Attack of the butterflies!!!!

ClubDead

Well not really but I’m a bit freaked out. I found one of the little fellas in my house during the summer which is normal for the time of year, but now, in December, I find one in my house 2 maybe 3 times a week! Isn’t that really odd for the time of year?? Could they have....I dunno cocooned in my house somewhere and came out during the latest mild weather?

I should add, they aren't moths.

Birdnuts

The increadibly mild weather has alot of hibernating insects confused - had 2 wasps in the office the other day!!

OpenYourEyes

Worth logging sightings on the Biodiversity Data Centre website here's the link for Butterflies: Link

This is obviously unusual, and the more records they get the stronger any resulting studies or theories will be!

Tiercel Dave

If they are Small Tortoiseshells, as we get in Galway, it's not unusual. As with the wasps, it's the extra degree of central heating that has them becoming active. Dave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Tortoiseshell#Life_cycle

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

If you can move them to an unheated shed or garage they may have enough reserves to return to hibernation and resurface next year.

ClubDead

Rhett Bumpy Can wrote: »

If you can move them to an unheated shed or garage they may have enough reserves to return to hibernation and resurface next year.

Thanks, I didn't really know what to do other than usher them outside but I have a small bedroom that I don't use that they can hideout in

WildIreland

Not that unusual at all if they're a hibernating species like small tortoiseshell. They typically look for dry places to spend the winter in the autumn, and many settle quiet corners inside houses. When the weather gets colder and we crank up the heating, the butterflies get confused and wake from their dormant state.

Your best bet is to relocate them to a sheltered spot in a shed or outhouse if you have one, where they can spend the winter in peace.

axe2grind

These guys come in open window in Autumn and have been on a curtain, behind wardrobe, anywhere sheltered for past few months and expected to stay there for another few months until the heating is cranked up.

Unfortunately letting them out, which looks like what they want is not in their best interest.
I jar them, stick them in the fridge and once settled transfer them to inside of roof in outhouse. Best do when dark so they don't awaken from their slumber, though they also play dead and can be hard to persuade them to attach themselves to roof.