Butterflies & Plants II - Naturewide Images

BUTTERFLIES & PLANTS II

More butterflies and plants from our garden

By late September, orange Cosmos that volunteers with the monsoon rains fills much of the back yard and eventually becomes a weeding issue. It attracts numerous butterflies and bees of all sorts and makes a lovely backdrop for photos. This is a six shot panorama from the back door (1 October 2012).

Creamy Stripe-streak, a rare visitor to the U.S., nectars on Myoporum (3 June 2005).

This Eastern Tailed-Blue was the 114th butterfly for the yard. It showed up on Valentine's Day 2014 and was nectaring on blossoms of Guardiola. It was the earliest Arizona record by 13 days (fide Rich Bailowitz).

A Silver-banded Hairstreak (one of three present) nectars on Woolly Butterfly Bush (8 November 2015). This species was especially common in 2015.

A Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak nectars on Cosmos (14 November 2015).

Marine Blue feeding on Myoporum (27 May 2005).

Reakirt's Blue (17 Nov 2005) (L), Echo Azure (18 Nov 2005) (Center), and Lupine Blue (13 Nov 2005) (R). All are feeding on the shrub Dalea bicolor, an excellent source of fall nectar.

A Great Purple Hairstreak basking on gravel (25 Feb 2006). Caterpillars of this stunner eat mistletoe.

A Brown Elfin sips mud near its Manzanita host plant (13 February 2011).

Leda Ministreaks: Winter morph nectaring on Dalea bicolor (19 Nov 2005) (L); a late summer morph on Salvia leucantha (12 Nov 2004) (R).

An Arizona Metalmark nectars on Arizona Milkweed (15 July 2017).

Fatal Metalmark nectaring on Mt. Lemmon Marigold (2 November 2006).

Zela Metalmark nectaring on Buddleia davidii, one of the most productive butterfly attractants (8 July 2004); a worn Mormon Metalmark suns on grasses (4 May 2005).

Ares Metalmark (a crab spider victim) on Buddleia (20 September 2006).

This Elf (Microtia elva), a very rare visitor to the Huachucas, showed up 29 September 2012 during a very good year for this species in SE Arizona. This was the second record for the yard; another was photographed by Charles Melton a couple Septembers earlier.

An Elada Checkerspot nectars on vine milkweed (24 July 2006).

Tiny Checkerspot on Chocolate Flower (28 September 2006).

Theona Checkerspot, a very infrequent visitor, nectars on coneflower (19 July 2009).

A Texan Crescent sunning on Buddleia (31 October 2006).

A Mylitta Crescent nectars on Pink Chintz Thyme (2 November 2006).

During the summer of 2011, several Painted Crescents appeared in the yard. Usually, this species occurs at the margins of local marshes--only occasionally in backyard gardens (31 August and 8 September).

An American Snout nectars on Russian Sage (Perovskia ) (18 August 2006), and another feeds on Dalea bicolor (2 Nov 2006).

A Tropical Leafwing feeds on Bobcat scat just outside the back door. This was butterfly #99 for the yard (28 October 2007).

Decidedly less common locally than Tropical Leafwing is Goatweed Leafwing. Karen found this Goatweed female basking on gravel in the front yard (11 March 2012).

Nobokov's Satyrs sunning in garden: spring form (above) (27 Apr 2004), late summer form (below) (6 September 2006).

Infrequently, a Red-bordered Satyr strays from the high canyons and ends up in our yard. This very worn individual is missing its right rear wing (11 October 2009).

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