💾 Archived View for magda.cities.yesterweb.org › observations › butterflies-2023.gmi captured on 2024-05-26 at 14:50:23. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2024-05-10)
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2023, unlike the previous year, was marked by rather rainy and windy weather. The temperatures around New Years' Day were unusually warm, with a record high of 16°C during New Years' Eve. The remainder of the winter saw some snow and some cooler temperatures that still were above average for my region.
March and April were particularly rainy – so rainy that groundwater got pushed to the surface between Zone II and III – and cool, which caused most spring plants to not bloom until the end of April. Right at the beginning of May up until mid-June, my area experienced yet another drought, causing many butterflies prominent in April to suddenly disappear. The rest of June and most of July were a mix of rain and sunny but windy days.
August was the first month to finally see some relatively stable summer weather that lasted until the first days of October.
As a result, this year's species composition varied quite significantly. The most obvious difference was a decrease of individuals among most butterflies, most notably Aglais io, Aglais urticae, Aphantopus hyperantus, Araschnia levana, Pieris brassicae, Pieris napi and Vanessa atalanta. On the other hand several other species saw an increase in individuals, namely Anthocharis cardamines, Coenonympha arcania, Melanargia galathea, Ochlodes sylvanus, Polyommatus bellargus, Polyommatus coridon, Thymelicus lineola and Thymelicus sylvestris.
New species discovered in 2023:
- Pyrgus malvae
- Erynnis tages
- Colias hyale +
- Gonepteryx rhamni
- Satyrium pruni
- Arica agestis
- Polygonia c-album
- Nymphalis polychloros
- Melitaea aurelia ++
- Lasiommata megera
- Coenonympa pamphilus
Not seen in 2023:
- Papilio machaon
- Satyrium w-album
- Celastrina argiolus
- Nymphalis antiopa
- Pararge aegeria
Overall 37 species were observed this year. Of 3 species, either imago and caterpillar or adult and eggs were present.
This list is sorted by meteorological seasons and first observation. Caterpillars and eggs are listed separately.
+------------------------------+------------------------------+ |SPECIES |MONTH | +------------------------------+------------------------------+ |Aglais io |April, August, September | | |October | |Aglais urticae |April, June | |Anthocharis cardamines |April, May, June | |Nymphalis polychloros |April | |Gonepteryx rhamni |April | |Erynnis tages |April, May | |Pieris napi |April, May, June, August, | | |September | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Polyommatus bellargus |May, July, August, September, | | |October | |Pieris rapae |May, June, August, September, | | |October | |Cupido minimus |May, June, August | |Polyommatus icarus |May, June, August, September, | | |October | |Aricia agestis |May, June, July, August | |Coenonymphia pamphilus |May, June, July, August | |Araschnia levana |May | |Vanessa atalanta |May, July, August, September, | | |October | |Coenonymphia arcania |May, June, July, August | +------------------------------+------------------------------+
+------------------------------+------------------------------+ |SPECIES |MONTH | +------------------------------+------------------------------+ |Satyrium pruni |June | |Lasiommata megera |June | |Plebejus argus |June | |Maniola jurtina |June, July, August | |Pyrgus malvae |June | |Thymelicus sylvestris |June, July | |Thymelicus acteon |June, July | |Thymelicus lineola |June, July | |Polygonia c-album |June, August, September | |Issoria lathonia |June, August, September | |Pieris brassicae |June, July, August, September,| | |October | |Melanargia galethea |June, July | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Colias hyale + |July, September | |Melitaea aurelia |July | |Ochlodes sylvanus |July | |Polyommatus coridon |July, August | |Argynnis paphia |July | |Aphantopus hyperantus |July | |Ochlodes sylvanus |July | |Thecla betulae |July | |Argynnis paphia |July, August | +------------------------------+------------------------------+
+------------------------------+------------------------------+ |Pieris rapae |July | |Pieris brassicae |July, August | +------------------------------+------------------------------+
+------------------------------+------------------------------+ |Thecla betulae |March | +------------------------------+------------------------------+
This year's weather caused a slight shift among my additional loctions that are being visited irregularly. Despite visiting the Meisel forest once like last year, I was unable to spot a single butterfly and only observed a lonely dragonfly fighting against strong winds. Instead I included my village's cemetery, which attracted a very small and rather isolated population of Pieris napi due to one grave being covered in masses of lavender. The grave, ironically, is that of "Odrich", whose son now takes care of his pond (Zone III).
Additionally, one family from my village turned their front yard into a small meadow dominated by field scabiosa, making it the only spot in the middle of my village attracting Thymelicus sylvestris.
This table covers the locations in which I discovered each species. Adults, caterpillars and eggs are listed separately.
+------------------------------+------------------------------+ |LOCATION |SPECIES | +------------------------------+------------------------------+ |Yard |Aglais io, Gonepteryx rhamni, | | |Pieris brassicae, Pieris | | |rapae, Polyommatus icarus, | | |Vanessa atalanta | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Mixed Fodder Beet / Alfalfa |Anthocharis cardamines, Colias| |Field |hyale +, Erynnis tages, Pieris| | |brassicae, Pieris napi, Pieris| | |rapae, Polyommatus icarus, | | |Vanessa atalanta | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Zone I - Cherry Hill |Aglais io, Aglais urticae, | | |Anthocharis cardamines, | | |Argynnis paphia, Aricia | | |agestis, Coenonympha arcania, | | |Coenonympha pamphilus, | | |Cupido minimus, Maniola | | |jurtina, Melanargia galethea, | | |Nymphalis polychloros, | | |Ochlodes sylvanus, Pieris | | |brassicae, Pieris rapae, | | |Polyommatus bellargus, | | |Polyommatus coridon, | | |Polyommatus icarus, | | |Thecla betulae, Thymelicus | | |acteon, Thymelicus lineola, | | |Thymelicus sylvestris, Vanessa| | |atalanta | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Zone II - David's Fields |Anthocharis cardamines, | | |Aphantopus hyperantus, | | |Araschnia levana, Argynnis | | |paphia, Cupido minimus, | | |Issoria lathonia, Lasiommata | | |megera, Maniola jurtina, | | |Melanargia galethea, Pieris | | |brassicae, Pieris napi, Pieris| | |rapae, Plebejus argus, | | |Polygonia c-album, Polyommatus| | |bellargus, Polyommatus | | |coridon, Polyommatus icarus, | | |Pyrgus malvae, Satyrium pruni,| | |Thymelicus acteon, Thymelicus | | |lineola, Thymelicus | | |sylvestris, Vanessa atalanta | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Zone III - Odrich's Pond |Aglais io, Aglais urticae, | | |Anthocharis cardamines, | | |Aricia agestis, Coenonympha | | |pamphilus, Cupido minimus, | | |Erynnis tages, Issoria | | |lathonia, Maniola jurtina, | | |Pieris brassicae, Pieris | | |rapae, Polyommatus bellargus, | | |Polyommatus coridon, | | |Polyommatus icarus, Vanessa | | |atalanta | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Local Car Repair |Aricia agestis, Melanargia | | |galathea, Pieris brassicae, | | |Pieris rapae, Polyommatus | | |bellargus | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |FFH Territory "Bog Hill" |Colias hyale +, Issoria | | |lathonia, Maniola jurtina, | | |Melitaea aurelia, Ochlodes | | |sylvanus, Pieris rapae, | | |Thymelicus acteon, Thymelicus | | |lineola, Thymelicus sylvestris| |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Cemetery |Issoria lathonia, Pieris | | |brassicae, Pieris napi, Pieris| | |rapae, Vanessa atalanta | |------------------------------+------------------------------| |Meadow |Aglais io, Aglais urticae, | | |Pieris rapae, Polyommatus | | |icarus, Thymelicus sylvestris,| | |Vanessa atalanta | +------------------------------+------------------------------+
+------------------------------+------------------------------+ |Yard |Pieris brassicae, Pieris rapae| +------------------------------+------------------------------+
+------------------------------+------------------------------+ |Zone II - David's Fields |Thecla betulae | +------------------------------+------------------------------+
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+ The adults of both Colias hyale and Colias alfacariensis are identical in regards to appearance, genitals and biotope, making them indistinguishable when no caterpillars can be discovered nearby. Both also showed up in almost identical numbers across my state, however past records analyzing my area list Colias hyale as the only yellow ever having been observed, hence I settled with it with a cautios footnote, as I was unable to find a caterpillar.
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