Vanessa at night - no 3

Stan Gorodenski stanlep at extremezone.com
Sat Feb 2 21:27:06 EST 2002


Paul Cherubini wrote:
> 
> Yes, I think your walking disturbs the resting Painted Ladies
> because I have have similar experiences with Monarchs.  I have driven

Of course, the biology of the butterfly would have to be taken into
consideration.  What I suggested is not a completely worked out
experimental design, nor was it intended to be one.  If your observation
regarding the Monarch translates to Vanessa, then the absence or
presence of the butterfly would not be monitored throughout the night
but just once, no later than one hour prior to sunrise.

With regard to the below, are you suggesting that if an authority makes
an authoritative statement, then it is improper to question it and
construct experiments to test it out?  If so, then we would still be
back in the stone ages, metaphorically speaking, believing the sun
circled the Earth, and cheering the execution of Galileo.
Stan

> 
> 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."
>

 
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