Compton Tortoiseshell

Cris Guppy or Aud Fischer cguppy at quesnelbc.com
Sun Jan 21 16:46:06 EST 2001


I just photographed a Compton Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis vaualbum) that =
had come out of hibernation (Quesnel, in the center of British Columbia, =
Canada). The air temperature dropped to -10 C last night, and has warmed =
to 0 C at mid-day. There is a foot of snow on the ground. In a normal =
year there would be 3-4 feet (1 meter) of snow at this time. The =
butterfly was apparently in hibernation under the south-facing deck =
attached to the house, and crawled out into the warm sun. It made no =
attempt to fly, or even to move its wings, when I picked it up and put =
it back under the deck.
 
A welcome sighting of a butterfly in the middle of winter!
 
Cris Guppy
 
 
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