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Posts Tagged "introduced"

Cabbage White

Posted on May 5, 2016

Cabbage White

The Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) is a non-native “pest” butterfly species, and here you can see it is feeding on a Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), a non-native weed…but you know what, the ship has sailed on trying to solve that problem. I realize that is easy for me to say because I am not employed in agriculture. However, we are not going to wake up tomorrow and eliminate these species from North America. Even if we were to try it would be terribly harmful, and in the case of the dandelion we would be pumping even more toxic chemicals into our environment – as...

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European Skipper

Posted on Jul 1, 2015

European Skipper

This was one of an abundance of European Skippers (Thymelicus lineola) that Twan recently noted while conducting some field work, hopefully the first of many actual native skipper species that will be emerging in our lands soon. The European Skipper has only been on our continent for about a century after its accidental introduction. They are still expanding their range. I wonder if the fact they come out so early in comparison to some other skippers helps them survive, as is the case with many non-native and/or invasive plants that have success here. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation &...

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Cabbage White

Posted on Jun 11, 2015

Cabbage White

Here we have the Cabbage White or Small White (Pieris rapae) butterfly feeding on a clover. While they are an introduced species and abundant, sometimes a pest to the crops they are named after, they still do have a beauty on a late spring day among the green and rapidly diversifying colors.

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