A SWARM OF A ‘BILLION’ PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLIES IS MIGRATING THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
A massive swarm of at least 1 billion butterflies is traveling across Los Angeles and neighboring counties at a breathtaking speed of about 20 miles an hour, reports said.
The butterfly species Painted Ladies, cousins to the Monarch butterfly, are in a rush to reach breeding areas in Oregon after spending winter in the deserts of northern Mexico, according to Tom Merriman, a director of a butterfly non-profit group in Encinitas, in an interview with the Pasadena Star News. “They’ve laid tons of eggs in the desert, and so there may be over a billion butterflies,” Merriman told the paper.
Social media users in L.A. reported seeing the fluttering insects across the region, from Glendora to the beaches to South-Central L.A. Butterflies floated quickly across Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in South L.A. from downtown to Leimert Park.
“We counted 250 in one hour in the Arroyo Seco, all streaking westward. Quite a sight,” tweeted user L.A. Resident Tourist.
Experts said the migration is prompted also by California’s heavy winter rains.
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