On Aug. 24, the Middle Peninsula Master Naturalist Chapter sponsored a North American Butterfly Association butterfly count. Fifty-one volunteers from five Virginia Master Naturalist chapters, and others from the region, participated in the fourth annual Middle Peninsula NABA count. Parts of Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex and King and Queen counties were covered in the one-day census. During the nine-hour count a total of 2,398 butterflies were counted in the four-county area with 43 different species of butterflies identified, according to count organizer/compiler Susan Crockett. The most numerous species was the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (the Virginia state insect) at 672 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. Above, a Zebra Swallowtail is shown...