[blukatzen]

I was wondering that myself. I have, as some of you know, more than a few garden centers in the Chicagoland region. A customer had remarked that she had put in a "butterfly" garden and "no one" was coming in to feed! (she had seen cabbage moths though, but only "a few".)
I had seen dragonflies earlier, but not an excessive amount. There does not seem to be a large amount this year for most all species. Usually, they are flocking near the perennials, taking in the echinacea, rudbeckias, agastache, etc.
Bees, I am seeing, but not in great amounts..bumblebees, mostly.

My husband had said that at his engineering firm, a person had commented on their garden and said they haven't seen much in the way of butterflies either.

I wonder what you listmembers have been seeing in your parts of the world?....I like to keep tabs on these things.

Blu

[Ludi]

Lots of bees, moderate number of butterflies - not a big butterfly year, it's been very dry. Lots of little waspy things, native pollinators.


Central Texas - severe drought

[CarlinsDarlin]

We've got a lot of butterflies this year, thankfully. Lots of bugs of every variety in fact. June bugs are insane this year. Not quite so many dragonflies, but there's still a lot.

North Central AR - it was a wet spring, and so far not a bad (too dry) summer.
K

[mercurygirl]

I've seen lots of bees and have noticed quite a few butterflies lately. I also have lots of mason bees nesting in the natural crevices in my siding.

[jbrovont]

I haven't seen any butterflies yet. Lots of gypsy moths, little bee things etc., plus we have an active healthy bee hive on our property. I got attacked by a group of little waspy things the other day. I don't think I've ever seen them before - larger than a sweat bee but smaller than a honey bee. I'm not sure what I did to irritate them, but over the course of an hour I got stung 7 or 8 times.

[hardtootell]

I had the pleasure of visiting an organic farm in southern New Brunswick, Canada in june. I was with an entymologist who pointed out 14 distinct species of butterfly (and 6 of moth) on my tour of his property. Oh ya- they had a few mosquitoes too

[biofuel13]

Certainly doesn't seem to be as many butterflies here in Minnesota this year as there usually are.

[frankthetank]

Tons of bees... Just a few butterflies... Lots of beetles.

[FourOfSwords]

Funny you should mention that. My daughter and I collect(and release) butterflies(or as we call them flutterby's), and this year in central Canada there have been noticably less. We've seen Monarchs, various swallowtails, and the ubiquous cabbage moths, but definately much much fewer of everything else. And also it appears that dragonflies are in short supply.
This year though mosquitos and blackflies are at insane levels, and talking to a MNR friend this past winter was perfect for those buggers. Maybe the winter conditions being good for mosquitos et al, are the opposite for butterflies?
As an aside, carpenter bees are also at an insane level, and are extremely territorial of late....
Cheers
Alex

[POAlex]

We have alot of June bugs here right now. My screen door is plastered with them.

Alex

[lentilsmine]

Lots of swallowtails here in PacNW.

[Farknight]

From Northwestern Virginia (Blue Ridge) we are seeing less butterflies than in past years as of now. I have extensive Buddleias throughout the property at strategic sunny locations for them. I also tangentially believe that the bee population appears down but this is purely subjective as well.

I am still seeing humming bird moths and the usual array of insects but perhaps about 20% or so less than last July. As for the reasons? Could be merely seasonal variances or perhaps a trend due to climate change but I have no idea.

[blukatzen]

bump...c'mon folks, I am interested in what's happening in your area for Pollinators!

Blu

[strider3700]

more then normal butterflies
about average dragon flies
average or just above bumblebees and mason bees
insane number of slugs way way above average
exactly zero honeybees so far.