What’s Flying? - February

Well, we’ve certainly entered the doldrums of the year, butterfly-wise. We’re not necessarily complaining, though – for many people around the country, just getting to see butterflies in the garden in February is a treat. And while our variety is low, the numbers are still reasonably high, especially of certain species. Here’s what you can expect to see in the BioWorks gardens and around Central Florida over the next few weeks:

• Gulf Fritillary
• Long Tailed Skipper
• Cloudless Sulphur
• Blues
• Monarch
• White Peacock
• Orange Barred Sulphur
• Sleepy Orange
• Tropical Checker Spot
• Barred Yellow
• Zebra Longwing

Notes from the Field:

• This month, we’ll be on the lookout for late winter/early spring species like Red Admirals, Common Buckeyes, and Whites. We’re also keeping an eye out for Black Swallowtails and Tiger Swallowtails.
• White Peacocks are surprisingly common for this time of year, but it’s been an unusually warm winter. With only one hard freeze taking place almost a month ago, this winter has had above-average temperatures many days. This is allowing semi-tropical species like the White Peacocks to remain in the area rather than temporarily moving south.
• Our caterpillar-rearing lab is a little empty right now, too, but we’ve had monarchs, gulf fritillaries, long-tailed and Dorantes skippers, and sulphurs right through the coldest days. Soon our numbers will start to rise as we begin locating and raising spring species.