A Woodland Butterfly; The Northern Pearly Eye.
Last summer I noticed a mole brown butterfly with ‘eyes’ on its two-inch wingspan every time I entered a particular trail in a forest I love. I could never get a photo of this creature that fluttered so erratically through the trees, but on rare occasions the butterfly would touch down on a twig or a tree trunk for a moment, so eventually I got a good look at him. The startling wing eyes had one with an iridescent blue dot in its center. The butterfly flew around my head and then followed me for a few minutes before disappearing.

A little more than a month ago, I met the same (kind of) butterfly just beyond the original forest opening. One year later. I rarely see Lepidoptera in the deep woods, so I was intrigued by this one but failed again to get a picture. When the deluges began in earnest by the beginning of July, I retreated from the forest, tired of bugs, the 50 ticks that bit me, and waterlogged feet. And who should I meet fluttering at my screen door at home? Why, the mystery butterfly! This time I got images, most taken just outside my door, where I have a small frog pond, a variety of ferns, many wildflowers, and wild uncut grasses, including fescue and bottlebrush.

The butterfly perched upside down on my log cabin wall or clung to the screen. My house is surrounded by flowers, fruit trees, a mixed forest, and a rushing brook. I also have a series of woodland paths that crisscross white pines peppered with wild fruit trees. A perfect habitat for this butterfly to inhabit before mating, I later realized.

When I finally identified the Northern Pearly Eye (Lether anthedon) I was amazed, because this gorgeous creature seemed to love this immediate
area, rarely straying far – occasionally he visited a neighboring apple. But what did he eat? I never saw the Pearly Eye go near my flowers. Soon
there were two that landed on the screen or on nearby house logs. Sometimes they flitted back and forth on tall grasses. I watched the two together sip water from a branch in the pond and take cover under the roof in the rain. One day, one even flew into the porch and stayed a while, though s/he rarely touched down. I carefully encouraged my friend to leave with a broom.

In the middle of July, I met the pair on one of my paths – the two were feasting on the sap of a wild apple twig that had been ravaged by the deer. But that was the exception because most of the time they spent in the air flying around outside my door, eating nothing I could discern. A few days ago, one of the two disappeared; the other remains here up to the present time. We are entering the last week in July.

I became frustrated trying to research this unusual butterfly because I could find so little information. Most of what I read I had already learned
from the two butterflies that I still cannot tell apart. The Literature states that although secure globally, this brush-footed butterfly is rare in some places. Like here? I will have to check with MLT’s pollinator garden folks to see if they have seen any. This delightful creature is found from Saskatchewan and Nebraska to Nova Scotia, and south as far as Alabama.

Apparently, most Northern Pearly Eye males perch on young trees or vegetation in forest openings to wait for females. After mating, the female lay eggs singly on one of the tall grasses that edge the forest. The caterpillars feast on these host plants and then overwinter in the larval stage. In Northern areas, eggs are laid only once. Further south, the butterflies brood twice. Adults are supposed to feed on willows, poplar, and birch. I have a large poplar close to the house. Perhaps this tree was where they ate regularly? Nowhere did I see mention that the butterflies drink sap from a weeping apple tree. According to the meager references I consulted, these butterflies spend most of their time in the woods. True, this was where I saw the butterflies initially, but if this is where they live most of the time then they must feed on other bushes and trees that can be found in the forest too. I wondered what these were.

Although I am regularly in the woods three out of four seasons of the year, usually doing some kind of research, I have only seen The Northern Pearly Eye in one area. But woodlands are their home, so the next time you are on a forest trail, watch for a butterfly with astonishing winged eyes. You won’t be disappointed.

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