Monarch abundance and more

[John Shuey]

Interesting to hear Norbert's comments - because the Midwest is over-run with
migrants/immigrants.  Nathalis iole is locally common in northern Indiana.  The
four most common butterflies in my back yard are Hylephila phyleus, Atalopedes
campestris, Euptoieta claudia, and Junonia coenia!  Other "common" sighting
include Eurema lisa, Pheobis sennae (which has declined since early summer),
and of course Danaus plexippus, which are headed due south at the moment.  I
assumed that global warming had given all of North America ample immigrants
this summer.

John Shuey

Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca wrote:

> It certainly is good news that the Monarch numbers are up in the
> northeastern part of their range - but this should not be surprising given
> the very favorable weather reports I have been seeing for that area. Out
> here in the northwest part of the range I am not aware of any sightings at
> all and it has been a pathetic year for migrants generally due to the
> weather.  It is true that insect numbers respond dramatically - both up and
> down - to weather and presence/absence of habitat ingredients. Absolutely
> nothing that extremist regulators and activists can do will change this
> biological reality.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 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