A tentative table of Columbia County NY butterflies, with indications of their status.
	C. Vispo (with input from Harry Zirlin) August 2009
	These pages are meant to help you learn the butterflies of the County. Alone they are, obviously enough, useless, but if you match them up with a good guide (we recommend Cech & Tutor's
	Butterflies of the East Coast), then they should help your learning. All the common, occasional or rare butterflies listed here have been observed by us or our collaborators, except for those marked
	"rare*" - those butterflies are listed by Opler and colleagues (at the Butterflies and Moths of North America web site) as being recorded from Columbia County, but we haven't observed them.
	Flight time and foods are from Cech and Tudor; habitat is from that work and our own observations. Species that seem to have experienced a net regional increase over the last 150 years are indicated by
	green highlighting, those which have apparently experienced a decline are indicated in mauve; the remaining species have shown no obvious trends. These assessments of dynamics are based upon recently
	published butterfly faunas from the Northeast and a review of historical literature dating back to 1853.
	Common Name	Apparent Abundance in County	Flight Time	Caterpillar Food	Habitat
	FAMILY HESPERIIDAE
	Common Sootywing	common	mid-May - mid June; late July-Aug	lamb's quarters & others	open
	Duskywing, Juvenal's	common	late April-early June	oaks	varied open, usually not wet or disturbed
	Skipper, European	common	June-July	timothy & other introd grasses	fields
	Skipper, Hobomok	common	late May - early July	grasses	old fields
	Skipper, Least	common	June - Oct	grasses	wet, tall grass
	Skipper, Peck's	common	late May - Sept	grasses	fields
	Skipper, Silver-spotted	common	June-Aug	black locust	brushier fields
	Skipper, Tawny-edged	common	late May -mid July; early Aug - Sept	grasses	grassy oft moist
	Cloudywing, Northern	occasional	late May - early July	clovers & other legumes	"scrubby fields"
	Dash, Black	occasional	late April - early June	sedges	sedgy wetlands
	Dash, Long	occasional	early June-early July; Aug	grasses	open grassy oft moist
	Duskywing, Wild Indigo	occasional	May-Aug	wild indigo and now alfalfa	in or near alfalfa fields
	Little Glassywing	occasional	late June-July	Purple Top & ?? Other grasses	old fields/pastures
	Skipper, Broadwing	occasional	mid-July - Aug	reeds, sedges, wild rice	wet areas with Phragmites
	Skipper, Common Checkered	occasional	mid May - Sept	mallows	short, sparse fields/lawns
	Skipper, Crossline	occasional	late June-early Aug	grasses	dry and moist fields
	Skipper, Dun	occasional	July-Aug	sedges, maybe grasses	old fields
	Cloudywing, Southern	rare*	early June-mid July	legumes	open areas
	Duskywing, Dreamy	rare*	mid-May - June	willows, aspen, black locust	open woods & edges
	Duskywing, Horace's	rare*	May, June, Sept	oak	dry, open oak woods
	Duskywing, Mottled	rare*	May-June, July-August	NJ Tea	open, dry woods
	Hoary Edge	rare*	June-July	legumes, e.g tick trefoil	old field brush, edges
	Mulberry Wing	rare	mid July - early Aug	sedges	sedgy wetlands
	Northern Broken-dash	rare	early June-mid Aug	panic grasses	old fields
	Sachem	rare	vagrant; obsvd. once in Sept	wide range of grasses	circa any disturbed grassy area
	Skipper, Deleware	rare	mainly July	Little Bluestem, Switch Grass, other grasses?	varied, dry to wet
	Skipper, Indian	rare*	May - June	grasses, inc. bluestem	dry, often shrubby,  fields
	Skipper, Leonard's	rare	end of Aug/early Sept	native grasses such as Little Bluestem	dry upland grassland near wet area
	Skipper, Roadside	rare*	late May-mid June	grasses	woodland openings
	Skipper, Zabulon	rare	late May-mid June; mid Aug-mid Sept	grasses	shrubby, roadside
	Duskywing, Columbine	unseen but possible	May-June, July	Columbine	where host plant
	Duskywing, Sleepy	unseen but possible	May	scrub oak	balds, barrens
	Skipper, Arctic	unseen but possible	late May to Mid-June	grasses	grasses near woods
	Skipper, Cobweb	unseen but possible	May - June	bluestem	dry fields
	Skipper, Dion	unseen but possible	July	sedges	wetlands
	Skipper, Dusted	unseen but possible	May - June	bluestems	dry, open
	Skipper, Fiery	unseen but possible	Sept-Oct	grasses	sunny upland
	Skipper, Pepper & Salt	unseen but possible	May - June	grasses	woodland openings
	Skipper, Two spotted	unseen but possible	late June-July	sedges, esp. hairy-fruited sedge	wetlands
	FAMILY LYCAENIDAE
	Azure, Spring-Summer	common	April-Sept	lots	mainly fields
	Copper, American	common	May-Sept	dock species	drier fields
	Eastern Tailed Blue	common	May-Sept	legumes	open, disturbed low growth
	Copper, Bronze	occasional	mid June-mid July; early Aug - mid Sept	docks	the wetlands around ponds or streams
	Hairstreak, Banded	occasional	May-Aug	oaks and hickories	edges, opens
	Hairstreak, Grey	occasional	early May - mid June	various field/brush plants	open, weedy, disturbed
	Hairstreak, Hickory	occasional	late June-early Aug	hardwoods	edges of rich, deciduous forests
	Hairstreak, Juniper	rare	mid May - June; Aug	red cedar	open uplands with Juniperus
	Elfin, Eastern Pine	rare	May-June	pines	near pine woods
	Hairstreak, Coral	rare*	June	cherries, plums	old field, second growth
	Hairstreak, Striped	rare	late June - mid July	roses, cherries, hawthorn, heath, Carpinus	openings & edges in woods
	Elfin, Brown	unseen but possible	May	heath family	barrens, dry woods
	Blue, Silvery	unseen but possible	April-June	legumes	openings in moist forest
	Copper, Bog	unseen but possible	late June-July	cranberries	acid wet meadows
	Hairstreak, Acadian	unseen but possible	July	willows	where willow
	Hairstreak, Early	unseen but possible	May-June, July-August	beechnuts	beech forests
	Hairstreak, Edward's	unseen but possible	July	scrub oak	scrub oak forest
	Hairstreak, Oak	unseen but possible	June-July	oaks	oak forest
	Hairstreak, Red-banded	unseen but possible	May-June; Aug-Sept	sumach,oaks,other?	open
	Hairstreak, White M	unseen but possible	May, Sept	oaks	oak forest
	Harvester	unseen but possible	May-Sept	alder aphids	alder swamps
	FAMILY NYMPHALIDAE
	Fritillary, Meadow	common	May-Sept	violets	moister fields
	Checkerspot, Baltimore	common	mid June-mid July	turtlehead and now English plantain	some fields
	Comma, Eastern	common	3 flights, April - Sept?	elms and nettles	woods, especially floodplain forests
	Common Ringlet	common	late May-early July; late July-Aug	grasses	old fields
	Common Wood Nymph	common	July-early Sept	grasses	fields with shrubs or other tall vegetation
	Fritillary, Great Spangled	common	late June-early Sept	violets	forest edges
	Lady, Painted	common	May-Oct	various field plants	circa any opening
	Little Wood Satyr	common	late May-early Aug	grasses	edges, clearings of woods, thence into open
	Monarch	common	mid June-Sept	milkweed	old fields, edges
	Mourning Cloak	common	year around; most common in summer	willows and other trees	wanders
	Northern Pearly Eye	common	late June-early Aug	grasses	forests, oft near water
	Pearl Crescent	common	mid May-early Sept	asters	a variety of fields
	Viceroy	common	late May-early Oct	willow	moist, shrubby
	Common Buckeye	occasional	July-Sept	plantains, scrophs, vervains	open with some bare ground
	Brown, Appalachian	occasional	late June-Aug	sedges	wooded wet areas, near sedges
	Lady, American	occasional	mid May-late Oct	composits	circa anywhere
	Question Mark	occasional	late June-Oct	elms	forests and edges
	Red Admiral	occasional	May-Oct	nettles	moist woods and meadows, esp floodplain forests
	Red-spotted Purple	occasional	mid June-early Aug; mid Aug-mid Sept	cherry	near deciduous, often moist forest
	Tortoiseshell, Compton	occasional	March-fall	birches and willows	forest openings and edges
	Tortoiseshell, Milbert's	occasional	mid June-Oct?	nettles	wet/damp near woods
	Checkerspot, Harris'	rare*	June-July	flat top aster	wet, open areas
	Comma, Grey	rare	3 flights, April - Sept	Ribes, elm	woodland clearings
	Emperor, Hackberry	rare	July-Aug	hackberries	floodplains with hackberry
	Brown, Eyed	rare*	late June-early Aug	sedges	sedgelands
	Fritillary, Aphrodite	rare	late June-early Sept	violets	upland acid soils, moist grasslands
	Fritillary, Silver-bordered	rare*	June-Sept	wetland violets	overgrowing wet areas, marshes, bogs etc
	Snout, American	rare	late June-mid Oct	Hackberry	river bottems, wooded stream edges
	White Admiral	rare	mid June-early Aug; mid Aug-mid Sept	cherry	forests, edges, shrub
	Emperor, Tawny	unseen but possible	July-Aug	hackberries	where hackberry
	Checkerspot, Silvery	unseen but possible	July	sunflowers	edges, stream banks
	Comma, Green	unseen but possible	3 flights, April - Sept?	Ribes	"boreal woodlands"
	Fritillary, Atlantis	unseen but possible	mid June-mid Sept	northern blue violet	woodside openings
	Fritillary, Variegated	unseen but possible	July-Oct	violet, thyme, plaintain, purslane etc	open areas
	Crescent, Tawny	regionally extinct?	June-July	certain asters	rocky, scrubby areas
	Fritillary, Regal	regionally extinct?	late June-mid Sept	violets	extensive open areas with some wettness
	FAMILY PAPILIONIDAE
	Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger	common	late May-Oct	black cherry, tuliptree, ash	near deciduous trees
	Swallowtail, Black	common	May-Sept	parsely, carrot and other umbels	mainly open fields
	Swallowtail, Spicebush	occasional	May-Aug	Spicebush	varied open space, usually near forest
	Swallowtail, Canada	unseen but possible	May-early June?	birch, aspen, cherry	near deciduous trees
	Swallowtail, Pipevine	unseen but possible	June-early Oct	pipevine	in our area, gardens
	FAMILY PIERIDAE
	Sulphur, Orange	common	mid May - early Oct	alfalfa and other fabaceae	open, weedy, alfalfa
	Cabbage White	common	May-Oct	crucifers	pastures or cultivated fields
	Sulphur, Clouded	common	May-mid Oct	legumes	open, prefers more natural areas than orange
	Falcate Orange Tip	unseen but possible	May	mustards, rock cresses, two-leaved toothwort	"trap rock hills"
	Little Yellow	unseen but possible	mid Aug-early Sept	senna family	fields and waste areas
	Mustard White	unseen but possible	as early as late April - Aug	mustards, eg cut-leafed toothwort (dentaria), arabis, cardamine	edges, streamside, old fields
	Sulphur, Cloudless	unseen but possible	Aug-Oct migrant	senna family	open
	White, Checkered	unseen but possible	late Aug-Sept	crucifers	weedy, open
	White, West Virginia	unseen but possible	early April-late May	mainly Dentaria/Cardamine diphylla	rich moist woods
	FAMILY RIONIDAE
	Northern Metalmark	unseen but possible	July	round-leaved ragwort	limestone outcrops