over five days, visiting some areas twice. I documented (with digital photography) a total of 17 recognizable species/morpho-species, as well as 2-8 additional “grass skippers” which could not be identified to species. Initially I had planned to conduct a more organized survey, but most of the property had been grazed by the time I arrived in mid-July. This, combined with the late start date, meant that flowers – and nearly all butterflies – were absent at the Harvard Farm property during my visit. Instead, I opted to opportunistically sample several un-grazed meadows in the Petersham area, including North Common Meadow near the center of town and small meadows on Harvard Forest property, to develop a species list and photographic database of as many local butterflies as possible. From these surveys, the most numerous species were clouded/orange sulfur (Colias spp.; 34 individuals observed), followed by great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele; n = 32) and unidentified grass-skippers (various genera; n = 32). Moderately common species (n = 8-12) included Common wood-nymph (Cercyonis pegala), American copper (Lycaena phlaeas) and cabbage white (Pieris rapae); fewer than 4 individuals were recorded of: black/spicebush swallowtail (Papilio sp.), banded hairstreak (Satyrium calanus), gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus), azure (Celastrina ladon), eastern tailed-blue (Everes comyntas), pearl crescent (Phycioides tharos), eastern comma (Polygonia comma), Appalachian brown (Satyodes appalachia), northern pearly-eye (Enodia anthedon), and silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus claras). These observations should be taken as preliminary, but may serve as a list of the most common and conspicuous butterfly taxa during mid-summer in the Petersham area, and could inform study design and focal species lists for future projects in and around Harvard Forest.