HO HO WHAT?

[Paul Cherubini]

I wrote; 

> Actually determining the natal source of the monarchs seen in the British
> Isles each fall is rather easy.  Just catch a few butterflies and determine the
> cardiac glycosides they contain. 

Nei Jones responded:

> This is an obviously false argument. It is almost impossible to catch these
> butterflies. The number seen is usually very small and they only arrive in
> numbers at rare intervals.

Cherubini followup:

Neil, a British Butterfly Conservation website has a news report 
about a sighting of a monarch nectaring in England.
http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/ne/news/monarch/
Monarchs are easy to catch when nectaring.

Also a website called "The Monarch invasion of Great Britain, 1995"
http://www.butterfly-guide.co.uk/help/monmig.htm reports 
monarchs nectaring in southern England:.

"The following week saw southern England bathed in over 50%
 sunshine with daytime temperatures reaching 20 0C (up to 5 0C 
above the seasonal average for mid-October), due mainly to the
continuous warm south and south easterly winds from the
Mediterranean. Many Monarchs remained faithful to their
favoured nectaring sites during this period."

Neil Jones wrote:

"Any released individuals would swap and ruin
any attempt at studying the migration here."

Cherubini response:

Neil, the author of the same "The Monarch invasion of Great Britain, 
1995"website: http://www.butterfly-guide.co.uk/help/monmig.htm
discussed the possibility of breeder releases and concluded:

"The verdict that releases account for the presence of all 
the 1995 butterflies in north west Europe must
be without foundation.":

Paul Cherubini
.

 
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