Butterflies - Great Spangled Fritillary

The Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. There are at least 30 species of Fritillary butterflies

The orange and black Great Spangled Fritillary is sometimes mistaken for their more famous distant cousins the monarch butterflies. But unlike the monarchs, the Great Spangled Fritillary do not go for milkweeds.

Butterflies - Monarch

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is one of the most recognized butterflies in North America due to its distinct orange and black markings, and the fact it migrates with the seasons like birds. Large masses of the eastern North American Monarchs winter over in Mexico and migrate to the northeast during the summer. The Monarch butterflies born after mid-August will be the generation that starts the southward migration to Mexico.



The Monarch butterfly is tightly linked to milkweed plants. They lay their eggs on the milkweed leaves and their caterpillar is able to eat the toxic milkweed leaves.



This Monarch butterfly fuels up on nectar from a milkweed  flower as it prepares to start its return migration to Mexico.

Butterflies - Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Photographing butterflies is always a challenge, but sometimes you get lucky. I found an Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) that was more interested in the nectar of a purple coneflower than escaping from the view of my camera.

This butterfly can be identified by the yellow with black markings which resemble tiger stripes. This butterfly is identified as a female by the blue spots on its tail.



An Eastern tiger swallowtail feeding on a purple coneflower.



A close-up view of an Eastern tiger swallowtail gathering nectar from a purple coneflower with its proboscis which is the butterfly’s mouth and is used like a straw to suck up liquids.

Wildflower - Turtlehead

The White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) is blooming at our pond.


This native wildflower is a member of the Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae) has a preference for full or partial sun, with wet to moist conditions.



The two lipped tubular flowers are 1 to 1.5 inches long and are arranged in tight terminal clusters.



The two lipped flowers resemble the head of a turtle, hence the common name "Turtlehead". The flower shape is reflected in the scientific genus name, " chelone", which is derived from the Greek for tortoise.



The turtlehead is the primary plant that the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly will lay its eggs on, and several of these butterflies were found in this location this summer.

Butterflies and Moths

While taking photos of flowers I sometimes can get butterflies and moths to hold still long enough for a picture. Here are a few of my recent photos.

Eight-spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata)






Eastern Tailed Blue (Cupido comyntas)



Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)



Unidentified Moth

Butterfly - Baltimore Checkerspot

While taking my daily walk around our pond I came upon this colorful Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) butterfly in the tall grass. The butterfly was very sluggish and may have just emerged from its chrysalis.



About three weeds ago I took some photos of bright orange and black caterpillars in the same area. I now know these were Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars.



After some looking in the grass I was able to find a Baltimore Checkerspot chrysalis.



A view showing the underside wing pattern and the bright orange antennal clubs and face.

Butterflies

While photographing wildflowers I am sometimes lucky enough to have a butterfly hold still long enough for a picture. Here are some of the butterflies that cooperated.

European Skipper, (Thymelicus lineola)





Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela)


White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis)


Eastern Comma Butterfly (Polygonia comma)

Bees, Butterflies and Goldenrod

The abundance and diversity of the Spring and Summer flowers has narrowed as we enter Autumn. The many rain showers of September have produced a bumper crop of goldenrod flowers.

Some insects took advantage of the flowering goldenrod during the dry weather between the rain storms. While the number of wild honeybees has dropped off in the past years, they were large numbers of them working on the goldenrod.


While not as common as a honeybee, a blue wing wasp enjoyed the goldenrod.



The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus), which depends on the milkweed plant during its caterpillar stage, switches to flowers like the goldenrod in its adult (butterfly) stage.



Two honeybees and a bumble bee working on the goldenrod.

Wildflowers and Bugs

Mary was running some errands today and it left me unsupervised long enough to wander some overgrown fields with my camera. While many of the flowers in our home gardens are "showy", we sometimes lose sight of the origins of many of our garden flowers and overlook the fine details of wildflowers.


Wild Rose


Eastern daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus) Aster family


Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus)


Northern Dewberry (Rubus flagellaris) Common Name: Blackberry


Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) Pea family - Can you find the small ant?


Some garden flowers will go wild if left along. We've had Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) growing along the driveway to our barn but never planted it.


Another color of Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus)


Not only do people find wildflowers attractive, many of the insects depend on them for food.