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Welcome to Daves Moth and Butterfly World -
Seasons to find Butterflies And Moths

Welcome to Dave McCormick's Moth and Butterfly World. Want to know when to find butterflies and moths? Read below to find out some useful information. Hope you can find the information of some use.

Basic Background

In Europe and North America, butterflies and moths have distinct generations every year. Some have only one generation and some can have two or three, depending on locality and the species. Sometimes, it happens that "seasonal" forms of butterflies sometimes appear. This is known as seasonal polyphenism. In tropical climates, butterflies do not have seasonal forms like in rest of world, but wet and dry season forms as there is no spring or summer, just wet and dry months.

The European Map butterfly is one to note that has spring and summer forms that are easy to detect. It has two completely different forms for spring and summer. Spring form has a red and black upperside and summer form is mostly black with specs of white.

Forms of butterflies found in higher altitudes usually differ from lowland butterfly variants because of the higher altitudes. The higher altitude butterflies, the Apollo's is one proven case, can survive the higher altitudes because of a thing called altitudinal melanism. They show dark bodies and darkened colouration at the wingbase which helps them warm faster using the sun. This is why, many mountain butterflies are usually darker than their lowland variants.

Caterpillars are usually best found in early-mid spring and again in early summer and Autumn onwards in temperate climates.

Butterflies in late spring and in summer usually fly in bright sunshine, landing on rocks and tree leaves and sunning themselves. Butterflies don't really fly on colder days and wetter days. In May 2007, the weather was wet and this could have effected some species mating and laying eggs. If weather is bad and a butterfly or moth is at its peak of flying time before it dies, it has to mate. If the weathers bad, it may not get the chance and no eggs will be produced and this could effect a colony of butterflies seriously.

Cabbage White Migration

Small White Open

Butterflies and moths have such frail looking bodies and its hard to imagine that anything so frail looking could make such huge journeys in their lifetime. One butterfly, the cabbage white, is such a common sight around cabbage, kale and other similar plant fields and areas, it seems to do more than flutter around these places in summer in Europe. This is most likely not the case. The ones you see here have most likely came from abroad and have travelled many miles to be at this destination.

If the butterflies have appeared in mid summer, they have most likely came from the south-east regions of Europe. After the adults flutter around their foodplants, they disappear. They head in a north westerly direction to linger and lay eggs. The cabbage white is a short lived butterfly, living for round three to four weeks, but when they lay eggs, another generation can be on the wing before the end of summer. If this generation appears in mid-summer, they will continue to fly in this north westerly direction until it gets to around August.

At around August, the direction of the butterflies flight changes. It is the trigger of the temperature lowering and the early evenings that probably is the cause. The adults will now fly back south east again, where their parents came from.

Monarch Migration

One of the most important migrants is the Monarch. Millions travel hundreds of miles every year from Canada to a certain part of Mexico. Monarchs have spread to every place on the planet that grows milkweed. Since little or no milkweed grows in U.K., they are only a rare migrant there. The ones that do migrate to the U.K. are usually ones that came from the Canary Islands.

At the start, Monarchs feed on Milkweed. The caterpillars gather the poisons in the plant inside themselves. No other creatures can tolerate such toxins. Birds and other predators will leave them alone for this reason. During any season, as much as five generations of Monarch may live, breed and die. When Autumn comes, those adults reaching maturity start to act differently.

Even they are adults, they don't mature sexually yet. Instead of sex organs, they store fat reserves for their long journey ahead. By mid-September this fat can accumulate one third of their body weight. Now they fly southwards. As they fly, other Monarchs join them and now there may be millions and millions of them fluttering around the sky. Each night, they land on a tree to root, and because there is so many, they can literally cover most or all of the tree they rest on. Occasionally some might break off to feed nearby but this sight is one true spectacular. Because they are highly poisonous, birds and other predators won't attack. If it were not for the poison, they'd all be a fine meal.

The Monarchs feed on the Autumn flowers as they travel, taking advantage of the southerly winds. These winds can take them several miles in one day. They are travelling to Mexico. They now finally reach Texas and its not far now. They find the secluded valleys and they roost in fir trees. The weight of them together can be so strong, that, some smaller branches can break off. The fat they accumulated when as a caterpillar is not yet used up.

In the spring, they become active again. Its spring and the trees that held them, begin to "explode" as millions of Monarchs take to the air. They will be gone in a few days as they travel northwards. They cannot stay in Mexico as no Milkweed grows there. Now, many will be aging on nine months old. They are flying, less determined, for the shores of southern Texas. They eventually find the Milkweed. Many females lay their eggs and they die. Others will continue to travel north to lay.

There is now several generations flying about in spring until they reach Canada, where their ancestors came from. Some may have travelled around 2,500 miles.

Monarchs have not just done this. They have colonised parts of Europe that hold Milkweed. They are one of the greatest migrants on earth and for such frail looking creatures, they have done more than some stronger creatures ever did.

Page last edited: 13/11/2008 15:07

(c) David McCormick 2008