Lepidopterists, take note: if you live toward the north, you may have noticed an exceptional amount of orange and black butterflies taking to the skies. These are the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) series, which literature nerds (holler!) will recognize as Vladimir Nabokov’s favorite, to which he penned an ode in his 999-line poem Pale Fire. I haven’t seen one yet, but apparently there’s tons of them, especially here in New York City where they’ll actually end up settling. This is hardly the first time they’ve been seen — the butterflies migrate upward from the South come spring — but they’re early this year and have arrived in mass quantities. According to upstate New York paper The Daily News, “[the Red Admiral] typically arrives at the end of May, but to see it in such numbers and so early in the season is not common.” Experts agree that the phenomenon has occurred about 4-5 weeks earlier than average, most likely caused by our unseasonably warm spring. Keep reading »
