One of 300 million
by Doris Potter
Title
One of 300 million
Artist
Doris Potter
Medium
Photograph
Description
In the description of another Red Admiral butterfly photo I mentioned that there seemed to be more than usual this year. Well that is quite the understatement! Here is part of an article I found:
" ... Canada's 2012 Red Admiral butterfly migration is being called the largest on record.
... an estimated 300 million butterflies showed up in eastern half of the country this spring, from Ontario to New Brunswick. That's more than 10 times what would be seen in a typical year.
Dr. David Gibo is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto. He called the migration a "population eruption," and said the weather is a big reason why it happened.
"Temperature conditions very much determine how active the butterflies are going to be," Gibo explains. "When you have a warm spring and a mild winter, you see them coming in good numbers."
The Red Admiral, a medium-sized velvety black butterfly with orange bands on its wings, migrates up from the southern states and Mexico. This year, they arrived earlier than usual, thanks to those warm temperatures and in part because of strong winds.
In some cases in April, the butterflies flew so north so early, that they arrived in communities still covered with snow.
A second wave of butterflies arrived in May, adding to the already staggering numbers."
This picture is of one of the 300 million!
Uploaded
May 17th, 2012
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