The Painted Lady Butterfly Saga
That March spring afternoon, I woke up from a nap and, as usual, went to my patio. Something seemed to be flying in the wind. Could it be a dry oak leaf? But the way it moved, up and down, suggested something different. Then, there were torrents of such strange things just above the roof, coming from the South direction only.
I grabbed binoculars to get a better look and realized that the strange flying objects were butterflies. In my 36 years of life, I had never seen so many butterflies together.
I turned to Google to satisfy my curiosity. I live in Southern California, and everything is on the internet just a few clicks away. I learned that it was the painted lady butterfly. What I saw was a butterfly migration. After an unusually rainy winter following a decade-long drought, the butterflies were flying from the semi-arid regions of Mexico to the USA, passing through California.
For the next month, butterflies were everywhere — on hardy ice plants, acacia, verbena, and wildflowers. Birds were going crazy in a foraging frenzy. Everybody was noticing the unusual event.
I absolutely loved the experience and captured as many pictures as possible.
It was spring 2019, and this phenomenon didn’t repeat until spring 2023. Suddenly, I saw thousands of caterpillars crawling on the streets. Our usual nature walks were interrupted, and it wasn’t fun having to watch our steps to avoid trampling them. My kids were afraid, and they hesitated to walk.
After two weeks, the caterpillars were gone. I told my daughter that it had been a rainy year, and she was likely to see painted lady butterflies again.
But the rain continued, and most likely, the soft-bodied caterpillars perished en masse. We did not see any butterfly migration. Spring turned into summer, but not a single painted lady showed up. I was confused, and it remained a mystery. I live in a remote suburb at the edge of chaparral wilderness. I ventured out into nature every day and keenly watched the subtle changes, so I definitely noticed the absence. Internet searches revealed nothing. It's a rather local phenomenon, and nobody seemed to care.
Now it’s mid-October. Today, I was in for a surprise. Dozens of painted ladies were roaming our backyard organic garden, sipping nectar from the desert sunflowers and blanket flowers. I am very delighted and felt like I had cracked the riddle.
I believe the incessant spring rain killed the caterpillars, which was unfortunate. However, life must go on. But the relentless summer came. As the cool fall weather arrived, the butterflies started another round of laying eggs, but at a smaller scale. No more epic proportion caterpillar show, but here are the butterflies.
I loved it, and my appreciation for nature soared, as usual.
Dear readers, bizarre climate changes are already disrupting their life cycle. Let’s not add to the burden. Let’s refrain from using pesticides and grow native flowers.
Would you like to live in a world devoid of butterflies? I hear a ‘No’. I would not, either.