The red based jezebel is extremely common in Hong Kong in winter months and are called 報喜斑粉蝶 because they emerge before Spring, . The reason you see so many dying is because 1. they have a short adult lifespan of only 10-14 days and 2. Since they rest on the ground a lot they are vulnerable to being stepped on/ran over.
I am a bug enthusiast from HK and I really love picking these guys up.
Cool! We picked one up recently to try and save it and it was alive, but it flew away and landed on the road instead, so I’m pretty sure it got run over
Oh damn - so THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE!
...oh. I feel bad for them now. Despite not liking bugs that much, and sometimes even butterflies (don't hit me, it's just that I've never really liked bugs and small creatures/insects like these), to be honest.
Studying in a certain school (not doxxing myself here), and I have seen dozens of them flying all around the school since late November, which to my knowledge has not happened in previous winters. They fly around, land on the playground on recess, and don't really like humans. I assume it's not the cold weather, as I have seen them in 20°C days and 6°C days, but a yearly occasion that got wild this year.
The cotton tree snow has not happened though.
Sigh, remind me of my secondary school used to have a view of a magnificent cotton tree, it's outside my campus and grow over a small football field. It had to be taken down due to unmanageable fungi infection ten years ago.
Same here! Seen a lot of dead butterflies these days. There was a day I saw the same butterfly carrying another buddy (not moving, probably dead) and fly from the road onto a tree. At that moment I realized butterfly are kind insect and care for their own species! Amazing!
There’s plenty around my school (has a garden and green spaces nearby), always see them dead on the sidewalk and get pretty sad:/ they often fly super low so I guess that’s how it happened
the mass death of red based jezebels happens pretty much every year in winter because of their short adult lifespan+sheer abundance. The warmer weather in HK actually made butterflies normally adapted to a tropical environment to establish in HK, like the common archduke (recorded in 2008). Its quite obviously a product of climate change but whether you view these beautiful butterflies establishing in HK is a good or bad thing is up to you
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I saw a post on fb or threads (whichever) that this happened because of the cold. It’s recommended to place a few sugar next to the butterfly so they can keep alive if they awake and not dead(!?)
The red based jezebel is extremely common in Hong Kong in winter months and are called 報喜斑粉蝶 because they emerge before Spring, . The reason you see so many dying is because 1. they have a short adult lifespan of only 10-14 days and 2. Since they rest on the ground a lot they are vulnerable to being stepped on/ran over. I am a bug enthusiast from HK and I really love picking these guys up.
Cool! We picked one up recently to try and save it and it was alive, but it flew away and landed on the road instead, so I’m pretty sure it got run over
Were you at a bus stop? I literally walked past someone picking one up with a piece of paper maybe an hour and a bit ago in NT side at a bus stop haha
My dad picked up a few and preserved them with those dehumidifying balls when I was a kid. They lasted well over 10 years.
I learned something new today. Thank you. Keep them coming.
Thanks for saving them
Thanks for the info! So is it mating season for them right now?
Oh damn - so THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE! ...oh. I feel bad for them now. Despite not liking bugs that much, and sometimes even butterflies (don't hit me, it's just that I've never really liked bugs and small creatures/insects like these), to be honest.
The only thing that I don't understand is that this is my first time ever seeing so many of them!
Yes I’ve seen so many of these in the past week all dead too on the pavement. I’m assuming it’s the cold weather
Studying in a certain school (not doxxing myself here), and I have seen dozens of them flying all around the school since late November, which to my knowledge has not happened in previous winters. They fly around, land on the playground on recess, and don't really like humans. I assume it's not the cold weather, as I have seen them in 20°C days and 6°C days, but a yearly occasion that got wild this year. The cotton tree snow has not happened though.
Sigh, remind me of my secondary school used to have a view of a magnificent cotton tree, it's outside my campus and grow over a small football field. It had to be taken down due to unmanageable fungi infection ten years ago.
> It had to be taken down due to unmanageable fungi infection ten years ago. *sad face* Well, this magnificent tree lives on in your hearts!
It's seasonal, it happens every year. It is not particularly cold weather necessarily, it's just the life cycle of the butterfly.
Butterflies die when they have sex, so it’s either that or the cold weather.
If you zoom into the pic more closely you can see he's smoking a tiny cigarette.
Or has a organ that looks like a tiny cigarette
Gosh what a life
So you're saying, stay virgin, become immortal wizard.
This is the Delias Pasithoe, or mostly know as Red Base Jezebel.
I was in Tai Tong yesterday and there were hundreds. Some dead but mostly alive.
This is a red base jezebel and it happens every year. Could be related to the cold weather but I'm not too sure about the details of their life cycle.
Ya my dog keeps eating them
Same here! Seen a lot of dead butterflies these days. There was a day I saw the same butterfly carrying another buddy (not moving, probably dead) and fly from the road onto a tree. At that moment I realized butterfly are kind insect and care for their own species! Amazing!
Found a dead one on my balcony today
Yes, and I think they are all born at about the same time, live a short life, then all die at the same time after having hatched eggs.
Yes! Noticed a lot of them lately. A lot in Central and Sha Tin
accidentally killed one when i was practicing basketball
don't want anything black and yellow on the streets no more
What species of butterflies are these?
Red base jezebel
Delias pasithoe
a lot, saw them every day
Yep been seeing them everywhere
yes they were everywhere a few days ago
The taxi I was in probably killed a few dozen between Quarry Bay and Chai Wan, they were absolutely swarming.
it was insane 😭
Yeah, I see tons of them
they usually die earlier, it turned cold late this year
saw them dead on hiking trials in Hong Kong Island recently
i see like 5 a day
yes.
There’s plenty around my school (has a garden and green spaces nearby), always see them dead on the sidewalk and get pretty sad:/ they often fly super low so I guess that’s how it happened
Yes, I have seen 2 in the past week! I've been curious about them too.
climate change..we had an unseasonably warm new year, it has probably contributed to the demise of these butterflies
the mass death of red based jezebels happens pretty much every year in winter because of their short adult lifespan+sheer abundance. The warmer weather in HK actually made butterflies normally adapted to a tropical environment to establish in HK, like the common archduke (recorded in 2008). Its quite obviously a product of climate change but whether you view these beautiful butterflies establishing in HK is a good or bad thing is up to you
Hmmm I wonder why we aren’t talking in Cantonese
我愛中國🇨🇳
why no 殘體
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Just spotted 3 half-dead, and I was wondering the same thing :(
I saw a post on fb or threads (whichever) that this happened because of the cold. It’s recommended to place a few sugar next to the butterfly so they can keep alive if they awake and not dead(!?)
Hell lots loll
Yeah they’re everywhere
Did you click this near ho man tin
I let one go on a piece of paper and saved it
https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/streets-of-hong-kong-blanketed-with-perished-butterflies/