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Larry Weber - Columnist / Photographer

Larry Weber has been a teacher for nearly 40 years. When not showing and telling students about critters, he is out looking for them and photographing them himself. He is the author of: Backyard Almanac; a 365-day guide to the plants and critters that live in your backyard; Butterflies of the North Woods and Spiders of the North Woods. He lives with his wife on an old farm in Carlton County, Minnesota where he observes critters and watches the seasons.

July usually is our month of greatest butterfly numbers and species. I have been conducting my butterfly count during this month for years and I have regularly seen from 25 to 30 kinds. Here in the open fields and roadsides in the summer sun it becomes easy to see them as they fly about while nectaring on summer wild flowers. Their bright color patterns stand out well.

Butterflies have been called “flying flowers” by many people. Anyone seeing their colorful large wings as they flutter about is intrigued to give such a label. The northland is no different and within a single walk in an open field or meadow during this month, the observer can easily see yellow sulphurs, orange monarchs, fritillaries, crescents, checkerspots and skippers; also red admirals, whites, blues and hairstreaks. But the pattern continues and frequently we’ll see dark ones out here as well.

During July, we can see a whole group of butterflies that carry dark; brown or black, colors on their wings, not what most of us would expect to see on their kinds. Indeed, these butterflies have often been misidentified as moths. They don’t come to flowers as much as their showy cousins, but they are not shy as they appear at tree sap, rotten fruit, animal droppings or even our sweaty clothes.

Read the rest of the Larry's column in our July issue...

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