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Great spangled fritillary (Speyeria
cybele)
Its tiny caterpillars will survive the winter
©
Beatriz Moisset
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Winter has arrived. What happened to
all the six legged creatures we saw in summer? Where did the
crawling, scuttling, flitting, buzzing multitudes go? Those of us who
live in temperate and colder climates notice the disappearance of
practically all insects when the weather gets cold. We are talking
about the ones that live outdoors, not about those aggravating
creatures that have found their ways into our houses and turned them
into their homes.
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Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta), one of
the travelers
© Beatriz Moisset
|
We may think that all outdoor insects
die with the arrival of cold weather. In fact, most of them do, but
not before producing the next generation. Their eggs, or their young
–larvae or pupae– lay low until the weather is propitious again
for daily activities. Others pack their belongings and leave for
warmer climates. Still a few others spend the whole winter hiding
underground or under tree bark or merely under a pile of dead leaves.
Some of our favorite butterflies illustrate each one of these three
strategies.
1. Most adult butterflies die, the next
generation lives on
Fritillaries and hummingbird moths are
among the ones that die at the end of summer. The
great spangled fritillary,
Speyeria Cybele, scatters her eggs almost recklessly at
the end of summer in spots that are likely to be blanketed by violets
next spring. The eggs hatch into tiny caterpillars which have just
enough energy to bury themselves a little deeper under garden debris
and wait for the spring when their favorite food –violets–
sprouts again.
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Hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe)
It
will spend the winter as pupa under dead leaves
© Beatriz Moisset
|
The
hummingbird moth uses a slightly
different strategy. It lays its eggs during the summer, so the
caterpillars have enough time and food to reach full size by the
fall. At that point they drop to the ground, bury themselves under
leaf litter, turn into pupae and await the next warm season.
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Woolly bears or Isabella moths
(Pyrractia isabella)
amicably sleeping under bark in January
©
Beatriz Moisset
|
We have all seen the fat, furry coated
woolly bears in the fall. They are the fully grown caterpillars of
one of the tiger moths, the Isabella moth. They move to a gallop on
the ground in search of something. That something isn’t food;
instead, it is a place under bark or leaf litter where they can sleep
cozily until the next spring.
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Banded hairstreak (Satyrium calanus)
It
will pass the winter as eggs
© Beatriz Moisset
|
A pretty little butterfly, the banded
hairstreak, is an example of one that spends the winter as an egg.
Hairstreaks get their name for the two hair-like or antenna-like
projections of their back wings. Hungry birds get confused, not
knowing which end is which and end up with a mouthful of wing. This
allows the butterfly to escape with only minor damage, instead of
losing its head.
2. A few migrate to warmer climates
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Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)
a long
distance traveler
© Beatriz Moisset
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Now, for the travelers in search of
warmer weather: The first one that comes to mind is the
monarch butterfly. We all know about its long trek to the mountains of
Mexico. Many websites provide abundant information about their long
journey, much of it gathered by monarch lovers, not just by
scientists.
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Common buckeye (Junonia coenia)
on seaside goldenrod in New Jersey
A
traveler in its way south
© Beatriz Moisset
|
It may surprise you that the monarch is
not the only traveler among butterflies. The
red admiral, the painted lady, the
common buckeye and the
cloudless sulphur are among
the migrants that head from northern United States or even from
Canada all the way to southern states and as far as Mexico and
Central America. Some of their itineraries rival those of the
monarch. However, we still don’t know much about their travels.
Some members of the mentioned species stay in southern states year
round and don’t venture far, while their adventurous brothers and
sisters cover large distances. Some engage in pilgrimages in large
numbers only some years but not others. I wish we knew as much about
all of them as we do about the monarch.
3. Even fewer hunker down and wait for
spring to come
Finally, a handful of species use a
different strategy. The adults find a quiet and secure place where to
stay safe until the first signs of warmth in the air.
Mourning cloaks
and
comma butterflies belong to this category. This is why they are
the first butterflies to be seen in the spring. They may show up
before winter is over before any flowers have started blooming. Here,
in southeastern Pennsylvania I have seen mourning cloaks as early as
February. Lucky for them, they prefer tree sap and rotten fruit to
nectar.
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Mourning cloak (Nymphalis
antiopa)
taking advantage of a warm day in February
© Beatriz
Moisset
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Mourning cloaks have a rich brown color
with a white rim and a series of blue dots along the back edge of the
wings. It is said that it resembles a cape that mourners used to wear
years ago. All they need in winter is a secluded place, which
surprisingly may happen to be in plain sight as illustrated in the
article
Wildlife Garden Visitor – Mourning Cloak.
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Eastern comma (Polygonia comma)
getting ready for winter in October
©
Beatriz Moisset
|
The eastern comma butterfly’s wings
have ragged edges and the colors of fallen leaves. The ones born in
the spring die before summer is over. The ones born during the summer
look slightly different, with a frosty rim along the far edge. They
sleep quietly all winter, hiding among dead leaves camouflaged by
their colors and shape.
In summary, as mentioned several times
by members of this blog, gardening for butterflies must include
winter habitat, such as dead leaves, debris, even piles of dead logs.
Here are a few articles that deal with
winter habitat for butterflies: (ed. note: links to the archived sites load slowly.)
