I saw this little butterfly nectaring outside today. I'm having trouble with my Kodak software today, but found this site with much better pics anyway!
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabast/cmestra.html
Common Mestra
Linda,
Those are gorgeous little butterflies. Such an unusual color...I just love that orange on the wings. I don't know why they are called Common Mestra when they really aren't common at all.
However, they lived up to their name back in November when I saw at least two hundred at the ranch during a walk around the back field. There must have been hatching broods because there were fresh ones everywhere I looked.
I've gone back several times trying to find their larval host, tragia, but haven't run into it yet (then again, considering it's noseburn, guess not running into it can be a good thing!)
There has to be lots of it growing out at the ranch because every time I go there I see these butterflies.
It's hard to get photos of them on a sunny day because the camera makes the white looked washed out.
Here's one I got on a cloudy day...this butterfly was very cooperative and stayed put while I took a gazillion photos of it :o)
~ Cat
Cat how I would really love to go visit your ranch and all those wonderful butterflies you have lol. Beautiful little butterfly
It's a very cute little thing. Well, I'm assuming it's little? I wish they wouldn't call things "common"! It makes them sound all dull and unexciting when they really aren't!
I wish I had trouble locating Noseburn! It's such a little plant growing here on my property, I don't always notice it and sometimes I "locate" it with my hand or legs. First the itching, then it stings and itches like crazy for a while. That mestra sure is cute! And I'd love to have the cats, they're really cute too. I'd even move them from plant to plant...carefully, of course.
Linda, Is the noseburn just common to TX.? Neat looking BF.Just another reason to come visit Texas!
Linda,
Please post some photos of noseburn and the cats...am hoping I can learn to recognize it when I go out to the ranch.
~ Cat
What's the weather like in TX. My son is at basic traing at Lackland and I'm curious what he's got to run in.
Cat, there's many species of Tragia and some are called Noseburn, but I don't know what kind you have down there. This link might give you some idea of what to look for, but they're not exactly eye-catching plants.
http://botany.cs.tamu.edu/FLORA/pic03/DSCN1834.JPG
I've never seen the cats, but there one pic of a cat on that link I posted earlier.
Don, I live maybe 30 to 40 miles northwest of Lackland. I was in San Antonio shopping today and it was overcast with occasional drizzle today. Sometimes we even go to Lackland to shop, since my DH is a disabled vet and we have ID cards that allows us to go shop at the bases.
Linda,thanks for the weather report.He's finished with basic Jan 19 and then he's off to school I think at Sheppard(?sp.) He'll be there until May .He's real lucky to have missed the hot weather.
I didn't find a pic of my own Tragia species (Noseburn) before (thought I'd lost all those when a previous computer bit the dust), but I ran across this pic of a Skeleton Plant (much visited by nectaring butterflies, BTW) and there was a Noseburn plant right by it to the left. My local Tragia is one of the smaller species of Noseburn. Most Tragias are larger.
Hmmm...I think the best way to find that dratted noseburn is to walk around the back field in shorts?! :o) Just kidding!!! I always were my boots and jeans...because there's all kinds of creepy crawly things out there...including rattlers.
Once the weather clears up I will take my plant identification guides with me and walk slowly around the areas where I've seen the largest concentration of Common Mestras. I really would like to raise some of their cats so I need to also pay attention to when I see the fresh ones and figure out the brood seasons. Maybe by this time next year I'll be posting some eggs, cats and chrysalids :o) I can only hope!!!
Love that flower Linda. We have a skeleton plant...but it's called a skeleton leaf daisy and has yellow blooms. That one is pretty...do you know the scientific name for it?
~ Cat
Cat, it's Lygodesma texana. It's completely without leaves (just stems up to 2 feet tall) by the time it flowers. Guess the stems handle the photosynthesis function. It grows on the front part of my property.
Linda - That is a really pretty flower. Most unusual!!! Must grow only in Texas, as I have never seen anything similiar here in Florida other than Rain Lilies.
Hi Linda & all,
That is one beautiful flower, Lygodesma texana.. The (UN) Common Mestra is a lovely Butterfly too. How fortunate that you have them there now! The map shows that they do come here, so now there is another one on my list to be watching for this Spring. That will determine whether I decide to cultivate their host plant in 2008. I am trying not to overload myself with too many new butterflies at once, and it is getting really hard to resist going for them all. lol.