Tag Archive | Butterflies
The Delaware Skipper
While photographing a wild aster a Delaware skipper landed on a flower, much to my delight. Like butterflies and moths, skippers are in the lepidoptera family of insects. There are many species of skippers; most of them are small and usually dull colors of orange-brown and tan. Most skippers resemble a F-22 Raptor jet fighter. […]
Exotic Butterflies in Maryland
Tropical rainforest butterflies float over flowerbeds seeking the sweet nectar the blossoms produce. Morpho butterflies, iridescent sky blue above and brownish below land on a tray with rotting fruit to sip the salts and nutrients from soft bananas, pears and watermelon. Owl butterflies with large eye spots to scare predators also enjoy the produce. Zebra […]
The Butterfly That Migrates to Florida
It is early November in central Florida and although the evenings are cool, the days warm quickly with the rising sun. By mid-morning Gulf fritillaries, orange brown butterflies, visit Firebush shrubs in our backyard. These butterflies pour into the Florida peninsula for the winter retreating to frost free areas in the southern part of the […]
Welcome Monarchs!
It is December here in Florida and time to set up the Christmas tree and decorate it. As I hang ornaments of cardinals, geese, chickadees and other birds on the tree’s branches, I catch a glimpse of an orange butterfly outside our living room window. Peering out the window for a closer look, I was […]
The Monarch Mimic? Or is it the Other Way Around?
At one time this butterfly was thought to mimic the poisonous monarch butterfly to protect itself from being eaten. Monarch caterpillars eating milkweed absorbed substances called glycosides that are not only distasteful, but harmful to the heart of predators eating them. The non-poisonous viceroy butterfly gained protection from predators by mimicking the monarch. But in […]
The Broken Butterfly
Flying dragons, leaping lizards, parasitic wasps and giant spiders are just a few of the marauders of these beautiful creatures. How well they escape the grasps of these hunters determines if they live or die. Being a strong, agile flier is an asset to the Tiger Swallowtail. The ability to change directions in a split […]
