Oh The Colors!

June 12, 2025

I love rich bright colors. This certainly fills the bill.

A Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus), with its wonderful contrast of bold black stripes against crisp pure white, sipping nectar from the brilliant orange blooms of Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa).

Pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba) are the primary host plant for Zebra Swallowtails. These trees create the perfect environment and provide nutrients that are needed for proper development of the larvae of these butterflies.

A butterfly I love to see, which surely makes me happy that there are so many Pawpaw trees up here!

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.