Blackwater NWR butterflies this weekend

[Bert Harris]

Hi all,

I'm headed to Idylwild NWR to look for odes this weekend and I'll also go down to Blackwater. I see that there are a few localities for Rare Skipper on iNaturalist, but the localities for Great Purple Hairstreak are obscured. Would anyone on here be willing to share tips and locations for these two or other interesting species? I don't have an insect collection and I'll keep the localities obscured if you'd like.

Thank you!

Bert Harris, Orlean VA

[Rick Borchelt]

Anywhere buttonbush is blooming in Dorchester Co south of the Refuge is a possibility for Rare Skipper or Great Purple Hairstreak.  In all honesty, Great Purple should never have been added to the state's RTE list.  It is common if local on the lower shore where you find mistletoe in proximity to nectar sources.  The "decline" has been in roadside nectar, which we lazy lepidopterists favor. The butterflies are still there, they just aren't viewable from your car window.  A second (formerly productive, waning in recent years) location is Hickory Point Road out of Pocomoke City, where you also have the possibility of Palamedes Swallowtail and Bronze Copper; I haven't been out that way this year yet to check it out but colleagues have recently and didn't do well. 

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Rick Borchelt
College Park, MD
preferred personal email:  rborchelt |AT| gmail |DOT| com

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[Jeff Cagle]

If you do hit up Hickory Point Road, WEAR BUG SPRAY.  I failed on that point.  If anyone had videoed me swatting and trotting, it would have gone viral.

Jeff