Interesting pointer and possibly an aid for butterfly flight. However, I would add that butterflies are pretty good fliers and the fact that a female urgently needs to find a suitable food plant to lay her eggs wouldn't randomly fly so high and waste her energy.
Incidentally, the Red Pierrot has also come to our balcony. Regards, Kiran Srivastava Mumbai On Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 12:01 AM, pratibha Kamath <[email protected]>wrote: > ** > > > There is chance they are blown upwards by the draft. All highrises have a > blocking effect to wind causing a layer of air going straight up along the > vertical surface. Very commonly seen in New York or Chicago. The confetti > during parades gets tossed way up. may be that is the reason. > > ------------------------------ > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:54:26 +0530 > Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] Common Mormon laying its egg on 17th floor > > > > I live on the 19th floor in Bhandup, and I have often seen butterflies > outside my balcony flying straight upwards. They were either looking for > food plants, or perhaps just flying upwards along the façade in a bid to get > over the obstruction in the flight path. > > Sanjay Marathe > > > On 12/10/2011 18:12, "anuj jain" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > Yeah Kiran that should be generally true. > > The case I mention in Singapore is for a 11th floor rooftop garden on a > shopping mall cum office building. There aren't potted plants in the balcony > of the building to act as stopovers, just a lone garden on the rooftop but > we do see butterflies being trapped in the concrete facade and crevices of > the building as they try to make their way up to the rooftop. Sometimes even > beauties like the Blue Nawab, Painted Jezebel get trapped...the unfortunate > part of insect interaction with urban jungle. > > There is good butterfly habitat around the building which is the reason > these butterflies hang around there. But as you say, climbing such heights > is a remarkable feat in itself. > > Cheers, > Anuj > > On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 3:38 PM, kiran srivastava <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > > > Nelson & Anuj, > > It is amazing to note that apart from visual aid butterflies have to learn > to smell their food plants are in an urban environment. My guess would > be that butterflies have explored 1st and 2nd floor balconies with potted > plants and, over time graduated floor by floor to reach such high levels. > Nonetheless, it doesn't take away the remarkable feat of butterflies finding > their food plants at such high levels. > > Cheers, > Kiran Srivastava > mumbai > On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 11:55 AM, Nelson Rodrigues <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > would be interesting to know how the common mormon found its way to the > 17th floor is their sense of smell so strong, any studies made regarding > how butterflies find their host plants at such great distances > nelson rodrigues > > --- On *Sun, 9/10/11, kiran srivastava <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: kiran srivastava <[email protected]> > Subject: [ButterflyIndia] Common Mormon laying its egg on 17th floor > To: [email protected] > Date: Sunday, 9 October, 2011, 10:13 AM > > > > > Hi, > A Common butterfly came to our balcony on the 17th floor and laid a couple > of eggs on our mini orange plant (origin Singapore). The round shape is > typical of swallowtail butterflies. Photo is enlarged, cropped and enhanced > by pp. Isaac Kehimkar subsequently corrected my identification and told me > it is an interesting record of a Common Mormon (and not a Common Rose, which > I thought it was) finding a food plant at this level. He clarified the egg > of the Common rose is dark maroon and not smooth. > > Cheers, > kiran > mumbai > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- Enjoy
