Karner blue butterfly - Second Brood!

This year’s second brood, or flight, of Karner blue butterflies is beginning to emerge from their pupae.  Walking around the Opdahl, Fox, and Old Gick parcels on Saturday, June 26, I saw dozens of males along the sandy trails.  Males tend to emerge before females.  I suspect I’ll see females in the next few days.The flight period is three to five weeks.  While each individual butterfly lives an average of four or five days, the butterflies emerge from their pupae at different times.  The peak occurs on that day when the greatest number of butterflies is out at one time.The eggs the females lay will overwinter on the ground and become next year’s first flight.The butterflies are beautiful.  Writer and poet Vladimir Nabokov referred to them as little blue snowflakes.