Queens in Washington, DC

[Ron Gatrelle]

Queens are an annual thing here in coastal SC. They show up fairly early
and may actually breed here on the islands some years. I am writing this to
let those in the northeast know that Queens don't have to go all the way
from Florida to get to where you are. John Burns did a paper on this many
years ago in the Lep. Soc. but I can't seem to locate it.
Ron
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hilton, Rob" <rhilton at CSA.com>
To: <LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 3:54 PM
Subject: Queens in Washington, DC


> On Monday, August 27, while assisting on a marsh bird survey along the
> Anacostia River in northeast Washington, DC, I saw a female Queen
> (Danaus gilippus) at near point blank range at around 1:13 pm.  I first
> noticed the butterfly when it was about 2 feet from my right knee at a
> spot along the edge of the river, at the Langston Golf Course.  The
> butterfly came closer, perhaps 8 inches from my knee, before finally
> drifting away into binocular range.  It made several stops at various
> Polygonum flowers.  For two months earlier this summer I had been a
> volunteer docent at the Wings of Fancy Butterfly Show at Brookside
> Gardens, Wheaton, Maryland, where there were from one half to three
> dozen Queens on each of my visits.  I became quite familiar with the
> appearence of the species as a result.
>
> Its behavior was the same as the several Monarchs we saw along the edge
> of the river: flying slowly downriver with frequent stops at Polygonum
> and other flowers.  It was in view for 4 or 5 minutes before it
> disappeared behind a bunch of Polygonum.  It was a fresh, bright, intact
> butterfly.
>
> This sighting was a complete surprise to me!  I know about the one
> sighted ?this month in New Jersey, as I see the LEPS-L list at an
> archive site, but I never expected to see one myself.  But even more
> surprising was the sighting of a (another?  the same??) female Queen at
> the National Arboretum on Saturday, August 25, posted on the
> Virginia/Maryland/Delaware 'bugs' list.  The Arboretum is less than a
> mile upriver from the spot where I saw my Queen.  I understand that
> there have been still other sightings in the northeast this summer, so
> something seems to be going on.
>
> Newly resubscribed to the LEPS-L list and on "nomail".
>
> Rob Hilton
> rhilton at csa.com
> Silver Spring, Md.
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>    For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:
>
>    http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl
>
>


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

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

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