Painted Ladies Flitting About The Bu
Written by 991KBU on May 20, 2019
A second wave of Painted Lady butterflies is flitting about the Santa Monica Mountains.
Or maybe the third.
There was a huge bloom of butterflies in Malibu in March.
All the rain has given the butterflies great impetus to migrate north from Mexico … and breed like crazy.
A local entomologist named Anna Howell tells the Ventura County Star that the painted ladies we’re seeing now are hatched from the eggs laid by the ones that first came through in March
The last time we saw this many butterflies was back in 2005 … after that year’s heavy rain season.
Some painted ladies linger behind in Mexico … but in years like this vast waves move north.
Biologists say the butterflies’ genes tell them to move away from the sun and fly toward darker skies.
After summer solstice … in June … the butterflies will begin traveling back south through the region in August before ending up near the border with Mexico.
They may look a lot like monarch butterflies … ut painted ladies are different animals.
Painted ladies have a much higher reproductive potential in California than do the endangered monarch butterflies.
Painted lady butterflies are a resilient species that lives on most continents … according to experts interviewed by the Ventura County Star.
Ventura Star article: https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2019/05/19/painted-lady-butterflies-return-to-region-in-next-wave-of-migration/3687348002/
