Joshua Robertson
Wednesday 9 November 2016 21.43 GMT Last modified on Thursday 10 November 2016 00.02 GMT
From butterflies to plain old flies, south-east Queensland is experiencing a two-phase swarm of insects amid weather conditions that allow both species to thrive.
Last Friday residents began reporting a sudden surge of butterflies, an influx of tens of millions of caper whites in what experts said was a phenomenon that occurred about once a decade.
As the butterflies’ numbers began thinning this week, they were set to be replaced by a less majestic spectacle: myriad black flies prompted by a warm spring after a wet winter.
The presence of the caper whites was the result of a mass migration from west of the Dividing Range from insects looking to lay eggs. The migration was an annual event but this year took place at a scale seen once every six to 10 years.
Residents took to social media remarking on the spectacle, one joking it was “snowing butterflies”, others struggling to capture the flurry of tiny white dots with their cameras.
Continued
Wednesday 9 November 2016 21.43 GMT Last modified on Thursday 10 November 2016 00.02 GMT
From butterflies to plain old flies, south-east Queensland is experiencing a two-phase swarm of insects amid weather conditions that allow both species to thrive.
Last Friday residents began reporting a sudden surge of butterflies, an influx of tens of millions of caper whites in what experts said was a phenomenon that occurred about once a decade.
As the butterflies’ numbers began thinning this week, they were set to be replaced by a less majestic spectacle: myriad black flies prompted by a warm spring after a wet winter.
The presence of the caper whites was the result of a mass migration from west of the Dividing Range from insects looking to lay eggs. The migration was an annual event but this year took place at a scale seen once every six to 10 years.
Residents took to social media remarking on the spectacle, one joking it was “snowing butterflies”, others struggling to capture the flurry of tiny white dots with their cameras.
Continued
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!