Before a few months, the scientists were bracing for a collapse in the number of butterflies, but, they are seen everywhere now, in thousands of numbers. In La Cienega near Westfield Mall or in Santa Anitaor along the 105 freeway, butterflies are seen flapping their wings in large numbers. In southern California, these attractive creatures are being found almost everywhere. They are being called Painted Ladies and seen migrating across the state in high numbers. This migration of the butterflies is not a new thing. These Painted Ladies migrate from Mojave and Colorado deserts of southeastern California as the winters end and spring starts. Every year they travel on the same path and fly to Sacramento en route to Oregon, Washington and are also seen in Alaska.
This year, many butterflies, 2-3 inches long, are also huge parts this journey. After the year 2005, it has been the first time when these butterflies have crossed a population of 1 billion. An ecologist at UC Davis, Art Shapiro, who is tracking butterflies for about 50 years in the state, says that no one notices these Painted Ladies when they are scarce. But when they are in abundance, everyone notices them. The conservation director at Gardens in Palm Desertat and The Living Desert Zoo, James Danoff-Burg encountered a group of these butterflies and said that it was magical to see them. They were flying parallel with her in the date palms. She felt like a princess in Disney at that time.
Many other people have witnessed this beautiful plight offered by the Butterfly migration. Researchers used to say that the butterflies are declining for decades. However, this explosion of Painted Ladies in California is good news against this declining crisis. But there is a cause of worry for sure. Butterfly populations are being hit and about 20 species are disappearing at a faster rate, as per an ecologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, Matt Forister. When compared to 40 years of data, the iconic orange-and-black insects had dropped by 85% in numbers.
