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.
Here in the mountains fermenting persimmons have drawn many butterflies as well as European Hornets, Vespa crabro. These large insects have been in North America since the 1800s. When I say “large” I mean 1.25” – LARGE. They dine on insects such as bees, flies, and grasshoppers. As summer begins to wind down and the populations of their insect meals dwindle they concentrate on sweets such as rotting fruit and hummingbird syrup. And they aren’t happy to share – often chasing the hummingbirds away.
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.
Legs covered in blue and purple sparkles with a gilded body, much larger than mosquitoes that we usually notice, the Elephant Mosquito, Toxorhynchites rutilus, is one mosquito that we should encourage.
Here is the REALLY good part (1), the Elephant Mosquito does not hunt humans down to get a blood meal. They won’t bite us as they cruise the gardens looking for sources of nectar. They won’t bite as they roam the neighborhood hunting for plant sap, honeydew, or juices from rotting fruit, which they also eat.
And REALLY good part (2), the larvae of Elephant Mosquitoes eat other mosquito larvae!
Wow! Include this insect on my list of best friends!
