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Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com
by Christine Maccabee
On The Wild Side
“Amazing Insect
Migrators”
Most commonly, we think of
migration as a ritual birds and
Monarch butterflies undertake,
but a surprising variety of insects
also migrate hundreds, even
thousands, of miles to spend
winters in warmer habitats. Like
most people, I was unaware of
these amazing aeronautical feats
until I read an article about it in
the National Wildlife Federation
magazine, which I receive due
to my membership in this great
conservation organization (to read
the entire article and see photos
of these heroic insects, look up its
August-September issue).
In the article, I learned that two
of my favorite and regular visitors
to our flowering plants here in
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North America are the painted lady
and the common buckeye, which
are both in the same family of
brush-footed butterflies. They are
considered inconsistent migrants,
as some die with early onset of cold
weather. In more southern states
where the weather is a bit warmer,
they can successfully winter over in
log piles, old sheds, and loose bark
on trees. However, brave painted
lady butterflies (which weigh less
than a paperclip), flying south from
frigid northern climates, such as
Canada, have been detected on
radar to be traveling together in
massive clusters of thousands!
Reading on, I learned that the
large milkweed bug, which we
commonly see on milkweed seed
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pods and which have
the same coloration as
monarchs, develop wings
as they mature and fly
south to Mexico in the
autumn. In the spring,
their progeny return
north following the
emergence of milkweed,
along a pathway similar
to the Monarchs. Such
amazing journeys earth’s
small, beautiful, orange
and black winged insects
travel in order to survive
treacheries of weather.
I cannot help seeing
parallels between them
and our southern human
neighbors migrating north in order
to escape danger, all of us together
enduring impediments such as wind
and rain of hurricanes, hunger
and fatigue, even other human
predators. In the case of insects,
unfortunately many will die from
the inordinate amount of pesticides
and herbicides we use on our fields
to grow our food.
The champion of insect migrants
is the Wandering Glider which is a
small dragonfly or damselfly which
I see frequently around my pond
November 2018 Page 33
Courtesy Photo
A painted lady butterfly.
and fields during the summer; they
are busy all day feeding on airborne
plankton and smaller flying insects
such as gnats and mosquitoes. This
amazing insect has been known to
cover 11,000 miles in the Eastern
Hemisphere, 2,200 miles of that
while crossing the Indian Ocean.
It is the only transoceanic insect
migrant. Are you blown away yet?!
There is not yet, and may
never be, a complete record of
all the insects which migrate,
but researchers have compiled a
list of at least 71 species ranging
from butterflies and moths to
grasshoppers and even some
beetles. So far, butterflies are
the largest group at 27 species,
followed by 20 species of moths
and 15 different dragonflies,
according to entomologist Mike
Quinn.
The diversity of lifeforms on
our planet is astounding and all of
them require natural habitat and
have patterns of behavior which
we as human caretakers/stewards
should not only be amazed about,
but also should protect to the best
of our abilities. So, as I continue
my research and work at providing
habitat on my own property, I hope
you too will join me and many
others in this great, important
effort to preserve precious life on
our planet.
Go to www.nwf.org/nw and
become a member in order to help
their efforts and to receive their
great magazine.
Christine is a Wildlife
Habitat Naturalist and
Native Plant Specialist,
who is available for
consultations. Write her
at songbirdschant@gmail.
com.