Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024 - 12
Butterflies on the Move
Though not as well-known as monarchs, cloudless sulphurs migrate
in the fall too.
BY NANCY HENDERSON I PHOTOS COURTESY OF TENNESSEE AQUARIUM | DOUG STRICKLAND
Rose Segbers
R
ight about now, as the days begin to shorten
and cool, cloudless sulphur butterflies
are winging it over meadows and woodlands
on their way to the gulf coast for the
winter. Despite their low altitude, they're often ignored
by nature lovers who are on the lookout for monarchs,
which migrate to Mexico at the same time and can
coast on air currents as high as 1,200 feet.
" Cloudless sulphurs tend to migrate nine to 10 feet
off the ground, " says Rose Segbers, entomologist and
butterfly keeper at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.
" You'll even see them crossing the road and
that sort of thing. ... They're definitely some of the
largest yellow butterflies you'll see around here. "
Butter-colored (and occasionally white), with
a wingspan of two to three inches, cloudless
sulphurs appear in Blue Ridge gardens in
the spring, typically resting on flowers that
match their own neon hue. " What sulphurs really like
are the same type of things you would plant in your
yard for hummingbirds, because they have a really
long proboscis, a drinking straw mouth, " Segbers says.
" So they tend to gravitate toward things like crossvine
or trumpet vine or even phlox. They do like some nonnative
plants, like morning glories or hibiscus. If you
are trying to attract hummingbirds to your yard, you
might get a lot of sulphurs as well, " especially if you
plant red-blooming flowers, their favorites.
" A horrible fact, to some entomologists, " Segbers
notes, " is that they also tend to dive-bomb into
people's car lights because they see that
red, and that's very appealing to them. "
In the Aquarium's Butterfly Garden,
Segbers and other experts care for 20
to 30 cloudless sulphurs at any given
time. They're not as long-lived as
12 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
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Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024
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Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024 - 3
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