Buckeyes have arrived in herds the last two weeks...we have plantains here too, but I've never seen a cat.
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 11
tgif....that is one heck of a battered pipevine swallowtail male.
Seems I see a lot of females that look like that...quite ragged and seemingly on their last legs (wings) continually wearing themselves out flitting through the grass and brush in search of a larval host plant to lay eggs on before they die. Guess the males wear themselves out in search of a female :o)
~ Cat
Cat, when Adrienne and I went butterfly hunting through our local wetlands preserve, we saw lots of zebra swallowtails flying around (as usual). I'd hate to tell you how many pawpaws we checked and never saw a thing. I've checked many more when I was there by myself and I've only ever found one cat. He was a big one too, kind of hard to miss. I guess the point is that they're supposed to hide - not all people are as nice to them as we are.
Melanie
Hackberry Emperor enjoying the rotted figs I put out. A Tawny Emperor is next to it, but with wings folded up is hard to see.
Carla
Pearl Crescent on False Sunflower.
Carla
Very nice Carla! Thanks for sharing those.. the figs were a great idea!
;-D
Thanks Deb. I knew that I had officially lost my mind when I bought figs at Whole Foods for $4.99 a package ... and then let them rot just for the butterflies! :-) The Emperors and QuestionMarks sure do love 'em, though.
Carla
My caterpillar is naked! No shame at all, just slipping right out of his clothes for the world to see...must be some kind of nudist or exhibitionist. : )
This guy has moved from my neighbor's yard and seems to be favoring mine now.
I was standing over this guy wondering what the duskywings would do without my blanket flowers.
And then I found out - they go snack on Spanish Needles. Someone driving by honked his horn at me when I was trying to take pictures of this guy. I get that a lot - I know I'm cute, but how can people tell that when they're going 45mph? And really, have they never seen a woman taking a picture before?
I just like pictures of the underside of bfs.
In other news...Mom (who works from home and whose office is in the front of the house) is on butterfly watch for me. I planted her favorite bougainvillea right in front of her window and she has the plumbagos within sight as well. She sees the Gulf Fritillaries nearly every day. Today she reported a "black and yellow butterfly" - not much help there Mom! I brought out the book and we flipped through the mugshots to find the guilty party. She thought the polydamas looked most like the pattern she saw, and while I was typing I think I saw the bf in question fly by the window (maybe it's thinking 'Where did my eggs go"). Fatty (my gf in chrysallis) has been moving around because his chrysallis points different directions throughout the day. So far so good - can't wait until the eggs hatch!
Black and Yellow... could it have been a Giant ST, or Tiger ST? Show those to your mom.
Mellie~ You such a busy bee picture taker, you!!! And I'm glad, bc we get to see all your pretty bflies..:-)
My little Buckaroo made his chrysalis today. It looks like a little shoe charm. This thread is kinda full now, why don't I start a new one with pics of it? Will post the link back when I'm done.
:-D