Petroglyphs 2018

19th Annual Petroglyphs Butterfly Count

The 19th annual Petroglyphs Butterfly Count was held on Saturday, July 20, 2018 with a total of 20 participants under the direction of Jerry Ball, count compiler.  This count is one of hundreds conducted across Canada, the United States and Mexico each summer.

The participants this year observed a total of 6,351 butterflies representing 51 different species.  Another 31 caterpillars of two species were also found.

Highlights include:

Monarchs – a total of 229 adults and 30 caterpillars is the highest number recorded since the count held in 2014 when 266 were recorded.  On 6 adults were recorded on the 2015 count.  Since then the numbers have been increasing.

Dun Skipper – the 4.914 spotted on this year’s count is a new high for this count and probably a new high for any butterfly count in North America.  The previous continental high was 4,242, and was also recorded on the Petroglyphs count.  This count usually has more Dun Skippers than any other count in the continent.

Hairstreaks – a total of seven species of Hairstreak Butterflies were recorded on the count.  Probably the greatest diversity on any count in the province.

See the results by downloading the attached excel file. 2018 Petroglyphs Summary