Notoriety can be a positive attribute when events go as planned (or hoped). Such is the case with the much-heralded Monarch Butterflies’ recent departure.
These colorful insects have garnered the interest and concern of tens of thousands, if not millions, of people who are worried an age-old annual pilgrimage to winter grounds in Mexico may soon come to an end. Milkweed, the species’ larval feedstock, has morphed from an agricultural nuisance to a highly prized ornamental, and the means of “Saving the Monarchs.”
For the uninformed, Monarchs lay their eggs on the toxic Milkweed, and their caterpillars feed on it until cocooning. A beneficial side effect of Milkweed consumption for them, and a few other insects, is consuming the plant makes them taste bitter to any species which is tempted to make a quick snack of an unlucky member of the migrating flock.
Not as generally known, there is another butterfly common to panhandle Florida which is currently migrating. The Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae, is one of the most common native butterflies and is particularly prominent during its late summer and autumn migration southward.
Cloudless Sulphur butterflies are beginning their relocation to warmer winter quarters. They can be commonly seen in panhandle Florida and the surrounding area, especially on red blooms.
The migration of the Cloudless Sulphurs is the easiest butterfly migration to observe in the southeastern United States. On any day, even a casual observer will notice these bright yellow butterflies crossing the terrain within easy view, usually from north to south.
The seasonal migrations of Cloudless Sulphurs and Monarchs are similar with each species relocating from large and favorable summer breeding areas. The northern habitats will produce fatal low winter temperatures, so the strong flyers head to warmer climates to the south.
In the spring of the following year, surviving adults head northward and soon repopulate the summer breeding areas. In both species, the northward migration is evidenced by their reappearance each summer in the breeding areas they abandoned the previous year.
The Cloudless Sulphurs migrate through open areas at an altitude of about ten feet above of the ground. When they encounter a major obstacle, such as a building, they rise and fly over it rather than deviating from their migratory path.
Frequently, the Cloudless Suphurs can be seen well under their ten-foot migration ceiling. Closer to the ground it is easier to identify the autumn blooms with contain nectar, their high carbohydrate meal of choice.
Red flowers seem to be the preferred blooms for these late season travelers. In Florida, they frequently dine at the scarlet creeper (Ipomoea hederifolia), the cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit), and at the scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea).
All of these flowering plants flourish in the region. Some have made the transition from weed to landscape-plant.
In some years, Cloudless Sulphur butterflies have been reported to overwinter in many north Florida locales. However, in exceptionally frigid winters, which produce temperatures below 20°F, the Cloudless Sulphur holdovers expire from the lethal thermometer readings.
At night and on dark, cloudy days adult Cloudless Sulphurs roost alone on leaves. They are very choosey of just the right place when settling in.
An adult preparing to roost makes an erratic flight around a potential tree or shrub, stopping briefly at times, then flying about some more before typically coming to rest on a yellow or reddish leaf clustered with other leaves.
Although the adults are brightly colored and easy to see when flying, they disappear quickly against similarly colored leaves in the shade. The roost site is commonly low to the ground in shrubs with ample foliage.
This behavior is thought to help to confuse and prevent attacks from predators, primarily birds. Come daylight these butterflies resume their southward heading.
No doubt, the Cloudless Sulphurs appreciate their newfound notoriety, except when it gets them eaten.
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