Danaus gilippus in Massachusetts

[Anne Kilmer]

It could be an escape from a butterfly house or a traveling exhibit. It
could be a release from somebody's trip to Florida.
 
In any case, it's not going to establish a population in Massachusetts,
even assuming it finds a mate, unless you have arranged some major
changes in the climate. :-)
Anne Kilmer
Mayo
Ireland
 
 
Michael Gochfeld wrote:
>
> A Queen in Massachusetts certainly sounds like a stray. We did not find
> any Queen records for NJ when we did our book. Nor did I think that it
> even occurred as far north as Virginia.  However, after two warm
> winters, it is possible that it overwintered further north than usual
> (usually not much north of Florida), hence provided a nucleus for
> straying northward.  We've heard of some unusually early northern
> records of Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) this year, so maybe it
> foretells a pattern.
>
> M. Gochfeld