Vanessa at night - no 3

Paul Cherubini monarch at saber.net
Sat Feb 2 19:39:57 EST 2002


Eduardo Marabuto wrote:

> According to my field annotations about some 15 records of this type,
> there were Vanessas coming to lightrap from sunset till about 11:30 p.m
> Pararge aegeria, i must say, come much less to lightraps but i´ve often
> seen them comming and fly arround my flashlight like moths when I´m in
> the middle of the night, in a field where I know they're common during
> the day. This is at about 10-12:00 pm. Maybe they're on flight only
> because i´m walking through the grass where they rest but... who knows?

Yes, I think your walking disturbs the resting Painted Ladies 
because I have have similar experiences with Monarchs.  I have driven 
along tree lined dirt roads in central Texas at night with my high beams 
on in October, and seen monarchs "frightened" out of the trees by the 
hundreds and fly into the headlights of the car.  Then if I walk into 
a group of trees where monarchs are clustering in Texas and shine my 
flashlight on them, many "panic" and hundreds come rushing toward the
light in my hand. In such a situation I feel as though I'm under attack, 
with hundreds of monarchs covering me!!  

With regard to butterflies flying at night, here is a response
from Dr. Chip Taylor I found on the Web:

http://www.monarchwatch.org/read/faq4.htm#29
29. Why don't the Monarch butterflies fly at night?

Dr. Chip Taylor replies:

"Butterflies are diurnal insects which means they only fly
during the day. We are not aware of any butterflies
that fly at night. Why this is the case is not clear, but 
butterflies are generally brightly colored and highly
visual and their eyes are not designed to function 
under low light conditions. Moths are predominantly
nocturnal (night flying) and they have what are known
as "dark adapted" eyes which allow them to fly at night
when light levels are extremely low." 

Paul Cherubini

 
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