BBC: Painted Lady Swarm→

BBC

Painted Lady Butterfly

“Scientists at the National Weather Service (NWS) first mistook the orange radar blob for birds and had asked the public to help identifying the species. They later established that the 70-mile wide (110km) mass was a kaleidoscope of Painted Lady butterflies.

Forecasters say it is uncommon for flying insects to be detected by radar. “We hadn’t seen a signature like that in a while,” said NWS meteorologist Paul Schlatter, who first spotted the radar blip.”

Painted Lady Butterflies were very abundant this summer in Minnesota.

Why Is The Monarch Butterfly Population Shrinking?→

Margaret Roach, reporting for Latina Lista:

““Where are the monarch butterflies this year?” One of many recent emails on the topic asked me. Headlines about monarch decline seem to confirm gardeners’ observations: Populations of the once-familiar orange-and-black creatures are not what they were. What’s going on, and how bad is it? Is there anything we can do?”

Some good links to other information on Monarch Butterflies at end of article.