Crazy December Weather and Leps!

[Bob Barber]

The very warm fall, and recent record setting high temperatures, produced a
list of  14 species of butterflies in southern New Jersey (Cape May and
Cumberland County) in the first week of December.

These species are regular during warm spells in December, and were out this
week, some in large numbers.
Orange Sulphur  (Colias eurytheme)
Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)
Questionmark  (Polygonia interrrogationis)
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

I have no previous December records for these species, but they were
reported this week by various observers.
Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice)
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Am. Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)
Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
Sachem (Atalopedes campesrtris)
Hairstreak sp. ( probable Strymon melinus)

The weather is supposed to become more seasonal this week, but it was fun
while it lasted.

================================================
Bob Barber <bob at vertigo.hsrl.rutgers.edu>
Rutgers University - Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory -Histology/Pathology
New Jersey  USA
Lat. 39 19.574N   Long. 074 58.113W