Ground-breaking Butterfly Count at Poverty Point World Heritage Site

by C.Paxton

On the evening of Friday Sept. 7, 2024, Kimmie and I went to The Poverty Point World Heritage Site on the kind invitation of Linda Auld (the NOLA Bug Lady, our Caroline Dormon Outstanding Louisiana Naturalist of the year 2024) to participate in the first ever butterfly survey there under the auspices of expert Louisiana Lepidopterist, author and environmental educator Craig Marks! 

​The driving rain cleared for a glorious, blazing sunset over the sacred mounds area while a rainbow arced North to South, seemingly connecting sky to ground over the site of the great wooden circle and Bayou Macon. I turned from admiring that phenomenon to see a Great Horned Owl flapping between one patch of forest and another over the clearing of the vast bird mound (Mound A). The sky above Mound A was incendiary, our emotions almost overwhelming and then a large skein of (likely) Shoveler ducks flew south overhead to cap the experience!

Basking in the glow of these marvels, we made our way back to the lodge for an evening of camaraderie and moth sheeting with Linda, Dr. Donata Henry and Ben Henry, who were here for a bird count. Linda had prepared a bright blacklight trap against a white sheet for a nocturnal survey of the insect diversity because the site is totally surrounded by agricultural crops of cotton, soybean, corn and sweet potatoes, probably sprayed with pesticides, perhaps by crop dusting. These insects were all released after being documented for her report that will follow in due course. 

As dusk fell, a nighthawk soared above the lodge, and we observed the night's visitors. 

The ground-sheet teemed with water insects: swarms of water boatmen, impressive carnivorous Giant Water Scavenger Beetles (Hydrophilus triangularis), and two Uhler's Giant Water Bugs (Lethocerus uhleri) brandishing large pincers! The hanging sheet carried a multitude of micromoths, dung beetles, and a Fork-tailed Bush Katydid (Scudderia furcata) amongst other species. The light-trap net was packed with moths, beetles and wasps. My favorite of the night was a wonderful broken stick mimicking moth called a White-headed Prominent (Symmerista albifrons).

Later, we slept in the car, the windows cracked open, secured with mesh, serenaded by the nocturnal sounds. Leopard frogs chuckled and gossiped throughout the night and into the morning.

After breakfast, while the Henry's surveyed the birdlife, we did a butterfly count along the trails, led by expert Louisiana Lepidopterist Craig Marks. It was a wonderful experience and we made many other interesting observations, including a possible new fungus record of Genus Gloeomucro for Louisiana. 

I will never forget this experience, it was a fabulous opportunity to see this wonderful place in the light of its Lepidoptera!