Happy New Year!

The butterflies are all resting now...if you've ever wondered how butterflies spend the winter, here's the answer from the North American Butterfly Association on their Q & A page:

How do butterflies spend the winter? In areas where temperatures drop below freezing during part of the winter, at least one stage in a butterfly species' life cycle must be resistant to freezing if the species is resident. Most butterflies that live in cold climates spend the winter as caterpillars, while almost as many spend the winter as pupas. A few species, mainly tortoiseshells (Nymphalis) and anglewings (Polygonia), spend the winter as adults, hibernating in holes in trees, in crevices in man-made structures, or in other shelters. A very few species spend the winter as eggs.

Some species that overwinter as adults can emerge to fly on a really warm winter day. Mourning Cloaks are especially known for this and have been recorded flying every month of the year in Massachusetts! We'd probably be able to say the same for Rhode Island, but we need more records. If you see one, you may want to post your sighting on the Ocean State Butterflies yahoo group. You need a yahoo account to post, but it's free and easy to get one. If you have problems, email me at jlewis@asri.org.

Happy New Year to all!

Yours,

July Lewis