Subject: Puddling Butterflies & other insects

From: "Charles V. Covell Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 12:56:42 EDT

Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292
PHONE: (502) 852-6771

On a hot summer day with some puddles at entrances to farm driveways
>from  asphalt roads, one can often find many male _Colias philodice_
(Common Sulfur) puddling.  In eastern Ky. in July and Aug., I have
seen fairly large numbers of the Pipevine Swallowtail (_Battus
philenor_) puddling, and photographed a group of about a dozen.
They stayed farther apart on that occasion than I have often
observed.  One big puddling group of butterflies were at an
artesian seepage on a hot, dry Sept. day in Fulton Co., KY,
and I noted they aggregated by species:  _Phyciodes tharos_ were
dominant - maybe 50 or more; then small groups of _Phoebis sennae_
and _Colias eurytheme_ , about 5-7 of each, off by themselves.
  I have noted interesting mixes of species in the American tropics
at wet places, too.  Sometimes they are packed together closely,
other times somewhat spread out.  I have never identified a female
butterfly in a puddling mode - ever; although in some cases of the
tropics, I have not identified sex.  Cheers, Charlie