T. Neil Davis is a seismologist at the institute. Though more-southerly states such as Colorado can claim 250 or more resident species of butterflies, at least 78 species flit around the Alaskan countryside. Summer coolness rather than winter's cold limits the number of butterflies in the Arctic. Not having a source of heat within their bodies as mammals do, and yet needing a certain minimum body temperature in order to fly, butterflies must gain heat from their environment. In winter they are, of course, inactive but those who live over the winter in the adult stage avoid freezing damage to their body tissues by stocking up on self-manufactured antifreeze materials each fall.
Some arctic butterflies survive, in larval stage, over two winters.
A few species of butterflies live only in the northern tundra. They can survive there in summer because they have become experts on making use of solar energy. This information comes from Dr. Kenelm Philip who, though an astronomer by training, has pursued a hobby interest in butterflies until it has become his main avocation. In the process, he has become the leading expert on Alaskan butterflies. In his home near the University of Alaska at Fairbanks he has developed an extensive butterfly collection numbering in the thousands.