Red Admirals Migrating through Iowa

[Royce J. Bitzer]

Red Admirals have been migrating northward through central Iowa for the
past several days.  I noticed the first migrators on Sunday, April 22.
Monday was too cold, but the butterflies were moving again yesterday (Apr.
24).  They were seen at the rate of about one every 3 to 5 minutes.  Flight
headings of 90% of the butterflies varied from north-northwest through
northeast (of a sample of 20 butterflies observed).  The wind was
south-southwesterly at 10-15 mph, under mostly sunny skies and temperatures
in the mid- to upper 60s.

Any other reports of this migration would be welcome.  I would appreciate
knowing if you have seen (or will see) migrating red admirals passing
through your area.  Please include your full name, the location from which
you observed, the date or dates when you see red admirals passing through
your area, and the direction toward which they seem to be moving.  A rough
estimate of how frequently they are passing through would also be useful.
Also note the weather conditions as I did above.  There have also been a
relatively small number of Painted Ladies moving with the red admirals; if
you see these as well, please let me know.  

If you would like to collect and report more detailed data, such as precise
flight headings, hourly counts during a particular time period each day, or
flight speed, I have instructions on the web page

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mariposa/observe1.html

All participants will be recognized in the acknowledgements of any journal
articles in which these data might be published.  If you provide more
detailed observations and would then like to be considered as a co-author
on any publications, please let me know. 

Thank you for your time and interest.


Royce J. Bitzer
mariposa at iastate.edu
   
Dept. of Entomology    
113A Insectary          
Iowa State University  
Ames, Iowa  50011       
Phone: (515) 294-8663
                        
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mariposa/homepage.html

The Red Admiral and Painted Lady Website
A web site to encourage and coordinate
field studies of territorial behavior
and migration of Vanessa butterflies                

 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl