more dung

[Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer]

I have seen various butterflies (blues, Limenitis, Polygonia, Speyeria, etc)
on dung, fish guts, and deer remains throughout BC and north into Alaska.
Definitely not a tropical character.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Shuey <jshuey at tnc.org>
To: lep list <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Date: October 12, 1999 3:27 PM
Subject: Re: more dung


>By the way having been involved with lepidoptera for 45 years I have never
>> observed butterflies on carrion or dung. I know it happens but seems more
>> relate to the tropics?
>
>I bait on a regular basis in Central America.  While I mostly use
fermenting
>fruit-baited traps, I also try human feces (mine to be specific) along
forested
>trails.  My experience has been that in the rainy season, dung beetles bury
it
>within the hour.  While you can small it in the air, you can't find it on
the
>ground.  Needless to say, you don't find butterflies.  I've always wondered
what
>I would do if I did bring in a swarm of butterflies, but thankfully I've
never
>had to ponder the reality of  my net swinging through a pile of crap.  As
it is,
>my biggest concern has been with my shoes.
>
>Now, urine on a stream-side sand bank, that's an entirely different story.
>
>John Shuey
>
>
>