Emperor Encounter

While I was out searching for dragonflies on the Huntington River near Jonesville, Vermont, on Sunday, a Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) touched down briefly to puddle on a gravel bar. He did a loop de loop around my head, then he was gone. This is a rare butterfly in Vermont. We find it in the vicinity of its host plant, Northern Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). Hackberry, a tree, makes it way into Vermont in the Champlain Lowlands and the Connecticut River Valley, then “inland” a bit along major rivers, including the Winooski and some of its tributaries. Where the tree goes, the butterfly may follow. This was the first Emperor I’ve found in Vermont. I didn’t have my camera. These two images, from different sites in Missouri, including my pant leg, are a nice reminder that butterflies are not marked the same above (dorsally) and below (ventrally). By the way, Hackberry (North America has six native species) was once a member of the Elm Family (Ulmaceae) but is now considered a Hemp (Cannabaceae).