Tuesday, April 2, 2013

What's Flying? - April

Spring has officially arrived! We're continuing to have some chilly nights in the 40s from time to time, but the season to worry about hard freezes and frosts is definitely over. This is a wonderful time of year to be a butterfly, with warm days for flying, dry conditions to keep diseases in check, and plenty of nectar flowers and host plants available. Here's what we're seeing in the gardens and back woods this month in Tampa:

5 Most Common:
Other Common Sightings:
Occasional Sightings:

Notes from the Field:
  • Not long ago, we found several Red-Spotted Purples (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) in the Backwoods Nature Preserve in a grove of wild cherry trees - one of their hosts. We watched what appeared to be a mating pair for some time, and are hoping they are establishing a colony there for the future. We plan to look for eggs and larvae soon.
  • We've noticed that there have been very few Red Admirals and Common Buckeyes flying in the area so far this year. These are species we expect to see in abundance by this time of year, and we are usually finding eggs and raising them in our lab by now. Could the warm winter have had an effect on the populations' movements this year? Their host plants are here and plentiful - so where are they?

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