Size doesn't limit adventure! 🦋💨 The Western pygmy-blue, North America's tiniest butterfly, embarks on transcontinental journeys, even ending up in unexpected spots like Florida and the Middle East. NatureWonders ButterflyJourney
, was well outside its typical habitat.. And when further looking at the data onWestern pygmy blues are usually found in deserts, salt marshes and the wastelands of the Southwest. As a caterpillar, the insect feasts on white goosefoot, tumbleweed and saltbush species found in central California, southern Nevada and New Mexico to central Arizona. As adults, it will feed on flower nectar.
“A couple of individuals, including myself, ultimately identified it as a Western pygmy blue which was mind-blowing because that wasn't even on the radar and something that would likely show up in Florida,” says Calhoun. “Saudi Arabia has many environments similar to some of the saline and alkaline environments that it likes here [in the U.S]. And there are almost certainly plants in that area that its caterpillars can feed on that are either native to that area or maybe native to the U.S. and were introduced there. […] It’s kind of in the right place there because those habitats are similar,” says Kevin Burls, a conservation biologist with the Xerces Society not involved with the study.
“They were probably distributed naturally or through a weather system that came through the northern Gulf. And, you know, just basically swept them up […] and they just kind of dropped down if they find a suitable environment,” Calhoun says.Calhoun explains that the butterflies most likely did not migrate because researchers did not find them around the Florida panhandle, especially in coastal areas that have enough plants for food.
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