[Leps-l] Fw: Dainty Sulphur in Virginia

[Alan Wormington]

David and all,

There was an unprecedented movement of southern immigrants northward in early May of this year.

We were astonished that more than a dozen Dainty Sulphurs were seen during that time at Point Pelee National Park in southern Ontario.  Since that time the species has reproduced locally, having colonized a few local areas.  This would suggest that there are a great many colonies scattered about in northern latitudes, including the Great Lakes.  Not sure if this explains your Virginia observation, but certainly it could be a stray from any of these northern seasonal colonies.

As an aside, I am quite surprised by the lack of listserves that report northern movements of various immigrants and strays etc.  Certainly messages posted on this listserve are few and far between on this subject.

Do any U.S. states have good reporting listserves that routinely report southern immigrants that are advancing northward?  If so, I would be most interested in tapping into them.

Should anyone be interested, Ontario has a great reporting listserve and can be accessed here:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/onbutterflies

I presume there are archives available should anyone want to read about the early May incursions.  There were many detailed posts that were made, and they make very interesting reading.  It truly was unprecedented what happened this spring.

Alan Wormington
Leamington, Ontario





---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: David Hamilton Cox <dhcox at nyx.net>
To: leps-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Leps-l] Dainty Sulphur in Virginia
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 20:30:36 -0600 (MDT)




 I took this photo today of a dainty sulphur, in Madison County, Virginia:

http://www.nyx.net/~dhcox/dainty2.jpg

 The site was a field, about 3 or 4 acres, with lots of red clover and
dogbane. It's a favorite on my bike ride circuit, with an amazing population
of variegated fritillaries this time of year. I notice that "Butterflies
of the East Coast" (Cech & Tudor) includes several "isolated sighting"
triangles in their range map for this species far north of Florida. The
text in that work mentions two possibilities for these sightings, western
strays or movement up the southeastern coastal plain. I would be interested
to know if this location suggests either one of those scenarios. Also, it
would be interesting to know if there have been any other sightings of this
species in the general area recently. I have a contact I think in the state
DCR who can probably tell me that.

-David Cox
_______________________________________________
Leps-l mailing list
Leps-l at mailman.yale.edu
http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/leps-l



____________________________________________________________
NetZero now offers 4G mobile broadband. Sign up now.
http://www.netzero.net/?refcd=NZINTISP0512T4GOUT1