Fw: [DPLEX-L:48147] Wave after wave of butterflies from Texas

[Carolyn King]

Here in Southern Ontario we were delighted by the "invasion" of thousands 
of red admirals, beginning April 16.  I'm curious about the waves of other 
species that Chip Taylor mentions here.  Are any of you  in the Midwest 
seeing unusual numbers?

I would love to see more of the southern species.  Variegated fritillaries 
are occasionally seen here, but dainty sulphurs would be wonderful!

Cheers,
Carolyn King
Toronto Entomologists' Association
http://www.ontarioinsects.org 

----- Forwarded by Carolyn King/fs/YorkU on 04/25/12 07:24 PM -----
Chip Taylor <chip at ku.edu> 
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04/24/12 07:27 PM
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[DPLEX-L:48147] Wave after wave of butterflies from Texas




Over the last three weeks we have experienced wave after wave of 
butterflies migrating north from Texas. First it was red admirals, 
then painted ladies, then American painted ladies, followed by 
variegated fritillaries, dainty sulphurs, two other sulphur species, 
grey hairstreaks, buckeyes, and now orange sulphurs (Colias 
eurytheme) - with hundreds of them in the garden at any one time. 
This short video (to be posted to our Facebook page soon) will give 
you an idea of the number of sulphurs present today. I can truthfully 
say that never have I seen so many butterflies in our garden in 
April. The numbers and diversity actually rival anything we've seen 
in the fall when butterflies are usually abundant here.

Everything is early and remains so even though the temperatures have 
been nearly normal for the last three weeks. On Saturday (21 April) 
while mowing my lawn I spotted and Asclepias viridis (green antelope 
milkweed) in bloom. The usual dates for first bloom of this species 
in this area are 8-12 May.

This is a spring like no other - at least in the last 20+ years that 
I have been following monarchs closely. Conditions have been 
consistently excellent for monarch reproduction of 6 weeks. 
Everything to this point indicates that monarchs will rebound this 
year. A big bounce back is possible. I will summarize the situation 
as I see it as time becomes available in 10 days or so.
-- 
Chip Taylor
chip at ku.edu
Monarch Watch
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/
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