Belenois spp. the 'Caper Whites'

Hi there Neil & Liz,

Could anyone on the TZ or Kenya bird group who noted anything at all (electronically,

on paper, or just mentally) about the recent Brown-veined White butterfly

southward movement send those details to me; and I will forward them to Torben Larsen et

al.

AND NOT via Nobby Cordeiro please as suggested previously.

Thanks a lot,

James

www.birds.intanzania.com

Farm 510, Kiranyi via Kwaiidi, Arusha (TZ)

+255-(0)-784-596-209

Dear All,

I really hope we can get as much data in as suggested in my CAN YOU HELP? appeal, which I again attach. Please do circulate this to anyone who has an interest in nature.

Migrations are a regular feature of many dry zone butterflies, but the present event was obviously much larger than normal.

Best wishes,

Torben

“The area and duration of this Belenois movement in TZ and Kenya would seem to be extraordinary.

I first became aware of the B-v White et al. migration on Tuesday afternoon February 6 as I drove with Jack & Kathy Wigan towards Chalinze from the Saadani junction.

Returning from Dar to Arusha the next day (7/2/07) they were an almost constant feature as they crossed the main road more or less southwards during almost the entire journey.

Vast numbers were also present on the Angyata Osugat on February 13 nectaring on the flowering Acacia mellifera.

Huge numbers, frequently reminding me of highland snow storms in mid-May (Scotland), have been passing through Kwaiidi in western Arusha (and also southwards at Maweni farm (at 1000m) and thus they are therefore easily crossing the West Usambara barrier too) all this week, especially on Wednesday 14 and today Thursday 15 in Arusha.

My hero Torben Larsen says:

"Some migrants are able to build up spectacular populations in a very short time, far surpassing the density of sedentary species. In addition, they may avoid their normal predators, whose numbers cannot increase fast enough to take advantage of the temporary surfeit of potential prey. There was hardly any mortality due to parasites or disease among the more than 500,000 Caper Whites (Anaphaeis [= Belenois] aurota) which hatched in May 1981 in a wadi in Oman."

Watch those skies, as always!

James”