The results of this year’s butterfly count are in and butterflies are avoiding this damp summer.

According to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the 6th annual North American Butterfly Association Count shows a decrease in totals from last year. The two surveys were taken for the state on June 27 for the East Bay and July 11 for the West Bay. On these dates, 72 participants recorded a total of 2,484 butterflies, which is down 30 percent from the 2008 tally. Forty-eight butterfly species were observed, slightly less than the 51 species total in 2008.

Both counts were performed on days with, “weather conducive to flight. That is, it was in the 70s and sunny,” says Eugenia Marks of Audubon. The results were similar to those recorded throughout the Northeast.

“Audubon Society of Rhode Island provides educational, volunteer and collaborative resources to provide information for the national database,” said Lawrence Taft, executive director of Audubon Society of Rhode Island. “Long-term trends in animal populations show the impacts of habitat management, climate change, and other environmental factors.”

The results of the count can be compared with previous and future recordings to “track how we’re doing in terms of environmental sustainability,” said Marks. The two factors affecting butterflies’ sustainability are natural variability and human impact. She concluded this year’s results reflect a natural variability due to the cool, rainy summer.

“Butterflies require temperatures above 65 degrees for their muscles to fly. They can’t fly in the rain, wings are composed of a transparent film.”

She also said their long-term sustainability depends on human factors regarding changes in land use and pesticide sprays intended for other insects.

Another explanation for this year’s decline is adult butterflies have a scheduled flight. Marks explained there is a “window of opportunity” for locating butterflies as some fly only in the spring while others only fly for two weeks of the summer. She adds the life span depends on the species but most adult butterflies live between two and six weeks.

Unlike the total number of butterflies, the number of species recorded was only slightly reduced, and many notable finds were recorded on the count. Audubon’s Director of Conservation, Scott Ruhren, found a hotspot for Bog Coppers, a butterfly on the Rhode Island Natural Heritage List.

“This butterfly is only found in cranberry bogs,” said Ruhren. But it can be abundant at those sites where it is found. He counted 35 at a remote, practically inaccessible cranberry bog on one of Audubon’s refuges. It was a reminder of how important it is to preserve these rare and fragile habitats.

Another interesting find was the Compton Tortoiseshell, a species marked exact status unknown on the Checklist of Rhode Island Butterflies. The observer, Francis Underwood of Cranston, took a photo which Harry Pavulaan, an expert on Rhode Island butterflies and co-author of the Checklist, was able to identify. According to Pavulaan, the count deserves credit as a vehicle for encouraging people to get out in the field and discover new sites for rare or potentially threatened species.

The most butterflies were counted by Audubon’s Policy Director Eugenia Marks and participants Debra and Kurt Stiffel of Warren and Hugh Willoughby of Riverside. The group recorded 843 butterflies at Audubon’s Environmental Education Center and a privately owned field in Bristol. This particular field always has large numbers of Baltimore Checkerspots, a striking black butterfly with orange and white spots, said Marks. This year it was more abundant than ever, probably reflecting peak emergence. They counted 700.

The greatest number of species, 23, were observed at the Cumberland Monastery grounds by team members Elise Barry of Paxton, Mass., Walter Bosse of Cumberland, Wendy Miller of Boylston, Mass., Pat Molloy of East Providence and Dolores Price of North Grafton, Mass. The old Cumberland Monastery property, maintained by the town of Cumberland, is one of the best spots to find butterflies in Rhode Island, says Marks. And Walter and his teammates are excellent “butterfliers.”

The Rhode Island Butterfly Count is part of a larger effort, coordinated by the North American Butterfly Association in Morristown, N.J., to survey butterflies in North America. The Rhode Island count is open to anyone with an interest in butterflies, and Audubon Society provides butterfly identification workshops for beginners in the early summer. Butterflies are briefly captured with great care to assist in identification and then released.

“Identification relies on a small dot,” explains Marks. “They’re put in a jar to locate a defining feature and then released.” Accuracy is assured with training and review.

More information, the results of previous years’ counts and links to resources such as Ocean State Butterflies online discussion group, can be found on the Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s Web site, at www.asri.org. Scroll to the bottom left and click on Butterflying with Audubon.

The Audubon Society of Rhode Island, independent and unaffiliated with the National Audubon Society, was founded in 1897. Today, with 17,000 members and supporters, the Audubon Society of Rhode Island is dedicated to education, land conservation and advocacy. Audubon independently protects or owns almost 9,500 acres of woodlands and coastal property embracing diverse natural habitats. More than 33,000 students from area schools participate annually in its educational programs. A voice in statewide ecological issues, the Society actively fulfills its environmental stewardship through preservation and protection of Rhode Island's natural heritage.