The Middle Peninsula Master Naturalist Chapter sponsored a North American Butterfly Association butterfly count on August 23. Thirty-four volunteers from four Virginia Master Naturalist chapters, and others, participated in the sixth annual Middle Peninsula count. Parts of Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex and King and Queen counties were covered in the one-day census. During the nine-hour count, 1,965 butterflies were noted, with 47 different species of butterflies identified. The most numerous species was the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (the Virginia state insect) at 458 individuals. The volunteers visited public parks and over 60 private properties and businesses to count the butterflies. The data from the count was submitted to NABA and will contribute to the long-term scientific monitoring of butterfly populations and geographical distribution. At left, a pair of mating Zebra Swallowtail butterflies....