I'm just a casual butterfly person, but I think this is a zebra swallowtail. I saw it while hiking through a nearby park. I also had a zebra longwing fly over me but I couldn't get a picture. I thought it was odd that it was sitting on the ground but then I read at www.floridata.com "Males often gather in large numbers at mud puddles or damp ground to obtain salts and nutrients." Interesting!
Another day I was hiking through local wetlands preserve and I came upon a bunch of lantana and porterweed just covered in zebra swallowtails and bumble bees.
Another butterfly I caught on film in the wetland preserve.
I think this is a tiger swallowtail. They really like the plumbagos in front of my house.
wallaby what a beautiful tortoise shell butterfly.. Their size will depend on when they stop eating for whatever reason.. running out of food or inclimant weather. Great pic!
Hiya mellielong! What a great asortment you have there.. The first & second one is ZSTs you're right! I believe the second is Spicebush Swallowtail, and right again Eastern Tiger ST on the last. Wonderful pics!! Share all you want here. That is what this thread is for. Glad you joined us!
Deb
This message was edited Apr 19, 2007 9:53 PM
Mellielong!
What great Butterflies you see! What park were you in when you saw the Zeb's puddling?
~Adrienne
Adrienne,
The park I was in is called Flatwoods Park in Tampa. Where I was is my absolute favorite spot because there are native tillandsias everywhere (and I'm a bromeliad freak). Usually, where that butterfly was at is a little stream. Since it's been so dry lately it was just kind of muddy instead of the usual flowing water. It was nice for me because I got to walk up to trees that are normally in the middle of the stream. And I guess it was nice for the butterfly to be able to land on the mud!
When I was out gardening this morning I saw quite a few butterflies, but I either didn't have my camera or they wouldn't sit still! I'll keep at it though. I have a whole bed full of blanket flowers that brings them in like crazy.
Great pics mellie! Love the swallowtails!
I think the swallowtails are the only ones that hold still for me!
Here's a picture of that zebra swallowtail from further back so you can get a sense of the environment.
And here's how that area looks when the water is at a normal level. It's not what I would normally think of as a butterfly environment, but this is also where that zebra longwing flew over my head.
The park sounds like a great place mellie.
I had a few cool things today. First of all I saw one of the Black Swallowtail cats emerge from the Parsley forrest where I could see him. I know there are quite a few more in there hiding..
Here's a pic I took at the USF Botanical Gardens. I had to laugh when I saw this - how typical!
Butterflies love puddles and ponds just like they do flowers and rotten fruit. A few have flown through that prefer rotten fruit, and I didn't have time to get any brew ready, so I set out a browning banana 2 days ago.
This Hackberry Emperor homed in on it today, and decided to hang out here. He went into the GH and didn't know how to get out. I picked him up and took him back to the banana and he slurped right down on it. When Ben was out there it kept landing all over him...Ben laughed and laughed.
Here's the top of the wing .. I love all the eyes on the underside of this one. Very regal topwing too.
Hackberry Emperor
That reminds me of a funny story. When I was a kid we were in WV visiting my grandparents. We were all hanging out on the front porch when a butterfly lands on my brother's shoulder. We all get real quiet and still, and are somewhat awestruck. I think we saw it as some kind of good omen - and then the butterfly took a dump on him. This clear stuff just came out the back of it and right onto my brother's shirt. I died laughing. It kinds of sums up my brother's life - everything he thinks is beautiful and good just kind of goes to crap.
I just wish the butterflies would slow down some. I have some new types in my yard this year , but can't tell what they are cuz they moving so fast and keep flinting from one flower to another.
I need to mow my weeds so bad, but whatever this one type flower/weed is they are loving it and don't want to mow down their food just to have a neater looking yard.
Great shot of the Hackberry Emperor Deb, I haven't seen that one.
mellielong, your story prompted me to hunt through my pics from last year, the folders which I haven't yet sorted! At least I spent a long time weeding out the unnecessary pics.
This is what I got, a Silver Y moth doing the doos, it just settled down in the same place after!
Deb - That's a great close-up of the Hackberry Emperor! WOW! Your camera is great!!!!
Mellie - The Zebra Longwings do seem to like the swampy areas here, too!
Wallaby - Cute photo! Love the dewdrops on the leaves!!! Nice! :-)
Thx Becky and wallaby..very pretty moth!
Is that doo or an egg?
It's doo, I wondered too for a start.
I took more than one pic, I hadn't realised what it was doing until I saw the pics!
This one is a bit blurred but you can see it's watery doo. I just caught it in the drop!
This message was edited Apr 21, 2007 1:53 PM
Time to take a rest after that effort!
Nice pics...pretty moth with the doodrops.
Deb, that Emperor is gorgeous!
Funny story about your bro, Mellie, poor guy lol
It's funny, at the Houston Butterfly Center, I did not see a single Monarch...guess they're just too common :(
Indeed millie, I sure hope your brother's luck is changing...funny story though, lol. On the same note, A bird pooped on me yesterday.. It was kinda gross. I had my hands full of things carrying them to the back yard and felt this warm blob on my arm... Still, I wasn't going to drop the new Fuschia for anything!!
Ya know folks, I do have issues with my camera.. That butterfly made it easier to take his pic by being such a friendly one.
Off to see whats flying around outside!! Hope to have some more pics of different ones later.
:-Deb
Had a fairly productive day here...A few more Hackberry Emperors and this curious inquisitor...
Question Mark
Okay maybe this one speaks Spanish... Unsidedown Question Mark..LOL! I believe these are also fruit and dung like Hackberry Emperor, and they use one of the same host plants.
Question Mark~Polygonia interrogationis
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1754
The rest of today's stuff will have to wait, I'm tired. I took in some chrysalids and 1 bst cat. Tomorrow I will explain all that.
Another view of QMark>
Deb-
Thx for your pictures! I've planted a Hackberry/Sugarberry in the hope of attracting those Emperor's! Well done!!
Thank you asafla!
They were just around here naturally. There's a lot of the Celtis growing around here, I have yet to see the actual cats or anything. This is one I didn't shoot for on purpose, they're just here, and I love them!
From last night>
I had several Gulf Fritillary chrysalids on the back lattice and a couple went missing. I am certain a hungry bird had a nice meal or 2 of them. So I cut the rest down and made a little hanger inside a small critter keeper.
i drilled a small hole in each side and strung a wire across to hang them on. There is still enough room for them to hang and dry. One didn't have enough cremaster to hang so I just laid it in the bottom on a clean tissue for now. Here's a peek at that>
Then there was the fat Black Swallowtail cat out on the Parsley.. If I can see him, so can the birds. The others are still hidden deep inside the plant, so I will leave them for now. If I see them they will be rescued too. This one is definatly big enough to pupate now, he doesn't really need the plant to survive well into a butterfly.
:-Deb
Oh my word!!! Way to go, Deb!!! Love your set-up! Looks most familiar!!! LOL! I can't wait to see your garden in all it's glory here in another month or so! Ya know we are expecting photos!!! :-)
Well, it's out to the garden for me today! It rained all day yesterday and I was itchin' to get out and do some work in the yard! Today is beautiful and the garden beds look so much better after a good rain! :-)
Was out at the ranch...saw several sulphurs puddling on the mud
~ Cat
That's a really cool photo, Cat! I have never seen Sulphurs puddling like that! Thanks for sharing that photo! Made me smile!!! :-) :-)
Great reports! Glad ya got the rain Becky, even though ya live in FL where it rains way more than here, lol! We were supposed to get rain today, but as I watched the water evaporate from the mini-fountain and some soil went grayish, I knew it wasn't gonna happen today. Weather reports tend to get my hopes up a lot because DH can't stand how high the water Williams get. (We call bill by his formal name when they get so high.)
Oh do I love those Sulphurs Cat! So glad I got some Cassia/Sennas this year, any kind! I wanted Just glad I might expect some Sulphur larvae this time.
Meanwhile Cat, You'll be glad to hear I had what are normally rotten fruit type butterflies all over the Privit in the corner. It seems they like it as an alternate. The Qmarks were in there and Red Admirals in numbers. Hard to focus and photograph.
Been editing all the pics I took today... Weeded out a few. Here's another, this time of QMark in the Privet>
I set up a make-shift rotting fruit dish for these guys until I get Stout beer... They really go for it anyway! QMark and Hackberry were feasting at the same time.. I know it looks gross... Folks usually want to see a pretty butterfly nectaring a pretty flower.. But this is what they eat! Something really gooey and gross!
:-)
Wow! That Privet of yours is stunning, Deb! How pretty when in bloom! That's so exciting that the butterflies that prefer rotten fruit have decided to nectar on your blooming tree! I'd be out there taking a ton of photos, too! It almost reminds me of snow there are so many tiny white blooms! Love it!!!
Deb - That last photo looks like a big ole' turd the butterflies are eating! ROFLMBO!!!!!
Then I modified the dish a bit. Decided to use the ceramic sunflower dish that wouldn't hold the meal worms, yet that's what the tag said when I bought it, go fig! Now it's for holding fruit, brew, &/or goo!
Deb - Now that photo is really cute with the sunflower dish! I rather like it!!! :-)
That is a cute dish! Does it gets ants all over it?
I'm going to have nightmares about that brown thing!!! I think it moved!
