Butterflies on a Warmer Planet
We’re warming the planet with our carbon burning activities, and everyday I see new evidence of that fact. For those of you who don’t believe that global climate change is happening, here’s yet another example of how animals are adapting to the warmer climate.
Last summer in Cleveland, I noticed a proliferation of a previously uncommon dark form variety of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). When I lived in Georgia for several years, this particular dark form was fairly common. It was recorded that the dark forms were prevalent in the South and that the light forms were widespread (but more common north of Tennessee). Up until last summer I rarely, if ever, had seen a dark form female in Cleveland. Yet, here they were and not just a few of them. Almost every female Tiger Swallowtail was dark form. It’ll be interesting to see if last summer’s booming populations of dark female tiger swallowtails were just a coincidence or if they really are migrating northward due to warmer Cleveland summers. I suspect the latter.
Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod
Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail dark form on top, male below
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