AW: [meteorite-list] Red Rain

From: MexicoDoug_at_aol.com <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Mar 7 13:50:44 2006
Message-ID: <2ce.478f74c.313f2ff6_at_aol.com>

Martin A. writes:

<< I'm not a lepidopterologist, >>

Hola Martin believe it or not, I am an Lepidopterist, well at least an
amateur for many years !

Your suggestion is also what I immediately thought when I saw the subject in
my emails. I don't have time at the moment to look into this, but if anyone
has some time, during peaks in the population of Painted Lady butterflies
(_Vanessa cardui_) red rains have appeared and been harbingers of things to come in
the typical scaring peasants routine like comets, in history on several
ocassions, as a matter of fact...so wherever this red rain has appeared (I haven't
been following the thread),it would be easy to check to see if it coincides
with a population spike and new brood of cardui's. The Painted Lady is one of
the few butterflies with nearly a worldwide distribution and seemingly
migration runs en masse. For this reason, in the US it has been used in releases in
weddings (instead of throwing rice:)). The is a contingent of ecologists that
oppose this due to claimed changes in local gene pools (mostly for Monarchs).
Since the butterfly farming industry for weddings (and funerals) took off a
few years back and most people don't hear the scientists' bellyaching that
experimental designs are screwed up when taking censuses for experimental work and
possibly crosscontaminating gene pools and spreading plagues in the local
butterfly populations with the alien introductions of the same species, the
biggest appeal not to do this is the blood like liquid and hey if you are getting
married, why the heck would you risk eith your butterflies express mailed
arriving dead or secreting "blood". That works a little better to dampen the
spirits.

Anyway, sorry if I haven't read the thread enough and if this was already
discussed in more depth besides Martin's suggestion,

Saludos, Doug
Received on Tue 07 Mar 2006 01:50:30 PM PST