hot day, few monarchs

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On our second trip back to Cades Cove as part of the monarch tagging project for the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont we found more hot, dry conditions and some flying insects. Yet, most of the butterflies were non-monarchs. 

It was believed that the stationary dome of high pressure with little wind was keeping the long distance travelers roosting to our north. Any migrant needs a good tailwind to help push them along.
  

Confused Eusarca
Wiki Media. John B

Still, every outing with young naturalists is an opportunity to teach with field guides in hand. The most abundant lepidopteran netted that day was actually a small yellowish-green geometer moth oddly named the Confused Eusarca (Eusarca confusaria) identified by Wanda DeWaard. 

The geometer moths are so called because their caterpillars, or inchworms, appear to be measuring the earth. And at 24,901 miles in circumference, it is going to take the small caterpillars awhile to measure. I'll do the math. The earth is 1,577,727,360 inches from point A all the way around to point A again.  

Thanks to Wanda, Ruth Anne, Erin and all the rest of the monarch hunters.

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