Danaus plexippus - Monarch on Gregg Mistflower
Danaus plexippus – Monarch on Gregg Mistflower
Tag Archives: butterflies
Gulf Fritillary on Gregg Mistflower
Gulf Fritillary on Gregg Mistflower
Taken under low light conditions (I gotta figure out how to use the flash, I guess) here’s another one of the butterflies that have been hanging around the Gregg Mistflowers. (The other species is the Monarch.) The Agraulis vanillae Gulf Fritillary spends much of its life on the Passiflora spp. vine, especially as a caterpillar. As a result, the passionflower vines have been having a bit of trouble getting established this year.
Gray On Golden
Strymon melinus - Gray Hairstreak
Strymon melinus – Gray Hairstreak sitting on a Viguiera stenoloba – Skeleton-Leaf Goldeneye aka Resinbush. If you look closely you will notice the head at the bottom of the butterfly and the tail sporting a couple of fake antennae that actually wiggle around quite a bit while it is feeding. Apparently this evolved as a survival advantage – one can imagine that if a predator goes after the false antennae , the butterfly is free to fly away and pass on its genes to the next generation which is how natural selection works.
bob's brain: living well with a movement disorder and other comorbidities 