Is there any correlation between an extremely dry summer season and how many butterflies seem to be around?

Question

Is it just me, or am I seeing more butterflies this time of year than usual? Does it have anything to do with the drought conditions in the area?

I live on the middle Eastern Shore of Maryland, by the way.

Answer 1

Kind of.

We had the same situation in San Diego a couple years ago, where we got inundated with millions of butterflies for about a week. But, it wasn't that the amount of rainfall was affecting the amount of butterflies. It was that the weather pattern caused different wind currents during the migration period, sending the butterflies up along the Southern California coast instead of sending them directly inland from northern Mexico.

Answer 2

Imagine butterflies in S. California, where summers are hot and dry, and winters and cool and wet. Adults of this species can be seen flying in April, May, and into the first part of June. During that time, adults will visit flowers with nectar, mate, and the females will lay eggs on host plants. In a couple of weeks, larvae will hatch and start eating other host type plants.
After another couple of weeks, larvae will pupate, sometimes in a protected location at the base of a host plant or under a rock. By the middle of Summer, the host plants have dried up for the season, and the pupae will remain hidden until the following spring. However, if conditions in summer become too hot and dry too fast, plants could dry up before larvae completely develop (which could actually lead to local extirpation of a butterfly population).

Answer 3

Huh; I'm over on the other side of the bay (in Baltimore), and I'm seeing many _fewer_ butterflies than normal this year. I'd put it down to drought. Seems unlikely that drought could have opposite effects within such a short distance...