InsectNet forum

Today April 7 I saw first P.rapae here in South/west Toronto. The spring is officially here and it is about two weeks earlier as we had very mild winter this year.

Saw my 1st butterfly of 2024 here in NE Sask. today, 10th April... an overwintering Mourning Cloak (N. antiopa) basking in the sunshine, (+13.0 C = 56 F), in a secluded spot in my yd.. No spring emergent spp. yet....not until late April - early May. Very early spring here...hardly any snow left to melt.. Turned on one B.L. trap for the 1st time last night & had 7 specimens of 3 spp. of noctuid moths in it that regularly show up every year in early spring.... but not normally this early. Looks to be the start of an abnormally warm, early spring... perhaps drought coming...

John K.

Over the past few weeks, apart from various nymphalids and pierids, I've also been seeing P. polyxenes, P. glaucus, P. cresphontes, and B. philenor in North TX. We've been having a somewhat wetter spring here than usual, and rather mild weather with no significant, sudden changes in temperature.

Today April 10 another warm day and I saw Vanessa atalanta, this species can not overwinter here in south Ontario and it migrates from south usually at the end of spring. I have never seen them here so early, it could be a good year for migrating species as the warmer than normal weather maybe allow them to fly longer distance to the north.

Keep an eye out for pipevine and zebra swallowtails.

eurytides wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 12:30 am Keep an eye out for pipevine and zebra swallowtails.

Zebras should be flying in KY as soon as this storm front passes.

Pipevines fly in FL pretty much year round; certainly they are out and abundant by now.

Near Lake Ontario, I did see a Pieris rapae the last few days of March. Since then, nothing. We are one month from the emergency of the Papilio glaucus "spring form" and that's when my work starts- somewhat ironically, I just dug the last thorn from 2023 out of my thigh.

eurytides wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 12:30 am Keep an eye out for pipevine and zebra swallowtails.

They've both been flying in the mountains of Eastern TN for several weeks now, on the odd sunny warm days. But there's been a lot of cool, rainy weather that has kept numbers down.

jh

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.