Butterflies – Page 3

Virginia Springbeauty

I’ve got itty-bitty buds on my Virginia Springbeauty (Claytonia virginica). Buds that look very much like really teeny tiny jalapeño peppers. What looks to me like those jalapeño peppers are sepals. Sepals are leaf-like structures surrounding and protecting the maturing bud. The number of sepals varies in difference species of flower. In Virginia Springbeauty there are two sepals for each flower. Look at the bud that has just opened in the lower left corner of the above image. The bud looks as though it is coming out of the mouth of (hmmm what? maybe . . . ) a crocodile. That “crocodile” is the two sepals that are opening for the bud/flower to come out.

Virginia Springbeauty is found in and is native to eastern North America.

The plant emerges from a tuber (also called a corm) as a stem with leaves at ground level. Halfway up the stem there are two blade-like leaves and further up the stem are the flowers. The flowers of Virginia Springbeauty are about one half inch across.

The flowers are pollinated by bees, flies and sometimes butterflies and skippers. The resulting fertilized flower will produce a capsule that contains seeds with appendages called elaiosomes which ants like to feed to their larvae in their underground nests, producing the perfect “ant farmer” situation.

I think it’ll be perhaps a week until my flowers open. Open during the day, closed at night or during cloudy days. I’m looking forward to finding them open, looking like peppermint candy.

Blueberries

I’m watching both the progress the blueberry blooms are making as well as the calendar. Watching the blossoms grow and mature. Watching the weeks go by on the calendar. Right now in early April there are only tight buds on the many bushes.

And it’s hard to say since this is weather related and as we all know the weather can be extremely capricious. Hard to say when the blooms will be open.

Hard to say when the butterflies and bees will be called to the blueberry flowers. Called by the nectar and pollen. Called to pollinate the blooms that will become delicious morsels of goodness.

It will seem like forever to me. Going from compact buds to petite orbs. Forever and still not exactly what I’m waiting for.

Slowly slowly those petite orbs will swell. And go from apple green to a lavender blush to finally deep blue. But I’ve learned over the years I can’t be too quick. Those first berries looking so luscious blue are still lavender blush on the other side. The far side hidden and waiting to fool me. Be patient. They will turn totally inky blue with a white bloom with time. That’s what it’s all about. Patience and waiting.

I’ll be waiting. All this time. Waiting to pull out simple ingredients.

Waiting to turn those berries, those luscious inky blue with white bloom berries into blueberry pies. Other things too, but oh those pies!

Sunflower

Sunflower (Helianthus). The happy flower. You bet.

Today would have been my Dad’s 96th birthday. He LOVED sunflowers. He loved to grow huge sunflowers!

This post is a salute to my Dad’s favorite flower. A flower that’s popular with many creatures including bees.

A flower that brings on the butterflies.

A flower that inspires artists. A flower that inspires me to do pastel paintings.

A flower that invites birds to dine. A Tufted Titmouse to munch.

A flower that prompts me to pull over to the side of the road to get a picture in New Mexico.

A flower that looks like its name.

A flower that is lovely even from behind, with light shining through its petals and leaves.

A flower that knocks my socks off even before it is a flower.

A flower that comes in surprising colors.

A flower with seeds that follow the pattern of the Fibonacci sequence. Well, if the seeds were there!

A flower that completes the scene in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.

A flower most wonderful. Good choice Dad!

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

My first sighting this season was yesterday. The state insect of Virginia, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus). Native to eastern North America. The butterfly I saw yesterday had just emerged from its chrysalis. Brand new.

This is what a chrysalis looks like. Though NOT an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail chrysalis, it looks to a large extent like one. One major difference would be more rich brown and less bright yellow. The shape is basically the same. This is a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) chrysalis.

In the autumn an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar will form itself into a chrysalis. NOT a cocoon but a chrysalis. Cocoons are used by moths. Chrysalises are used by butterflies. In ten to twenty days or over the winter the caterpillar makes incredible changes. As if by magic it will become a butterfly — to live just six to fourteen days.

Mainly males, after emerging, often will gather at puddles to take in sodium and minerals which tend to be lacking in the adult’s diet and are necessities for reproduction and flight. This is called “puddling.”

Speaking of reproduction, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails generally have two broods each year. Females lay their eggs on such trees as Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). Those eggs will hatch in four to ten days as caterpillars. The earliest stage of the caterpillar looks just like bird droppings. The mature caterpillar is green, with eye spots, and a pale “neck ring.” Further to the front is a little purply-pink head.

Although most females look nearly like males, mostly yellow and black, there is a black form of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. This is a method of protection. The black form is a mimic of the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) which has a disagreeable taste. Predators have learned to avoid both the Pipevine Swallowtail and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail’s black form. The portion of females with this coloring is more common in areas where there are more Pipevine Swallowtails.

The caterpillar becomes a chrysalis which becomes a dazzling butterfly. And so it goes. On and on.

Common Hackberry

Tree bark offers great opportunity to identify a tree during the winter. Some more straightforward than others. One tree that through its bark is a cinch to figure out, Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). Its bark makes me think of a 3D topo map with all the ridges and valleys laid out and wrapped around the trunk.

The amount of furrowing increases as the tree ages. This image above is a younger tree than in the first photo.

Another point I pick up on in identifying, no matter what the season is, is the presence of Hackberry Galls, which are very often present on the twigs or leaves. These are caused by irritation of cells due to an insect called a Psyllid feeding on the Hackberry leaves and small branches.

In early summer you will find drupes (the fruit of the Common Hackberry Tree) on the trees. As the drupes mature they will go from green to a rich coppery purple color.

One last morsel of information not related to the identification of this tree is about a butterfly. The Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis) depends on the Common Hackberry Tree as its exclusive caterpillar host plant. No Common Hackberry Trees, no Hackberry Emperors.

Eastern Comma

Another butterfly that you may see as you hike on an unusually warm winter day. An Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma). These species of butterflies that overwinter as adults have the ability to survive due to the presence of glycerol in their blood which prevents their bodies from freezing. They may come out to enjoy the warmth and return to their winter shelter until spring brings dependable warm days.

Take your time as you wander and enjoy the surprises.

Mourning Cloak

As you are out hiking during the winter, take your time. Look around, notice things. There is so much to see, even in the dead of winter. If you’re fortunate you may see a Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa) on the trail in that patch of sunshine ahead of you, warming itself. They overwinter as adults. In crevices in trees, under loose bark, in a woodpile. Living as long as 10 or 11 months, one of the longest living butterflies.

Butterflies in winter. Incredible.

Yuccas

I love Yucca flowers. There are 2 different yucca species growing in my yard, each blooming in a different season. Yucca filamentosa, which is native to Virginia, blooms in early summer. And this one, Yucca gloriosa, native to extreme southeastern Virginia, blooms in early autumn.

Remarkable that they both are native to this state, since I wasn’t aware of the yucca plant until I moved to New Mexico many years ago. The blooms attract moths, butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. For me the blooms represent special memories of a beautiful state.

Red Admiral

Rotting fruit, sap flows on trees, and even bird droppings. The favorite foods of the Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. If the Red Admiral can’t find these it will sip flower nectar from Common Milkweed, Red Clover, Aster, and Alfalfa and more.

The dropping Persimmons here on my mountain have been a bigtime draw for these beautiful butterflies, and Coma and Question Mark butterflies. Try putting out some extra ripe fruits to see if some of these butterflies will come by for a visit.

Northern Pearly Eye

Rather than open meadows, which butterflies often prefer, the Northern Pearly Eye, Enodia anthedon, choses to flutter about in the woods, whether shady or with sun filtering through.

Fluttering by, feeling the need to rest, he’ll land upside-down to view his world.

His caterpillar hosts are various species of grasses, grasses which are happy living on the forest floor.

As an adult he dines on dung, mud, fungi, rotting fruit, carrion, and sap from willows, poplars, and birch.

A clever little guy, with an average wingspan of a bit more than 2 inches, this butterfly knows just where to land as I stalk him with my camera. He checks out the available landing spots and if it’s available he’ll chose a patch of poison ivy, just out of reach, as a safe haven.