First Butterfly of 2023!

February 23 will go down in the record books as our earliest date for a butterfly sighting since we started keeping track in 2019. Not only did we get our first butterfly of the season, we got our first four butterflies of the season, all of whom were Eastern Commas. Three of the four are pictured above.

Our sightings on the 23rd were not unexpected. Temperatures throughout the week had been above normal and with the high temperature for the 23rd forecasted to reach above 70 degrees, a butterfly sighting was bound to happen. The only question was which species would show up.

Eastern Commas overwinter as adult butterflies, spending the cold winter months hunkered down in brush piles or tucked in behind loose bark on dying trees. A few warm days in a row in late winter will normally bring them out to survey the area and find food.

Commas do not normally sip nectar out of flowers, but rather feed on tree sap and rotten fruit. This time of year, they are looking for tree sap, since it is too early for fruit. At Butterfly Ridge, we take advantage of the Comma’s search by putting out bait at our bait stations scattered throughout the property. Our bait is a concoction of rotten bananas, brown sugar, and dark, imported beer, a recipe meant to simulate tree sap and rotten fruit. And the photo above proves it works!