Fun Facts - Butterfly Counts - June 2023

 

Fun Facts - Butterfly Counts - Collier County Parks

 

Save the Date 
Next Butterfly Count
June 24, 2023

Bring on the Butterflies - Florida Wildflower Foundation Webinar

 

Bring on the butterflies! - Florida Wildflower Foundation

Register here - FREE:

Butterflies are an important indicator of the health of our environment. Equally as important are the native plants on which they and other wildlife depend for survival. Learn how you can make a difference for butterflies, big or small, by simply providing native plants in your own landscape, balcony or patio garden. Learn how chemical-free gardening simplified by planting native plants the right way can make your thumb green!

Join a Butterfly Count - North Collier Regional Park

 Saturday - November 19th

9:30am - 12:30pm

North Collier Regional Park

Meet in the Garden 

Nearly 30 species of butterflies have been observed during previous counts. Both number of individuals and different species will be recorded.

Volunteers ages 16 and up are invited to participate. Individuals with previous experience participating in one of these butterfly counts will serve as group leads.

Click here to sign up

August 2022 Results of Summer Butterfly Counts

 

Collier County Parks & Recreation

Volunteer Newsletter – August 2022

Results of 2022 Summer Butterfly Counts

By Andee Naccarato, CCPR Volunteer & Interim President of Naples Native Plants

 

In honor of Pollinator Week, 20 volunteers for Collier County Parks & Recreation (CCPR) participated in the 2^nd annual summer butterfly counts on Saturday, June 25^th at three Parks: Conner Park, North Collier Regional Park, and Sugden Regional Park. These parks were selected for butterfly counts because they include native plants in their butterfly gardens, general landscaping, and natural areas. Native plants are very important to the survival of southwest Florida’s butterflies because they provide food and/or shelter for all four butterfly stages (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult).

How many butterflies were counted this year? Read on for the results from each Park!

 

Conner Park  is located in northwest Naples in the Vanderbilt Beach area, about half a mile from the Gulf of Mexico. As with the other two Parks, volunteers counted numbers of individual butterflies of different species while walking a circular route through the Park’s butterfly garden and natural areas. At Conner Park, 157 individual butterflies of 7 species were identified. The top three species seen were Statira Sulphur, Barred Yellow, and Zebra Heliconian (Florida’s state butterfly). Two new species for Conner Park (Giant Swallowtail and White Checkered-Skipper) were recorded this year, bringing the overall park total to 15 species. Certain species of butterflies that rely on native plants in mangrove habitats, such as the Statira Sulphur, Mangrove Buckeye, and Mangrove Skipper, are most likely to be seen at Conner Park and less likely to be seen as distance from the coast increases.

 

North Collier Regional Park  is Located about four miles inland from Conner Park, North Collier Regional Park is a large multi-use park with preserved habitats of pine flatwoods and cypress wetlands. This year, 73 butterflies of 14 species were counted. The top five species observed (with a three-way tie for 3^rd place) were White Peacock, White Checkered-Skipper, Cloudless Sulphur, Cassius Blue, and Barred Yellow. Two new species, the Soldier (a relative of the Monarch and Queen) and Tropical Checkered-Skipper, were recorded this year. The Park’s overall total is now 23 species. When considering numbers of individual butterflies seen in the butterfly gardens specifically, North Collier Regional Park came out on top for this count (18 individuals of 7 species).

 

Sugden Regional Park  is the southernmost of the three parks, located about 1.5 miles from Naples Bay on Lake Avalon. For this summer’s count, 127 individuals of 15 species were counted. The top three species were White Peacock, Dainty Sulphur, and Zebra Heliconian. Three new species for Sugden Regional Park were recorded (Eastern Black Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, and Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak), bringing this park’s overall total to 24 species. Although the majority of this park is the open water of Lake Avalon, a mix of native plants along habitat edges and in the butterfly garden support an impressive diversity of butterfly species.

 

Conclusion

 

A variety of environmental factors influence butterfly abundance and diversity, so it’s difficult to determine why butterfly numbers may change from year to year, from season to season, or from location to location on a single day. We do know that butterflies rely on the presence of native plants in natural areas, gardens, and landscaping so they can create more butterflies for the future. It is important to continue conducting butterfly counts in the long-term to paint a clearer picture of butterfly population trends in Collier County.

Are you interested in participating in the next butterfly count or tending one of the butterfly gardens? Contact Connie Nagele (Lead Garden Volunteer) at Cnageleart@gmail.com for more information.

Special thanks to all the volunteers (and CCPR Volunteer Coordinator Debi Siciliano) who dedicated their time to counting butterflies on a hot June day: Dena & Scott Berglund, Linda Blaise, Dante Cirilli, Christy Duff, Sara Dust, Cherie Glenn, Rhonda Gloodt, Juliet Gross, Susan LaGrotta, Abbie & Susan LeFebvre, Michele Lenhard, Maureen McFarland, Andee Naccarato, Connie Nagele, Debbie Polen, Jane Poole, Hannah Scech, and Jane Smith.

Check out our photo gallery from the Summer Butterfly Count in June 2022 and beyond.  A special thank you to our master photographers, Scott B., Christy D., Maureen M. and everyone to contributed photos from the counts for late identification.