I tried to get a decent pic of these two BF but they wouldn't stand sill long enough. The one on the bottom kept "bumping" the other one ALL THE TIME. The poor thing kept trying to land my BF bush and try to eat & the other kept bumping it from behind. The would fly all over the yard doing this. From what I could see, the first one looked pretty ragged. What are they doing? I saw two going at it other day like they were fighting. Spinning around going straight up.
Sorry, wong picture
Here it is. The first looks pretty beat up.
This message was edited Jul 28, 2007 11:18 PM
Kind of hard to see it well, but the second one looks like it might be a Spicebush Swallowtail. I have some possibly territorial Gulf Fritillaries that try to chase other butterflies away. Competition for nectar plants, maybe?
This message was edited Jul 29, 2007 5:00 PM
Could be trying to establish territorial rights to the best nectar souces...or if they are of the same species, the tattered and battered one is most likely a female...and the other a male in search of something to mate with :o)
Watch their behavior...if the ragged one lifts her abdomen up she's telling the male she's not interested. However, that won't keep the male from pressing his luck :o)
I was at the ranch yesterday and watched a male Turks Cap skipper persue a female for over ten minutes. He kept flitting all around her, dipping and attempting to coax her into mating. I figured ten minutes of butterfly voyeurism was enough for me and I continued to drive around checking everything else out. I know he was still at it when I drove off :o)
~ Cat
Typical male :) I got tired of watching myself. I had just never seen it before.
Thanks,
Dawn
