Strays vs. stays

[Kenelm Philip]

> All of these species are multiple brooded wanderers.

Nonetheless, butterflies and moths are capable of flying (or being wind-
borne) for large distances. An old paper by Hocking concluded that the
Monarch can fly 600 miles on a single meal of nectar.

	In 1975 I spent a month on Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago. Before any butterflies emerged we began seeing a number of
individuals of _Rheumaptera hastata_ (the Spearmark), which is a taiga
species. This was after 5 days of continuous strong south wind. At the
same time, this species turned up along the arctic coast of Alaska. It
was having an abundance peak in the interior taiga, and there was no
time for another brood, aside from the fact that almost all these northern
things are single-brooded. The conclusion is clear: these individuals were
blown up from 200 miles or more to the south.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu




 
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