Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Ruddy Daggerwing male or female?, 1 by TexasPuddyPrint

TexasPuddyPrint wrote:
Does anyone know how to tell if this is a male or female ruddy daggerwing? These are occasionally sighted in south Texas but I read where they are common in south Florida. I do hope someone in Florida can help me out :o)

Was blessed this morning to find this wonderful butterfly nectaring on my duranta. This is the first time I've had one of these come to my yard!!! I read that their larval hosts are figs and mulberries so earlier in the year I traded for fig cuttings. They have been doing great and have lots of big leaves. I have a couple of mulberry saplings that showed up in my yard...thanks to the mockingbirds who pooped out the seeds in my flower beds!!!

I had to leave for work a few minutes after I photographed this one but I did make time to move the potted fig cuttings and a large mulberry sapling next to the duranta bush before I left. Am hoping it will be back tomorrow!!! Sure hope it will and I hope it's a female that will use the figs or mulberry to lay eggs on. My Kaufman guide says they are known to breed in south Texas.

These aren't very common...and I only saw two last year at two separate butterfly parks. One park is 30 miles southeast of me and the other is about 22 miles southwest.

Time will tell...

~ Cat

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This message was edited Aug 24, 2006 9:09 AM