alien butterfly in my garden

[Ron Gatrelle]

Alex Grkovich wrote


> The Queen has recently (within the past 3 to 5 years) been recorded twice
> from southern Michigan. I wonder whether they were strays or escapes. One
> would hope they were strays.....
>

Now we come to some more important questions. I have had various misgivings
about butterfly houses for years. I know I will go against the grain in
this, but if I were with the USDA I would shut them all down, reassess the
whole operation. Exotic plants, insects, parasites, diseases... sound's
like fire ants, gypsy moths, (Water Lettuce - for those in Africa), etc,
etc.   It looks like just fun.  Well, so does a loaded gun to an 8 year
old.  You can fill in the rest of the blanks on this...

Next, is the "damage" to "science".  What if the Queens were not escapees
but dispersed individuals - now we will never know.  Perhaps the easy going
lepsters don't have any problem with this, but if I find ________ here or
while visiting, say, in Miami I want to know if the _____ was an escapee, a
stray, or from a new to the county, state, nation breeding population.

Escapees are common place. Too many show up in the gardens of the only
lepsters in town -- so how many are loose and never seen by someone who
would know? LOTS. Then there are the pilfered ones and seed pods taken by
people. "Hey, let me get some seeds off that and plant them at home." There
is a reason the Dept. of Agri. in California or Arizona want to stop cars
and check for "exotics".  Human's are the world's best creatures for
introducing exotics and ruining environments. Once the cat (erpillar) gets
out of the bag it is too late. Sorry, 90% safe is not good enough for me. I
hate kudzu.
Ron



 
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