Well, I was hoping that the butterflies and caterpillars were just busy elsewhere, but it's been about a month now since I've seen butterflies and even dragonflies in my yard. Typically September is an active month for them in my yard. It seems hauntingly eerie. Where are they?

I fear the mosquito spraying may have affected many insects, not just the blood suckers. Is anyone else here in Florida noticing the same thing? They have been spraying here probably more than typical because of the Zika virus.

I did run across this item recently:
http://www.wtma.com/news/milli...

Here's a pic of some gulf Frits....

I think it is the spraying..just saw one spray they are using has been outlawed in Europe or somewhere
and that one is killing the honey bees they are using near Miami for Zika
there is another one that is safer and it was mentioned being used in other parts of Florida for Zika
virus.
I live near the panhandle of Florida in Alabama not far from Destin area etc...and my having had encephalitis back in the
1960's and surviving it...I sure do not want Zika virus.

I do have lovely swallowtails and zebra this week and sulphur butterflys on the salvias and butterfly bushes in
Sheri's healing flower garden..Hummingbirds still here till maybe oct 15th..have sugar water fresh twice a week
out for them

Dragonflys not as many this year as usual in August...the solid blue ones that are so brilliant like the one I will post that goes with my name as sheridragonfly..they did not arrive this year as usual in August.

Sheridragonfly/sheri

Your not alone. I live in Michigan, and I've seen a decline in not only butterflies and caterpillars this year, I haven't seen a single humming bird this year. First year I haven't seen one.
A part of me is hoping I just haven't seen them, but I can't help but wonder....

Still lots of butterflies north of Tampa and down here in Naples.

Thanks for all the replies. I lost track of this thread before I was able to reply.

Fortunately, I was able to see butterflies this month and even some Monarch caterpillars. Not many, but a few. My milkweed plants seem to be doing quite well with the cooler weather!

Random thoughts about the decline...First, personally I think spraying for Zika is ineffective. I spent some yrs in Puerto Rico a couple of decades ago, and I, among 100s of others contracted dengue, a virus similar to Zika. It seemed then, as it did at the time of the building of the Panama Canal and yellow fever that the answer was not chemicals but physical labour which required getting rid of standing water! Chemicals are not, by themselves, enough to rid areas of mosquitoes.

Second, I don't think the Zika spraying is to blame for the decline everyone is seeing. It can't help but it's not the cause. Don't know if anyone else has noticed but I am noticing an increase in parasites that attack caterpillars. Not into conspiracy theories but....I am in VA, an area heavily plagued by marmorated stink beetles (import from Asia). For the past 5 yrs that I've lived in my house, I have been swamped by these bettles in the house every Fall and Spring...I'm talking about 100's a day in the house! These beetles don't just annoy homeowners but they've done much harm to fruit and vegetable crops and to the very lucrative wine industry (particularly in Northern VA). So about 2 yrs ago, imported parasitic wasps started showing up in the stink beetle's egg masses...they were supposedly "accidently" imported and it just so happens that they seem to restrict themselves to stink beetles (guess native stink beetles don't matter). This year we have seen encountered 5 stink beetles total. To me, this is scary to see a population this large reduced so quickly! It is scary because biocontrols are being applied as usual with no consideration for collateral damage. Another possible example: use of parasitic wasps or flies to knock out those "nasty" hornworms (I do not personally consider them nasty at all!) and take down a few other species of moths or butterflies in the process...this, in my humble opinion, is a big part of the problem. Combine excessive biocontrol with abnormal weather patterns and habitat loss and I think you have the bigger picture.

upat5 - Thanks for your response! You may very well be right about your theory. I had a lot of butterflies over the summer and then in August and September, the numbers went down to about null. There was extensive mosquito spraying in my area during those months. So that is where I got my theory from.