Journal archives for March 2013

March 21, 2013

Spring Butterfly

Spring is finally here! ? . somewhere. Last year at this same time, due to unseasonably warm weather, Lake County (Ohio) biologist John Pogacnik found the first West Virginia white (butterfly) of the season. They are thought to be disappearing across our region and we would like some help trying to find them. All you nature-hunters please keep your eye out for them in the next month or two. These forest insects can only be observed as butterflies for about a month in the early spring. They feed on plants in the mustard family and generally occur in rich forests with abundant toothwort (Cardamine) plants. They look very similar to cabbage whites (butterfly), a common relative which can be just about anywhere at anytime. Learn more at http://leapbio.org/index.php/resources/west-virginia-white. If you can find them, please privatize your location and provide us with some data, such as 1) how many you observed, 2) what they were feeding on, and 3) if you noticed any garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) in the area. Thank you all for your fantastic participation and I look forward to a great spring season!

Posted on March 21, 2013 05:00 PM by smpbiologist-rcurtis smpbiologist-rcurtis | 2 comments | Leave a comment