Butterfly: Wingspan: ½ - 1 inch (1.3 - 2.5 cm) UPPER SURFACE (dorsal) Bright red brown; metallic bands, dots, and lines on fore and hindwings; darker inside interior metallic band. UNDER SURFACE (ventral) Bright orange; dark gray markings resemble upper surface. Thorax dark; abdomen orange with dark markings. Wing fringes may be checkered.
ID Tip: Tiny. Bright reddish brown (upper surface) and orange (lower surface) with metallic bands.
Egg: Reddish brown. Pitted; turban shaped. Typically laid on first-year, basal rosettes of host plants.
Caterpillar: Whitish green; long wispy white hairs on back and sides. Partially grown larvae overwinter.
Chrysalis: Light green; row of small black dots along back; larval hairs included in the formation; looks distinctly hairy. Often attached to underside of host plant leaves.
On May 28, 2011, Vitaly Charny discovered that he had photographed a Swamp Metalmark at Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve in northwest Alabama, approximately 300 miles from its nearest previously known population! While taking a break at a small clearing, Charny noticed two diminutive orange butterflies swirling above clusters of Daisy Fleabane. One looked unusually small, so he quickly snapped some shots with his digital camera. The identity of the first butterfly was predictable (a male Pearl Crescent), but the other was a complete surprise. The tiny individual was clearly a metalmark, by all accounts, far out of range. Believing he was looking at a Swamp Metalmark, he sent images to Dr. Paul Opler, who confirmed the ID.
Why was this discovery so surprising? Swamp Metalmarks are typically associated with grass/sedge wetlands in the Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley and Ozark Mountain regions, extending as far south as Kentucky and Arkansas. They are almost never common, and many records consist of just one or only a few individuals. Even in Missouri, its stronghold, populations are small and highly isolated, with many not having been seen in decades. In Illinois, the species has been absent since the 1980’s, and re-introduction attempts are underway. The Arkansas population has not been observed in over thirty years. Kentucky’s population is highly imperiled, its only known sustained colony in danger of eradication from potential loss of habitat.
Swamp Metalmarks are always found in close association with native thistles, their primary larval food plants. In most locations, Swamp Thistle is considered the primary host, but at Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve, Sara Bright and Paulette Ogard determined that Tall Thistle is the sole host plant. To understand the life history of these butterflies, it is important to understand the life history of the plants. Thistles are biennials—plants that complete their life cycle in two years. During their first season, they only produce an inconspicuous evergreen rosette of leaves; the tall flower stalk does not emerge until the second year of growth. Once the plants flower and seeds are set, they die back to the ground and decomposition follows. Bright and Ogard discovered that first-generation female metalmarks lay their eggs on the emerging flower stalks of second year plants. Over an eight-week period, they found caterpillars of all instars (as many as thirty-five in one day) and one chrysalis, all on these second year plants. Conversely, females from the later, second flight chose the basal rosetttes of the non-flowering, first-year plants as egg-laying sites, presumably because the majority of the subsequent larvae must over-winter and require the protection and continued food resource provided by the ground-hugging thistle leaves. In January 2012, Ogard and Bright located three mid-instar caterpillars clinging to the underside of leaves, each on a different basal rosette. Two of the three larvae were found near windowpane-shaped chew patterns characteristic of metalmark caterpillars. The marks were fresh, indicating that the caterpillars had taken advantage of warm winter temperatures to eat.
How did Swamp Metalmarks come to reside in northwest Alabama? Possibly as glaciers shrank following the last Ice Age, butterflies with the same affinities, like Little Metalmark and Georgia Satyr, remained primarily in their southern refugia, while others, like Swamp Metalmark and Mitchell’s Satyr followed the receding glaciers farther north, remaining in areas that met their similar needs.
At Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve, more recent activities helped create the proper habitat for Swamp Metalmarks. Beavers have long maintained an active presence, and their tree felling opened holes in the forest canopy that allowed sun-loving plants like Tall Thistle to gain a toehold. Unlike other locales where thistle production is fire dependent, the Preserve's Swamp Metalmark habitat is a beaver-impacted wetland. After the metalmarks' presence was discovered, Cane Creek Canyon Preserve owners Jim and Faye Lacefield meticulously protected and managed the site. However, in 2015, the area containing the largest known metalmark population flooded, totally submerging the thistles. Since that flood, only two Swamp Metalmarks have been seen, both males. However, Tall Thistles grow in other, less accessible places along the creek system and may also support populations of Swamp Metalmarks. Hopefully as thistles at the known sites in the Preserve repopulate, so will the butterflies!
A dot on the county map indicates that there is at least one documented record of the species within that county. In some cases, a species may be common throughout the county, in others it may be found in only a specific habitat. The High Count information shows the highest numbers recorded for this species as well as when and where they occurred.
The sightings bar graphs depict the timing of flight(s) within each of three geographic regions. Place your cursor on a bar within the graph to see the number of individuals recorded during that period.
The abundance calendar displays the total number of individuals recorded within each week of the month. Both the graphs and the calendar are on based data collection that began in 2000.
The records analyzed here are only a beginning. As more data is collected, these maps and graphs will paint a more accurate picture of distribution and abundance in Alabama. Submit your sightings to albutterflyatlas@gmail.com.
Sightings in the following counties: Colbert
High count(s):
View county names by moving the mouse over a county or view a map with county names
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 34 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
In Alabama,sunlit openings in wooded canopy near creeks;beaver-impacted wetlands. At Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve, beavers have long maintained an active presence. Their tree felling opened holes in the forest canopy that allowed sun-loving plants like Tall Thistle to gain a toehold. Unlike other locales where thistle production is fire dependent, the Preserve's Swamp Metalmark habitat is a beaver-impacted wetland.
In much of Swamp Metalmark's range, Swamp Thistle (Cirsium muticum) is the primary host plant. Carolina Thistle (C. carolinianum) and Tall Thistle (C. altissimum) are also reported.
The following have been documented in Alabama:
For more information about these plants, please visit the Alabama Plant Atlas using the links above.
N/A
Click on individual photos to view a larger version that includes photo credits, county, and date.
Photos with comments are indicated by a small, tan dot on the bottom right.