livingplanet3 wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 6:57 pm The atalanta I'm seeing here in TX are nearly all in fine condition - no flight wear at all; definitely from recent, local emergence. Same with the V. cardui, V. virginiensis and P. interrogationis.

Same here in Wisconsin. All those species are typically very battered in April and May here.

Thank you everyone for your replies! I didn’t see notifications of any replies so I apologize for not checking sooner.

Hello everyone, Wisconsin this year had an exceedingly warm early spring. The usual migrating Vanessid butterflies showed up around 2-4 weeks early in unusually large amounts. Colias and Papilio glaucus also showed up unseasonably early. Question Marks in Wisconsin are weird. Instead of overwinterin...

Thanks, guys, for your answers. Even if collections told us nothing, it still would be a neutral on stable populations of species according to various studies. If they just used common sense, they would see that being anti collecting is silly. Surely these people are super knowledgeable on Lepidopte...

Hi Kevin, We've talked before. I'm sure if things aren't done with the necessary precautions, things can get out of hand. But where I live in the Midwest, prairie burns (done locally with breaks) increase help wildflower diversity. Species like our native Speyeria benefit from burns. Violets also in...

I completely agree. Their stance on collecting is only backed up with emotional reasoning. They should all stop driving cars because cars kill way more butterflies than collectors can catch. They also seem to be antagonistic to different habitat management practices which is something I don’t unders...

I saw my first 3 butterflies (2 Mourning Cloaks and an Eastern Comma) in the first week of March. Not bad for Wisconsin! It was like 70 degrees that day.

Hello everyone, I am new to this place. I'm really into all macro-Lepidoptera but especially butterflies and Saturniids. I do butterfly counts and sightings as well as collecting, rearing, and breeding. I'm sure this topic has come up before, but I would really like to hear people's thoughts on the ...