Welcome!

Welcome to my zone 9a habitat garden near Houston, Texas.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Butterfly-less

This morning I saw a Red Admiral and a Giant Swallowtail in my backyard. Yesterday I saw a Monarch and a Gray Hairstreak and the day before, I saw a Gulf Fritillary, but, all in all, I'm seeing surprisingly few butterflies these days.

It's surprising because earlier in the year, in late winter and early spring, my yard was absolutely teeming with the colorful fliers. Swallowtails of all kinds, but especially Tigers, were daily visitors and not just solitary ones. It was not at all unusual to see several Tiger Swallowtails or Pipevine Swallowtails or Gulf Fritillaries or even Monarchs during a day's time. No more.

This is a bit unusual because most years around this time is when the butterfly population really begins to explode. It is consistently warm - no, make that hot! - every day now and these critters normally thrive in warm and hot weather. Generally speaking, from now through the end of autumn, we have a constantly changing kaleidoscope of butterfly visitors. So far, that just hasn't been the case this year.

This spring has been different for us because it has been exceptionally cool. I just heard that it has been the 30th coolest spring on record for the area. Moreover, up until recently, we had been getting regular rains. It has, in short, been a very pleasant spring for humans and plants, but maybe that wasn't so good for the butterflies. Perhaps it inhibited their ability to successfully reproduce and that's why we are not seeing as many as usual just now. That's my theory anyway.

I expect this dearth of butterflies will not last much longer. There are plenty of flowers and plenty of host plants in the garden to entice them and the weather now is mostly hot and dry. Time will remedy my butterfly-lessness.

  Black Swallowtail on lantana earlier this spring.

12 comments:

  1. I've only seen 2 Monarch butterflies since Spring. We have lots of Gulf Fritillaries thanks to the Passionflower vines. I've seen a couple of Pipevines around the garden as well. Maybe it was the rain that caused the decline of butterflies in your garden. It could also be those nasty wasp that like to eat the eggs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The red wasps are definitely a problem for butterfly larvae and I do have plenty of those in my yard.

      Delete
  2. I haven't seen many butterflies at all this year either. We also had a cool, wet spring. I have lots and lots of milkweed and spicebush waiting patiently for them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let us hope they will soon show up to partake of the feast we've spread for them.

      Delete
  3. I agree. I am seeing fewer butterflies and fewer bees so far this year. As the weather has been warming up I have seen more butterflies around. Ironically, the weather has been great for the plants and they are blooming wonderfully...just waiting for the pollinators.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly. The timing just seems a bit out of sync, doesn't it?

      Delete
  4. There have not been many butterflies here either, and we have also had cooler weather than normal. I have seen some question marks, red admirals, and I think a painted lady.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Surely we will begin to see more soon as the weather continues hot and dry.

      Delete
  5. I haven't seen many butterflies either. Usually we have lots of Gulf Fritillaries and Buckeyes, as well as Monarchs and some Swallowtails. All I've seen recently have been a couple of Monarchs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, it's not just me. But I do think our numbers will probably pick up soon now that warmer weather has arrived.

      Delete
  6. I've noticed it, too. We've had much less butterflies than I'm used to seeing. I think we're even seeing less bird activity than usual. But I don't doubt your right. Now that it's warmer (hotter), our sightings will increase.
    As for your vegetable garden, I hope you're not too disappointed. Again, I think you're right. The cooler spring weather was nice for us, but not so much for the veggies. At least we have lots of time for that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, my mother always told me. Always good advice for a gardener.

      Delete