Vanessa movements and Peck's skipper

[Woody Woods]

Thanks, Paul-- I have been saving all the Vanessa observations from the leps-l
group; any speculations on why we are having such a boom? Vanessa is so
flexible in its hostplant choice (I have raised hundreds in the lab on hybrid
hollyhocks that I was assured after the fact (heh, heh!) would not work) that
it may be difficult to find a single cause. I am wondering, though, whether
weather patterns-- wet, hereabouts (New England) might not have contributed to
a boom in some Vanessa hostplants. Is any one or more of them booming? Yes, I
should know, but am indoors far too much these weeks.

Woody 

Paul Cherubini wrote:
> 
> It in interesting that the boom in Vanessa butterfly populations this spring
> spans the entire width of the USA and perhaps southern Canada.
> 
> Paul Cherubini, Placerville, Calif.
> 
> -- 
*********************************************************
William A. Woods Jr.
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd                      Lab: 617-287-6642
Boston, MA 02125                        Fax: 617-287-6650
*********************************************************

 
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