I had a slower-than-usual run last weekend, and I blame butterflies.
It seemed like bad karma to kick or step on the small orange creatures, so I found myself slowing my pace to avoid clouds of them rising from the grass.
A quick Google search helped to identify the species (painted ladies, or Vanessa cardui), but I didn’t remember seeing this many in previous autumns. I emailed Sarah Garrett, a lepidopterist at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, to see if I was crazy.
“No, you’re not imagining things!” she said. “The extremely high population is a sign that they have had a very productive summer breeding here in the U.S.”
Like monarchs, painted ladies are migratory, moving each year between the southern and northern reaches of North America. Several generations of butterflies are born during each migration season, so weather conditions along their routes can affect populations.
Garrett said the ones we’re seeing this fall are coming from areas northwest of us, which saw generally good rainfall over the summer.
“That in turn increases plant production, i.e. the food caterpillars need, which for painted ladies are mainly asters.”
And we should expect to see them back in the spring, although probably not in as high of numbers as we’ve seen this fall. Which is good news for my running times.