Sleepy Orange - Pioneer Butterfly

Here is a butterfly that's moved into the area fairly recently, the Sleepy Orange. Presumably within the last 10 years, some adventurous pioneer butterflies flew northward and found a home at Duke Farms. AFAIK they aren't yet found elsewhere in Somerset County, though there is now a healthy and robust population at Duke Farms that it seems like only a matter of time before they'll colonize other parts of the county and state [1].

They are (generally) similar to but smaller and more vibrant than their Orange Sulphur cousins. Though they're probably the sulphur butterfly I saw the most at Duke Farms this year, they were only 3rd during our butterfly count. (Other sulphurs were spotted a lot in the Community Garden and the Skeet Shoot/Duchess Farm parts of the property.)

When their wings are open (not their typical resting position), their yellow-orange wings framed with near-black around the edges really can be fairly striking.

July 28, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 222067046, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

These are some of the same butterflies with their wings up/closed; you can sort of see the mark that looks like a closed (or sleeping) eye on the one on the top left.

July 28, 2022 at Duke Farms

[1] The only thing that might hold them back is finding host plants. Though I believe that they'll use a number of legume species as host plants for their caterpillars, they are believed to have taken a liking to the American Senna at Duke Farms. I'm not sure there are other large patches of American Senna in the area to support another colony, so to spread further they might need to find another legume they like.

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