Charleston Butterfly Blitz 2019 took place July 27-August 4, 2019 in Coles County, IL. Over 60 people contributed almost 1600 butterfly observations from Coles County to iNaturalist, representing an amazing 44 different species! 

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Thanks to all these citizen scientists, we now have a good idea of what species are in our area this year at this time. I can’t wait to compare these data with what we find during Blitzes in future years!

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Monarchs came in as the most submitted butterfly, followed by silver-spotted skipper, eastern tiger swallowtail, and common buckeye. It’s encouraging to see the monarchs having a good year.

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Cool and surprising sightings included three unusual sulphurs: sleepy orange (6 submissions), dainty sulphur (2 submissions), and southern dogface (1 submission). Finding all 3 species during the Blitz is pretty amazing! Also, Jake Pschirrer found a very late in the season banded hairstreak – another surprise.

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Prizes for most submissions and species went to: Kathryn Bulver, Tom Canam, Marge Phelps, and Amy Lynch.

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To look at the Blitz results on iNaturalist, click "2019 Blitz Results." For a map showing the location of UBI hotspots, click the "UBI Hotspots" button. And to sign up for a FREE iNaturalist account, click on the "iNaturalist" button.