[TN-Butterflies] Re: Cloudless Sulphurs

  • From: Rita Venable <ritavenable@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: s137@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 21:39:34 -0600

Thanks for the comments. I just checked my field notes on this species and
there was an entry from May 20, 2004, from the confluence of Big Sandy and
the Tennessee River at the refuge in TN, where I noted about 40 Cloudless
Sulphurs moving in a *southerly* direction, which doesn't make sense to me.
 I would think they would be coming north in the spring.

Good articles, thanks.

Rita Venable, Franklin, TN
Williamson Co.

On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 5:02 PM, Doug Bruce <s137@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>  Thomas J. Walker discusses Cloudless Sulphur migrations in "Butterfly
> Migration in the Boundary Layer," available online here:
> http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ms27p704.PDF
>
> Walker's conclusion about the Cloudless fall migration is "that inland
> flights are principally toward peninsular Florida," from which I
> would expect that the migration in Tennessee would be southerly
> to southeasterly, depending upon where in the state the butterfly
> started.  He cites literature, though, describing how Cloudless Sulphurs in
> coastal areas migrate along the coastline instead of following a particular
> azimuth.  Along the Atlantic coast, some migrations have been reported
> moving in the "wrong" direction along the coast: that is, northeasterly away
> from Florida.
>
> For examples of these northeasterly coastal migrations, Walker cites an
> article by Joseph Muller (1977), which I couldn't immediately find online,
> and he also references Pyle's description in the Audubon guide.
>
> A little more Googling turned up a description of northeasterly coastal
> migrations of Cloudless Sulphurs by Gaddy & Laurie for 1978, 1979, and 1980
> in South Carolina, which is available here:
>
>
> http://peabody.research.yale.edu/jls/pdfs/1980s/1983/1983-37%282%29166-Gaddy.pdf
>
> I can recall being frustrated several times by not being able to photograph
> Cloudless Sulphurs in the fall, because they just kept flying hard in a
> relatively straight line into the distance, not pausing for the camera.
> Unfortunately, I can't provide any reliable flight directions based on my
> memories of these incidents.
>
> Doug Bruce
> Oak Ridge
> Anderson Co., TN
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Rita Venable <ritavenable@xxxxxxxxx>
> *To:* TN-Butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Sent:* Sunday, December 05, 2010 3:14 PM
> *Subject:* [TN-Butterflies] Cloudless Sulphurs
>
> Hi, everyone,
>
> Happy holidays to you! I have a question: Has anyone noted any directional
> movements of Cloudless Sulphurs? In "Butterflies of the East Coast" Cech and
> Tudor write for this species, "Why large numbers fly far north in the fall,
> never to return, is a mystery."
>
> Has anyone seen this or any other north-south-east-west movements of this
> species?
>
> Rita Venable, Franklin, TN
> Williamson Co.
>
>

Other related posts: