Buckeyes? 4,206. Monarchs? 728. Pearl Crescents? 2,009. Gray Hairstreaks? 265. Erato Heliconians? 1. Cloudless Sulphurs? 433. Northern Pearly-Eyes? 48. Meadow Hairstreaks? 15. I’ll skip down to the  butterfly at hand, the White M Hairstreak butterfly (Parrhasius m-album). In these 24 years of seriously searching for butterflies, I’ve seen 3.

All of the White M’s I’ve seen have been found in Doak field in Raccoon Creek State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania. That’s about 8 hours west of New York City.

I’ve been on the lookout for them the entire time, especially when I am working meadows bordered by oak forests. The last one I saw had to have been about 9 or 10 years ago. Glassberg’s A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of North America has them “LR” in their northern range, and that makes some sense, for the range map in that field guide shows Doak field at the very northern limit of their flight. Now that I’m living in Georgia’s Piedmont, he cites them in the U.S. south as “U-C,” Uncommon to Common.

So know that I am going out this 2019, a lot, and when I see strong stands of oak, I time and time again, am going to have White M Hairstreaks way up at the top of my look-to-find mental List, along with Goatweed Leafwings, King’s Hairstreaks, Hessel’s Hairstreaks and Diana Fritillaries, along with side orders of Milbert’s Tortoiseshells and Compton Tortoiseshells.

Hiding Go Seek with Amazing M’s!

Jeff