The Painted Lady Butterfly is a native species to North America, It can be found in other countries such as Africa, Europe, and Asia. This particular butterfly can be found in several states within the United States. During seasonal changes, they tend to migrate to the states in the southwestern region. Then they return to the northern and eastern regions of the country to repeat this pattern yearly. The Painted Lady Butterfly’s habitat is centered on these regions that provide nourishment i.e. plants. Thus their reproduction cycle is completed once it has mated. The female Painted Lady Butterfly will then lay up to a few hundred tiny pale blue-green eggs.
This behavior is common nature for animals in order for them to evolve and adapt to its climate and thus produce to survive. In essence the circle of life. According to this independent article it stated,” For several years biologists have been watching warming temperatures affect living organisms, with leaves opening, birds nesting and insects emerging earlier. But what has happened in 2007 with butterflies has been quite exceptional. Of our 59 resident and regular migrant species, 37 have now appeared, and of these, all except one (the orange tip) have emerged earlier than they would have done a decade ago, according to the wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation”. In other words, it’s all about location.
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Animals habitually migrate to desired temperatures in order to produce their offspring. In an article by Guardian, it states, “They hope their study, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology and supported by the Natural Environment Research Council, will help scientists better predict how different species will respond to environmental changes. Long-distance migrants, which are shown to be less responsive to rising temperatures, may suffer most as other birds gain an advantage by arriving at breeding grounds ahead of them” (the Guardian). The experiment at hand will explain the Painted Lady Butterfly’s evolvement.
The experiment at hand uses data from Spring 2014 through the Fall of 2019. It was created to track its days in a chrysalis stage. It uses the temperatures that range from 45 degrees Fahrenheit to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The days that were tracked range from the fourth day in a chrysalis to the twentieth day. At the end of the experiment, an average was taken in order, to sum up, the results.
This graphing chart shows the progress of the Painted Lady Butterfly larvas. Each specimen was placed into different climates and monitored. The temperature stages began with placement at 45 degrees, then at 72 degrees and lastly at 85 degrees. Each specimen was studied over a time period of 20 days. Roughly over 400 butterflies were placed and monitored.
During the 45 degrees observation, it showed that on day seven only two emerged. On day nine seven emerged. The data on day ten showed twelve butterflies emerging. On day eleven, only eight emerged. Day twelve showed seven while days thirteen and fourteen displayed the same number: twenty-one emerging. Then on day fifteen a sudden drop to only seventeen. The decrease continued onto the remaining days. On day eighteen only one butterfly emerged.
A significant change occurred when the temperature was increased to 72 degrees. On day five, one butterfly emerged. Days seven through day eleven brought about notable changes. Twenty-seven to thirty-four butterflies emerged. The days that followed showed a decrease once again. Days twelve through sixteen ranged from eight to two butterflies emerging.
The most interesting transformation occurred when the temperature was raised to 85 degrees. The fifth day increased from zero in other temps to 10 in this warmer temperature. Yet the greatest number observed occurred on day seven with forty-one butterflies emerging. Once again it decreased to one on day thirteen. The fluctuation between temperatures showed a variation in butterfly appearances. The averages overall were quite interesting. At a temperature of 45 degrees 18.1%, 74 degrees showed a decrease of 9.4% while at the warmest temperature showed a 7.4% of Painted Lady Butterflies that were set free.
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