Queen in NJ: what should its status be

mbpi at juno.com mbpi at juno.com
Tue Jul 31 21:10:52 EDT 2001


Mike:

I noticed a Queen chrsalis "missing" from one of the emergence chambers
at the Field Museum...which had fallen off the rod it was hanging from. 
I suspected a visitor might have "pilfered" it (!)

Could it be MY missing Queen?!

Seriously, though, sightings of unusual species could also be the result
of a proliferation of "butterfly houses, exhibits, conservatories," etc.,
etc.  All the vigilent monitoring can't possibly stop the determined
renegades from escaping their consigned confinements.  I've chased down
three White Peacocks and one Great Southern White that managed to "slip
out" undetected, and was only successful in retrieving two of the four. 
And those are the only individuals "to my knowledge" (!)

On my days off, all sorts of mayhem breaks loose:  An escaped Julia was
observed "mating" with an incarcerated Julia through the mesh of the
tent's roof (!)  And a Zebra Longwing was observed having "a Field day,"
in the main hall of the museum....

As a side note:  Queens are one of the easiest butterflies to farm for
distribution and pretty slippery in their tactics of escape.  All of the
Queens that I receive are sent as chrysalides.

And to add my commentary on allergic reactions to milkweed:  after
handling hundreds of Queen and Monarch chrysalides over the course of the
summer, I have not experienced any adverse reactions, nor has anyone else
that has helped me handle them.  I've also collected green milkweed pods
in Wisconsin for my sister, who uses them to make "birds" with her second
grade class.  There is plenty of oozing "sap," and I've yet to hear of
any of her children suffering allergic reactions to their crafting with
milkweed pods.  (But then, asbestos was used as an ingredient for a 
"paper mache" recipe in a Teacher's magazine from the early 60's...which
I discovered in the archives of an architectural firm where I worked.)

Mary Beth Prondzinski


Mary Beth

On Tue, 31 Jul 2001 06:13:17 -0400 Michael Gochfeld
<gochfeld at EOHSI.RUTGERS.EDU> writes:
> With regard to David Moskowitz' recent photographing of a Queen 
> (Danaus 
> gilippus) in central New Jersey,  Jim Springer wrote: 
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Mike,
> 
> I imagine that this Queen has been human assisted.  Do you know of 
> any 
> other reports from NJ?
> 
> Thanks,
> Jim
> =====================================================
> GOCHFELD'S RESPONSE
> 
> Jim,
> 
> I know of no other records from NJ. It sounds like a reasonable 
> thing to 
>  "imagine" that it was human assisted, but there's no reason why 
> strong 
>  flying Danaus butterflies couldn't show up out of range. 
> 
> One kind of assist might be school releases, but I don't know 
> whether 
> Queens are widely used for such purposes. 
> 
> David looked closely to see what might be a "fingerprint", but 
> apparently concluded it probably wasn't.  Also the photographs show 
> an 
> extremely fresh individual, suggesting a local emergence rather than 
> a 
> long-distance flight. 
> 
> Therefore another more likely kind might be horticultural trade in 
> Milkweeds.  We  are beginning to see Scarlet Milkweed (Asclepias 
> curassavica) in nurseries. If plants are brought up from a more 
> tropical region for sale here, they could easily transport a 
> caterpillar unharms.  I bought a Pipevine at a Florida nursery and 
> when 
> I got it home (NJ) it had six Polydamas larvae on it. They devoured 
> the 
> plant thereby committing suicide---so no inadvertent introduction 
> there. 
> 
> There have been other southern vagrants in NJ and neighboring 
> states, 
> going back a century or more, when presumably human assists would 
> have 
> been less frequent.   
> 
> The term "vagrant" implies that the creature got to an unusual 
> location 
> on its own, so perhaps the term "accidental" is less value laden, 
> since 
>  it makes no judgement as to how the occurrence occurred. 
> 
> Anyway it's a fascinating record and the suggestion that it might be 
> a 
> "western" source will prompt closer scrutiny of David's photos. 
> Perhaps 
> those on the leps-list will email David and invite him to email the 
> photos to them for examination. 
> 
> Mike Gochfeld
> 
> 
> 
> =====================================================
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Moskowitz [mailto:Dmoskowi at ecolsciences.com] 
> Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 9:14 AM
> To: springer at naba.org
> Cc: sightings at naba.org
> Subject: Queen in central NJ!!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> Dear Jim: I found and photographed a male Queen (yes a Queen) in 
> East
> Windsor, NJ yesterday. The butterfly was nectaring on swamp 
> milkweed,
> canada thistle, and dogbane in a wet meadow/old field. I have great
> photos of the upper and lower surfaces. I can't find any records for
> this species in NJ. Burger and Gochfield don't list it, even as
> accidental, the USGS web page doesn't show NJ records or even 
> anything 
> closer than NC, the Mulberry Wing NY sightings don't include it, and 
> 
> it's don't listed as a rare stray in the Butterflies of Delmarva. 
> 
> I assume, it is either a release, an escape, or possibly a stray. 
> The 
> wher I found it, is only about 1/4 mile from exit 8 on the turnpike 
> and 
> there are really only farm fields and a little development in 
> between. 
> Maybe it was carried along by a truck or other vehicle?
> 
> Now for some details on the butterfly. It was nectaring and 
> patrolling. 
> I watched it and photographed it for about 10 minutes before I lost 
> it 
> flew through some very dense rose and I lost it. I could not 
> relocate 
> it. Unfortunately I did not realize how unusual the sighting was 
> until I 
> got home last night and started checking its distribution out. 
> Otherwise, I probably would have collected it. But, I did take 
> detailed 
> field notes and nice close up photos.
> 
> The butterfly is in very good condition. It has a very slight tear 
> (beak 
> mark?) on the hind wing margin. There is some loss of scales on the
> upper surface of one forewing and a series of lines on the other 
> that 
> could suggest the lines of a fingerprint. However, there is no 
> evidence 
> on the photos of scale loss on the underside of the wing opposite 
> these 
> areas of scale loss on the upper side that would suggest that 
> someone 
> had held the wings. I would think that holding the wings in such a 
> way 
> that would create an impression of the lines of a fingerprint on one 
> 
> surface would certainly remove scales on the other surface. I think 
> I'm 
> going to try it with a monarch and see what happens.  The butterfly 
> also
> has pretty distinct white scaling along the black veins of the
> undersurface of the hindwing.  My books seem to suggest that this is 
> 
> related to the western populations of the species.
> 
> .
> 
> Dave Moskowitz       
> 
> 
> 
>  
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