Help map butterfly’s migratory route

People have been asked to help butterfly researchers map the migration route of millions of Brown-Veined White butterflies as they make their way across South Africa. Picture: Peter Webb

People have been asked to help butterfly researchers map the migration route of millions of Brown-Veined White butterflies as they make their way across South Africa. Picture: Peter Webb

Published Jan 17, 2014

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Durban - Clouds of white butterflies have taken to the skies across South Africa as part of the annual summer migration from dry regions to the wetter parts of the country.

And people in KwaZulu-Natal have been invited to help the Lepidopterists Society and University of Cape Town researchers map the mass migration route as part of a comprehensive research project on butterflies and moths.

Known as the Great Little White Butterfly Migration, this is an annual event in Southern Africa which mostly involves the Brown-Veined White butterfly.

Reinier Terblanche, who is doing a PhD study at Stellenbosch University, says the main white butterfly population is based in the Karoo and Kalahari, where caterpillars feed from and lay eggs on the Shepherd’s Tree.

In mid-to-late summer the butterflies emerge and move en masse towards the more moist north-eastern parts of the country.

“This mass of white butterflies probably plays an important role in pollination, but this is still poorly understood.

“In fact there is much we still do not know about this widespread butterfly,” the Lepidopterists Society of Africa said.

To help fill some of the knowledge gaps, “citizen scientists” across the country have been asked to submit observations on the date of arrival and number of butterflies sighted. (See www.facebook.com/groups /WhiteButterflyMigration.)

Some of the butterflies even fly out to sea off the East Coast, where they normally end their migration.

“There is no evidence of a migration reaching Madagascar where the butterfly is also found.

“Brown-Veined Whites occur over a very wide area in Africa and also in India,” the society said.

The migration research project is part of the larger project known as LepiMap (http://vmus.adu.org.za) which encourages members of the public (all over Africa) to submit their photographic observations of butterflies and moths.

These records are invaluable to science for understanding the distribution and conservation status of butterflies and moths.

Further information is also available at www.lepsoc.org.za. - The Mercury

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