Painted lady butterflies are apparently migrating through the Lincoln area this week, with sightings of masses of butterflies.
Several people with butterfly reports and pictures contacted Jody Green, with Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County on Wednesday.
One picture showed 32 butterflies on one plant, said Green, the urban entomologist educator.
Green said she had occasional painted lady butterfly reports last month, including a burst earlier in August that was a concern to soybean growers. Painted ladies can lay eggs on soybeans and the larvae will feed on the plant.
But the earlier sightings were nothing like the reports Wednesday, Green said.
People are generally pretty excited to see the butterflies, though there are a few who don’t like them smashing into their car, she said.
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Painted lady butterflies, aka thistle butterflies and cosmopolitan butterflies, migrate, and their migrations could be 9,000 miles spanning six generations, according to Green.
They are also found on every continent but Antarctica and Australia, hence the name cosmopolitan butterfly.
They are also not super picky, survive in many habitats, and often lay their eggs on thistles, hence the name thistle butterfly. Â
These butterflies in Lincoln may be migrating, or getting ready to lay eggs for the next cycle.Ìý
The butterflies will not damage plants as an adult. They will not bite or harm humans. They are just sucking nectar from flowers, Green said.
"So enjoy them, appreciate them. Who knows when we will have a butterfly explosion again?" she said.Ìý