This past weekend I was at the Jackson County Soccer Complex at Gautier MS,
along the Gulf Coast. There were a large number of Gulf Fritillares, Buckeyes
and Cloudless Sulphurs flying. I noticed no direction. Most were simply feeding
at the numerous nectar sources available right now. My daughter plays on a
travel soccer team so we end up at a soccer tournament somewhere from Biloxi to
Orange Beach every year. I have notes from those past years of significant
numbers of Gulf Fritillaries, Buckeyes and Long-tailed Skippers nearly every
October, but I don't recall any directional movement. The Gulf Fritillaries do
seem to move more with the males constantly patrolling for females.
Craig Marks
-----Original Message-----
From: David Muth <MuthD@xxxxxxx>
To: zlemann <zlemann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; jftrahan <jftrahan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
Louisiana Leps <louisianaleps@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Mon, Oct 3, 2016 9:12 pm
Subject: [louisianaleps] Re: General A. vanillae question
Zack—
As it happens I am a few miles east of Fort Morgan near Ft. Pickens, in
Pensacola Beach Florida. The dunes and “meadows” here are loaded with Gulf
Fritallaries, Common Buckeyes, along with fair numbers of Long-tailed Skippers
and some Monarchs feeding on composites. I have not noticed any substantive
east or west movement, but today in early afternoon I watched a number of
frittilaries, buckeyes and a few monarchs (as well as one Cloudless Sulphur)
launch out over the gulf, perpendicular to land (going south). All except the
Sulphur flew south out of sight just a couple of feet above the water surface.
The wind was light out of the north.
I don’t know if they were beginning a trans-gulf flight, but that is what they
appeared to be doing.
Incidentally, last weekend at Pointe aux Herbes (the point where I-10 launches
from New Orleans to cross Lake Pontchartrain to Slidell, in a strip of Spanish
Needles (Bidens alba) about one hundred feet long, I estimated about 100
fritillaries and about 90 buckeyes, very actively nectaring. Whether they had
just crossed the lake, or were preparing to cross the lake, or were just there
by coincidence, it was a dense concentration.
David Muth
From: louisianaleps-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:louisianaleps-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Zack Lemann
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 5:16 PM
To: jftrahan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Louisiana Leps <louisianaleps@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [louisianaleps] General A. vanillae question
Can anyone tell me about Gulf Fritillary movement along Fort Morgan and Dauphin
Island at this time of year. I was at Fort Morgan for the first time ever this
past weekend. What I observed along the beach – really at the dune line and
then in towards the highway – really impressed me numerically and behaviorally.
A very good number of buckeyes and long-tailed skippers were moving about all
day, but the gulf fritillaries were constant, there were hundreds over the
course of the day, and ALL were heading east-to-west. A yellow composite
served as their primary nectar source (I could not ID it), and at the far west
end of Fort Morgan there is a more meadow-type environment with a dense number
of gulf fritillaries feeding on the composites there. I noticed not one flying
over Mobile Bay as we took the ferry around 4:15 from Fort Morgan to Dauphin
Island.
So: is an annual uni-directional migration known for this species, or was I
seeing a daily movement towards a hyper-rich nectar supply? If it’s the
latter, then I wonder why I did not see any return movement (that is, west-to
east) at day’s end Sat.
I look forward to your replies!
- Zack
Zack Lemann
Animal and Visitor Programs Manager
Audubon Butterfly Garden Insectarium
(504) 587-2109
zlemann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From:louisianaleps-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:louisianaleps-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of jftrahan
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 5:08 PM
To: Louisiana Leps <louisianaleps@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [louisianaleps] Eddie Jones Park Butterflies--Caddo Parish
I visited Eddie Jones Park in Caddo Parish today hoping to see some unusual
butterflies. There is one small area in the park where flowers grow that
butterflies are really attracted to. These are boneset and Brazilian verbena.
At this time of the year we can usually see great purple hairstreaks and
white-M hairstreaks at this location. There were lots of butterflies attracted
to these flowers, but not the "good" ones. Too bad. But it was a good day and
I counted 28 species in 1.5 hours. I will try again in a week or two. The
complete list is below.
Jeff Trahan
Shreveport
3 Cloudless Sulphur
37 Little Yellow
1 Sleepy Orange
1 Red-banded Hairstreak
20 Eastern Tailed-Blue
1 Gulf Fritillary
11 Variegated Fritillary
47 Pearl Crescent
2 Question Mark
2 Painted Lady
14 Common Buckeye
1 Red-spotted Admiral
1 Viceroy
1 Hackberry Emperor
1 Tawny Emperor
21 Southern Pearly-Eye
1 Gemmed Satyr
54 Carolina Satyr
4 Common Checkered-Skipper
4 Tropical Checkered-Skipper
4 Clouded Skipper
17 Fiery Skipper
1 Northern Broken-Dash
2 Little Glassywing
1 Sachem
7 Yehl Skipper
5 Dun Skipper
8 Ocola Skipper
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