Not a very good picture but I found that if I stood close to the plant and with camera ready,holding very still,I could get a picture. This pale purple coneflower was covered up with butterflies but these were they only ones that came back while I stood there. I believe the larger dark one is a Dianna Fritilary and the smaller ones Red Admirals. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just learning.
P
Peggy - Awesome shot! Two in one photo! I think you are correct on the IDs of your butterflies! Gorgeous butterflies! How exciting!!!
P-
Love the shot! It's so hard to get them!!
Adrienne
bigred ..
Are you sure that the butterfly sitting farther away, isn't a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/16/ -?-
- Magpye
This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 6:59 PM
Great to capture two different ones in one photo. I have had clusters of them on the Echinacea this spring but always one kind at a time... Good going P!
Magpye,
Could be. When it sits with it's wings together,there's a band of red running across the underside of the upper wing.
P
Nice shots Peggy!
The farther one is definatly a Vanessa, but not close enough for me to tell. Vanessa cardu, Painted Lady (has 4 smaller eye spots on underside of lower wing)
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/16/
or
Vanessa virginiensis, American Lady.. (has 2 larger eye spots on underside of lower wing)
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/157/
I think Magpye has it with Vanessa cardui, she has seen a lot of those, :-)!
When you get another pic, try to get the underside of the wing.
The Vanessas are in the same family as Red Admiral, which is Vanessa atalanta They are much darker brown than the Ladies.
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/11/
Your butterfly is certainly one of the 2 "Lady" Vanessas above.
_______________
The darker butterfly in foreground is definatly a Red-spotted Purple Limenitis arthemis. They use Cherry and other Poplars as larval host. They have a most interresting way of morphing.. They wrap in a leaf and attach it in the shape of a "C" on a branch. http://www.naturalsciences.org/funstuff/notebook/inverts/redspottedpurple_h.html
:-Deb
Deb,are you sure that's not a Dianna Fritilary? The picture you posted doesn't have the white on the top edge of the top part of the wings.
P
Deb ..
Bigred definitely has the Diana Fritillary (Speyeria diana) pegged. (the pun's definitely intended!) .. heehee
> http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=&searchText=Diana+Fritillary&GroupID=&cmdSubmit.x=10&cmdSubmit.y=11&curGroupID=2&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1
((huggs))
- Magpye
Magpye...LOL
Here's a better shot of the Red Admiral/Painted Lady.
...and today,I had a buckeye visiting.This patch of pale purple conefloer,mealy cup sage,queen ann's lace and winecups is the busies patch in the yard.
I had to chase this skidish zebra swallowtail all the way around the house. They seem to favor the verbena-on-a-stick. This is a volunteer just outside the little veg./cut flower garden. I'll have to move it around to the coneflower patch in the fall.
Well, I'll be...I've never heard of a Diana Fritillary! I would have gone with Red Spotted Purple also. Definitely not a Red Admiral tho. Lucky you, a DF and a Zebra ST!! :)
I saw what might have been a pearl cresent or variegated fritilary on a squash blossom when I went over to do some weeding in the big veggie patch this am. Not really sure but it's the closest ones I can find in my book.Didn't take my camera. Gotta start keeping it with me.
P
LOL!! Sorry, I skim and just read the "verbena-on-a-stick"! Love that description!! I have tons of it and love it too.
can't spell the botanical w/o looking it up so I just call it that...'cause I can spell it...LOL
P
Peggy, How cool a Zebra ST!! Now you're talkin girl!
I beg all pardons for the definatly Red-spotted Purple, LOL! (Duh) You & Mags had it with Diana fritillary, Peggy, sorry guys! Never have seen those here, threw me for a loop. :-)
Your Lady (Vanessa cardui) is a Painted Lady.. Same genus as Red Admiral.. Vanessa
Fritillary Look up fritillary at Dictionary.com
"type of butterfly," 1857, earlier a type of plant (Fritillaria Meleagris, 1633), from L. fritillus "dice-box," from fritinnire "to twitter," imitative of the rattle of dice. The butterfly so called perhaps from resemblance of its markings to those of dice; though the names may have been given in confusion, perhaps on the notion that fritillus meant "chessboard."
There are a lot of good ID-ing pics in Bugfiles now
Pearl Crescent
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/538/
Variegated Fritillary
http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/8/
Wow! I am so impressed at the knowledge everyone seems to have regarding the various kinds of butterflies. I am posting this photo only because I have never seen a butterfly (unknown species), and bee share a flower. I was trying to photograph the butterfly, when the bee landed.
Hi Pennefeather!
Welcome in... All I can say for sure from your pic is that you have a Skipper.. Might be Clouded Skipper
http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/1437/
Make yourself at home!
:-Deb
I hope my coneflowers bloom soon! Sowed a bunch of seeds and they have sprouted and are growing but no buds yet. They must be a butterfly magnet cause that's the flower that everyone's butterflies are posing on in all the photos!
Nice Skipper, pennefeather! :-)
Ahh, poo, Deb .. yer pardon's done been beg'd already. .. (heehee) ..
Besides, I jes don't thank it's necessary.
Heck, bigred. I can't spell nor pernounce the botanical names! And certainly haint no need in me a tryin' to impress anybody nowadays, either. (lol)
'Howdy' pennefeather ..
Yep, as Debnes/Deb stated above - your lil guy there, with the bumbler side-kick .. is one of the Skippers. Altho' somewhat difficult for me to tell, but am gonna try to narrow the possibilities down a wee lil bitty bit. (Jes dontcha holdja breath in the meantime .. heehee)
Check & see if any of these lil curved winged fellers come close to fittin' the bill (oops, scuse me: 'the wing') ..
Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) > http://bugguide.net/node/view/70115
Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris) > http://bugguide.net/node/view/64941
the Sachem Skipper (Atalopedes campestris) > http://bugguide.net/node/view/87859
Fawn-spotted Skipper (Cymaenes odilia) > http://bugguide.net/node/view/27937
Pepper and Salt Skipper (Amblyscirtes hegon) > http://bugguide.net/node/view/81449
- or - any one of another several bakers' dozen of 'em .. ((I'm jes being goofy))
Becky ..
The Butterfly Weed has been the favored 'dish', up this way .. for the past week. But, they're now dividing their time betwix it and the Coneflowers.
- Magpye
Just like you Mags, Got me laughing out loud and everything instead of feeling bummed.. LOL! What a huge batch of Great Spangled Fritillaries you have in the Lantanna.. Do you have the Violet they use as a host there? I would love to see a picture if you do.
!-D
Magpye - Your Butterfly Bush is OUTSTANDING!!! I have one that has been trying so hard to grow, but the dang cats keep finding it and eating it to the ground! I have it in a pot and have been moving it all over my backyard to try to outrun the cats! LOL! I also planted a bunch of seeds and looks like almost all of them are sprouting. Just hope the butterflies/cats don't find them until they are big enough to support some hungry cats!
LOVE the photo! It isn't called a "butterfly" bush for nothin'! :-)
Plant it and *they* will come. Nice butterfly bush!
Good heaven's Magpye, you certainly have a full house on that butterfly bush. My pink swamp hasn't bloomed yet but I had monarch cats on it earlier in the year. I'm busy killing my a.tuberosa. I don't know why I have such trouble with this one. The BF didn't seem to like the Red Ring and I have a small a.curassavica that was given to me but hasn't bloomed much yet.
I need to walk over to our pasture w/ my camera. There's wild passion flower growing on the fences.I found a grey hirstreak on it yesterday when I went to feed the livestock.
P
Now, is that orange flower getting all the visitors a asclepias tuborosa?? Whatever it is, I have to get one to grow in my garden!
While I can't tell you the names of the butterflies in the garden, I can tell you that the lavender by far is their favorite. Today, while I was planting some catmint, I had a butterfly that wouldn't move, even while I was placing it in the hole! They also seem to like the After Midnight echinacea, and black eye susans. So far, I haven't seen any interest in the salvia, or lantana, and just mild interest in the marigolds.
I was pointed out some of the plants to my son today that the butterflies like, when he asked me what do butterflies do. He wanted to know what was their contribution to the world. After thinking a moment, I realized that I didn't know, but I did tell him that the world would be a sadder place without them, and this is why it was important that we grow plants just for them. Being the wise three year old that he is, he nodded his head, and agreed.
They contribute to polination and without polination,there would be no plants.
P
Peggy - Ya beat me to it!!! I was going to post that info. With the decline in bees, the butterflies are very important. Unfortunately, they only pollinate nectar and host plants that THEY like, not "everything" like bees do. But every little bit helps! :-)
Thank you Bigred. I didn't know that butterflies did that. There's another great reason to plant those pretty plants that they like.
Now that I am aware of the decline in bees, I always get a thrill when I see one. This is actually one of the reasons that I stopped using chemicals in the garden this year. Instead of Miracle Grow every week, I am trying alfalfa tea, and fish emulsion. So far, so good.
I had to make my bees and bumblers unhappy yesterday and cut back the agastache(an excellent bee plant). It had gotten very tall and the wind kept blowing it over ...but it'll sprout back out and they'll be happy again,soon. Meanwhile they can work the white clover growing in the yard.
Watching bees and bumblers working turtlehead is a hoot. If you have any growing,watch them when they bloom...Bug-in-a-bag !...LOL
P
Thelma - I have never tried organic fertilizer. I use slow release osmocote. Interesting. Would that kind of fertilizer hurt the butterflies or caterpillars? I don't seem to have noticed a problem using it.
Peggy - I grow several varieties of Basil in my herb bed which blooms like crazy. It's a bee magnet, too. I've also had to cut mine back numerous times over the past year. Now some of the bees hover me when I go out near the Basil. They do the funniest thing. The get up to my eye level and just hover in place almost like they are looking me right in the eyes to say, "Stay away! Leave my food alone!" It reminds me of a miniature flying saucer that is observing me and then quickly flies away or darts around to look at different angles. It's almost like a look-out or guard bee or something. So funny!!! LOL!
beckygardener,
LOL..how funny.
P
Peggy - I have some Turnera ulmifolia "elegans": http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54376/index.html
The big bumble bees love this plant in my yard. They squeeze their fat little bodies down inside the the flower and all ya see is their little bums sticking out! LOL! It's so cute!
Yes,when we get a chance to stop and actually watch all that goes on in the garden,it's a regular "show time!"
P
bigred do you know what specie of echinacea you have? I just love the long drooping petals. Ours are not nearly as dramatic. Do you have any extra seeds to spare?
This message was edited Jun 14, 2007 8:53 AM
had to edit my post spelled echinacea wrong!! here is a pix of what we have
The echinacea pictured is e.pallida. It will be later in the summer before seed are ready. I'll try to rmember to give you a shout back but if I don't,fele free to d-mail me because I suffer from CRS.."can't remember stuff"
P
What I've really enjoyed seeing this year are the bumble bees after they've hit the Evening Primrose. They are just covered with pollen, so you see this black "bum," as Becky said above, all covered in pollen. Then, when I get home from work, I can see where the bumble bees have landed, because there will be pollen on that spot -- leaves, hummingbird feeders, etc. I need to take a picture of them tomorrow morning all covered in yellow and post it.
