[Pollinator] An explosion of butterflies

[Matthew Shepherd (Xerces Society)]

There is a rather cool butterfly experience currently happening in the Cascade Range here in the PNW: millions of California tortoiseshells are filling the air and carpeting the snow fields (and ski slopes) of Mt Hood and other Cascade peaks. Here's an article from The Oregonian:

Swarms paint Cascades orange 
Thursday, August 24, 2006 
MICHAEL MILSTEIN 

Oregon's Cascade mountains -- from Mount Hood to Mount Jefferson -- are exploding with bright orange butterflies that pulse in massive swarms through forests and meadows. 

Thick clouds of them are slowing cars on Santiam Pass and swirling like snowflakes on the road to Timberline Lodge, in some locales splattering windshields, in others producing near-whiteout, or orange-out, conditions. 

The boom of California tortoiseshell butterflies is not rare, but it is mysterious. Many are probably offspring of a monster swarm that started in California in early summer and later swept into Oregon, said an expert who tracks them. 

Full article at: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/115638813535170.xml&coll=7
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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Protecting wildlife through science-based advocacy, education, 
and conservation projects since 1971. To join the Society, make a 
contribution, or read about our work, please visit www.xerces.org.

Matthew Shepherd
Director, Pollinator Conservation Program
4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215, USA
Tel: 503-232 6639 Fax: 503-233 6794
Email: mdshepherd at xerces.org 
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