June 18, 2007 Tennessee, it was a very hot day. Temperatures were in the upper 80s. Butterfly Weed was in full bloom and the Milkweed was starting to come on. This location is just across the State line into Tennessee at moderate elevations.
Coming down the road and as the Butterfly Weed began to appear so did the Diana Fritillaries. There were many males nectaring on the flower heads in company with Great Spangled Fritillaries and Pipevine Swallowtails. There were dozens of them all very fresh.
When I collected Diana before it was always interesting to me that in their habitat they are often the most numerous species at flowers during their flight period. Seen were about 30 males busily feeding along this Sun drenched road. One female was seen around 1 pm when I first got to this location, then not a one the rest of the afternoon. About 4 pm as it had clouded up and was starting to sprinkle the second female of the day appeared at a milkweed blossom. During the next hour 3 others were observed.
One male was resting on a Milkweed leaf as the light rain cooled things down along this Southern Appalachian Mountainous Road. Around 5 pm the rain put an end to the trip.
Harry Dale King
June 18, 2007
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