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Sleepy Orange
If only you could see the whole series of images that this one came from. The series is like a dramatic opera without music but so much movement! Butterflies love this flower, Tithonia rotundifolia. That’s the orange flower that caused the drama. I highly recommend it if butterflies bring you pleasure. An annual plant that…
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Giant Swallowtail
Having a wingspan up to seven inches, this butterfly certainly earns the name Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes). It also holds the title of largest butterfly in North America. The larval host plants of Giant Swallowtails consist of many trees in the citrus family including, here in Virginia, the Common Hop Tree (Ptelea trifoliata). These caterpillars…
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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. In the autumn an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar will form itself into a chrysalis. NOT a cocoon but…