|
Grazing and Fall Mustard Whites in Lenox
|
Roger W. Pease, Jr.
|
Sep 06, 2005 10:07 PDT
|
The field in Lenox on New Lenox Road has not yet been mowed this year
and there were still a few Mustard Whites flying on Monday, Labor Day, 5
September 2005. Unfortunately, there was one Cabbage White and
possibly more in evidence so I netted four Mustard Whites for positive
identification and released them. The largest number of whites observed
in the air at one time was 10. My impression is that the Cabbage White
is still not common in the field.
It would be interesting to observe a genuine fall brood of Cabbage
Whites and especially whether the phenotype matches that of the early
April-May individuals which are generally assumed to have eclosed from
overwintering chrysalids.
Records of the Mustard White in September and October are of
particular interest. The four individuals I checked had varying amounts
of dark veining on the underside of the hindwings.
There are a couple of concerns here. Has there been a change in the
management practices? Actually, the lack of mowing may be a temporary
plus but if the field is going to be allowed to grow up to forest it
represents a major change for the Mustard Whites. Across the paved road
there is a new track of wheeled vehicles leading past a sign reading "No
motorized vehicles beyond this point." If you follow the track, you
come to a fenced area enclosing sheep and llamas/alpacas. Outside the
fenced area, there is some land that has been previously grazed very
recently. The surrounding vegetation is too high to permit the animals
to be seen from the paved road. It appears that some of the animals
have recently been sheared.
There is a certain "Heads I win, Tails you lose philosophy" behind
experiments with grazing animals in the habitat of listed species. The
object is obviously to find out if the grazing animals can live in
harmony with the listed species. If the listed species survive then
open grazing can be permitted. If the listed species are exterminated
then there is no need to protect them since they are gone and the
habitat can be turned over to the survivors.
If anyone checks out the field, please, investigate the grazing
animals and give us a report on how and what they are doing. There is
good parking across the street near the railroad tracks and it is only a
short walk to the grazing areas apparently on wildlife managment land.
No need to drive past the sign prohibiting motorized vehicles.
RWPJr
|
|
 |
|
