butterflies and clouds and wind ---

[Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX]

interesting topic. i suspect the requester for info might have been looking
for ways to quantify in a way that is meaningful for butterfly movment
within and between habitat patches. but i agree, like everything else, it
depends. i too have seen high temperatures support abundant butterfly flight
under total cloud cover in Yukon, and then i have seen rocky mtn alpine and
subalpine species dive into the weeds at the first touch of the nasty old
shadow, and of course we know that ravines, other topographic depressions,
leeward sides of forest patches and even shrub patches are wonderful places
to see things bunched up on windy days whilst stronger flyers can be found
clawing their way upwind under surprising conditions and then i have seen p.
eversmanni happily cavorting under sunny skies but temperatures that make
even a conditioned resident of the great white north think of pulling out
the gloves. and finally the oft observed phenomena, at least in western
Canada, where things get too darn hot and most things seem to reduce flight
activity - notable exception being of course our old friend p. rapae. but
yea, i too would be interested in seeing any references to how one might
consistently and meaningfully quantify those weather variables that can be
easily seen or easily recorded through simple instrumentation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Norbert Kondla  P.Biol., RPBio.
Forest Ecosystem Specialist, Ministry of Environment
845 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, British Columbia V1N 1H3
Phone 250-365-8610
Mailto:Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca