Other butterflies ....

Hi Everyone!
Decided to start a new thread for any butterflies not mentioned here lately. This is one of the Zebra Long-wings that have been hanging around my yard lately. Took 20 photos before I finally got a decent one. (There are usually 2 that hang together in my yard, but the other one got spooked by me and flew off!) Notice it on Lantana! My front yard gets a lot of butterfly visitors because of this lantana and the large porterweed! I highly recommend having BOTH of these plants in your yard somewhere if you want to attract butterflies for nectar.

I also had a Swallowtail going crazy all over my porterweed. I didn't recognize it. It was black with bands of yellow on the top of the wings and underneath there was lots of pretty red markings. Didn't know what it was, so got my book out and found it! It's called a Gold Rim Swallowtail. It wouldn't let me get a photo! (Too bashful this time!) But maybe the next time I see it, it will be more willing to be photographed. It's host plant is the Calico Flower vine! I don't see any of those vines anywhere around my neighborhood. But looks like another vine I need to add to my backyard fence. (Yeah right .... like I need to plant anymore vines! But what the heck ..... there's always room for one more! lol) The underside of this butterfly is really pretty!

Here's a better photo! Love that Lantana! :-D

Did you do this just to make me jealous?! Well, it worked! Books don't show them to be common to my area. I have never seen them in my yard but I have seen them in a yard just about 5 miles south of me, so there is hope. I got one cat at this person's house and raised it. They are so beautiful!

I'm so jealous of this other swallowtail too! You must find a place and stake-out to get some pics! I'll have to do some reading and see if I need this vine too. I wonder how many vines is TOO many? lol

Oh, you have mentioned two beauties that we have no chance of getting!

I found a pic of your "gold rim" swallowtail. Very elegant looking. http://www.butterflyschool.org/photogallery/03.html

Paige - I had never seen a ZLW around my area either. Until now. I used to see them 25 miles north of me and I have heard that they are about 30 miles south of me. Just goes to prove that if they are within flying distance - it's a possibility to get them in your yard. I am assuming it is my Passion vine that has them hanging around. The lantana and porterweed are just nectar plants that they apparently love to feed on. The Gold Rim butterfly is beautiful underneath. Lots of red. The body almost looked red to me, too!

Tabasco- Great photo of the underwing view. The red markings on it's underside really stood out when I saw it feeding on the lantana. Brilliant red patterns!

Honestly, I wish that I could video tape them because of the circling and chasing they do around my yard. I always thought that Spring time was the busiest for butterflies. But after witnessing so many this past month, I'd have to say that they are really out and about in the Fall months. I didn't know that my area would get so many different species of butterflies.

I'm really glad that I got into butterfly gardening. It's really paid off with all the visitors I've had recently. Since my location has very short and usually mild winters, I think ALL of you should just move to my area and we'd make one big, huge butterfly habitat with gardens in all our yards! LOL And maybe, just maybe ..... we could attract the hummers here too! (There are hummers here, I've just never seen them in the 40+ years that I have lived here.) Our little community could become the Butterfly Capital of the U.S.! I think we could give South America a run for their butterflies! (Well .... perhaps not! lol But I'd sure love to try!)

This message was edited Nov 5, 2006 1:15 AM

Becky those are just stunning!! I would love to make wallpapers from one of your pictures!

Oh yeah Paige and I are going to have some ZLW one of these days.. soon! They get closer and closer when we keep their PVs. Your lush fenceful of Purple Passion is drawing them in surely.. then they will work their way up to my house , lol.

Deb

Deb - D-mail me and tell me which photo you want. I definitely believe that you will get them eventually if they are within flying distance of your home. I truly think it is my porterweed and lantana that is drawing my ZLW to my yard. I don't really see them around my PV. This lantana bush that all the butterflies like is in a pot! Not the ground. Go figure.

I have seen only one zebra in the year I have lived here. Hoping if the maypop grows (maybe next year) I will start getting more of them. They are beautiful!

Surprised to see one these enjoying the nectar on my yellow lantana. (There were two of them flying around together.) To my knowledge there are NO Oleanders anywhere near my home, so they must be cruising thru the neighborhood. (Everyone knows how poisonous the plants are.) I remember as a kid collecting hundreds of the orange with black hairs cats of these moths!

This is a Polka-Dot Moth. Mimics a wasp! Cool, huh?

The above photo shows it looking more blue when the sun hits it a certain way. This is more what it looks like when you see them flying around.

Pretty. Have not seen them here.

Karen - If there are Oleanders in the area, you'll get them!

Here's a moth that had a humming sound and kind of flew like a hummer. I caught this fella as I was out watering the front garden at dusk. He was flying back and forth between my pink pentas and the large porterweed. I have learned not to get too excited when I hear and see something that looks like a hummer. Usually it is this type of moth. Not sure which moth it is. Possibly the "Mournful Sphinx Moth"?

Here's another photo of him. He was flying so fast that I couldn't hardly get a sharp photo of him.

Here's the front of him so you can see his face and his back.

Here's a photo I got of the Gold Rim Swallowtail. See all the red markings I was talking about. This butterfly moves faster than any other butterfly I have tried to capture on film. I took a lot of shots as he was zipping from bloom to bloom on the porterweed.

Here's another shot of him. Still too fast to get a sharp photo!

This photo is very blurry. I was having to move the camera to follow him and could not get a good shot. But at least you can see the yellow on the top of the wings which helped to ID him.

Gold-Rim Swallowtail do you mean Polydamas???

Donna - You are right. It goes by that name, Gold Rim, and also "Tailless Swallowtail".

Thanks Becky. We don't get those here that I have ever seen but thought it look like it from studying my books