28 March 05

Painted Ladies On The Move

Painted lady butterfly
We’re in the midst of a massive migration of painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui). My officemate alerted me to this late this morning, and when I went over to the Memorial Union for my lunch there were dozens passing by each second, moving determinedly northwest at a good clip — 15 MPH perhaps? — against a headwind. Pica went home for lunch and saw thousands while she was crossing the bridge, swirling around traffic like a tornado. (Not all of them made it across, and Pica retrieved a fallen one for me to sketch.)

The butterflies are in the middle of a three-day trek from the desert by the Mexican border to the Central Valley and the foothills of the Coast Ranges. The impressive turnout this year is probably due to the heavy rains and subsequent plant growth in the desert this past winter.

Posted by at 08:41 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. My friends Ron and Joe were just in Death Valley, and said the onslaught of painted ladies there was nothing short of staggering.

    — Chris Clarke    29. March 2005, 04:44    Link
  2. Thank you for writing about the painted ladies and for the up close sketch. I walked out my front door yesterday into the bright blueness of the day and some—lots—of those little butterflies were, as you put it, “moving determinedly northwest” right through my front yard. That sight combined with the rich colors of ranunculi, daffodils, narcissi, tulips, poppies and all else who’re showing their glory… Well, it all just took my breath away. Happy spring break.

    — virginia    29. March 2005, 07:07    Link
  3. In San Diego this morning (31-MAR-2005), the sky has been FULL of painted lady butterflies. They are everywhere. I have never seen anything like it. It really is an amazing sight.

    — Frankie Gearing    31. March 2005, 09:21    Link
  4. Very nice painting. I’m curious how you got the butterfly to sit still long enough to make a painting, let alone a drawing! I have a hard enough time getting close with a camera. Did you use binoculars?

    — butuki    1. April 2005, 08:43    Link
  5. There have been thousands of Painted Lady butterflies moving northwest across Bishop all week! It has been a sight to see!


    — Linda    3. April 2005, 13:34    Link
  6. We were driving back from Mammoth to Los Angeles on Sunday and came across huge swarms of these butterflies. It was quite remarkable…but very sad because many ended up on our windshield. I have been searching the web to find out why they were so numerous, and came across this site. Thank you! I hope theses ladies can keep away from the highway during the rest of their migration!

    — Sarah    5. April 2005, 11:33    Link

Previous: Next: