Migrating beach butterflies heading for warmer climates
Staff Photo: Tara Fletcher
By Tara Fletcher
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PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — As the weather cools down and the fall-blooming flowers burst open, more and more butterflies are starting to appear along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Starting in late August and continuing through December, several different species of butterflies start to migrate through the region, briefly joining the butterflies that spend their whole life cycle in the region. The most famous migrator is the Monarch butterfly, but the Gulf Fritillary, Cloudless Sulphur and Common Buckeye also pass through.
“All of these butterfly species fly north in the summer and then return south in the fall,” Julie McConnell, a horticulturalist with the Bay County Extension Office, said. “It is not the same butterfly making a round trip. As they fly north in the summer, they are breeding and three to four new generations occur throughout the season.”
Like many of the vacationers coming to the area in the fall, the butterflies are searching for warmer weather. Cold weather can spell an untimely death for the insects.
“Each species may have a slightly different temperature threshold that they can tolerate,” McConnell said. “For example, many Monarch butterflies overwinter in Mexico; however, the Common Buckeye is able to overwinter in southern peninsular Florida. But the Cloudless Sulphur may be found overwintering near Gainesville.
“Monarchs migrate from Canada to Mexico — 3,000 miles — in the fall, and in the spring they go back up.”
Butterflies typically are attracted to open fields, but to attract them to your yard, McConnell recommends planting a variety of flowering plants.
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