We get a ton of butterflies in the yard. The four types I see most often are monarchs, giant swallowtails, Gulf fritillaries and zebra longwings. The latter is pictured below:
We have a played-out parsley plant that is serving as a butterfly nursery. I’m not sure what sort of caterpillar this is:
Looks like a monarch caterpillar except for the orange dots. Can anyone identify it?
Open thread!
Tyrone Slothrop
Could be an Eastern Swallowtail caterpillar?
Rob
I think the larva is a Black Swallowtail larva.
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/bfly2/eastern_black_swallowtail.htm
Yarrow
I think that’s a swallowtail caterpillar. They love parsley.
Yarrow
@Yarrow: For some reason I’m not allowed to edit, but Rob is right, yes Black swallowtail.
The photos are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing them. I love butterflies.
trollhattan
Nice! They take me to a happy place. Hope that lasts.
Msb
Thanks, Betty! This is the kind of thing I rarely get to see.
Jeffro
Looks like Putin won’t be coming over here until next year after all
JCJ
An interesting article about the many different words for butterfly in the FTFNYT from a couple of years ago…
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/nyregion/amid-butterflies-a-bit-of-a-lingua-franca-at-the-natural-history-museum.html
smintheus
We grow a lot of fennel both for the tasty vegetable and to attract swallowtails.
Gin & Tonic
@JCJ: That butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum is really cool.
tobie
Beautiful pix! I always thought there was something about my soil that made parsley prime bait for caterpillars. From your pix I’m gathering that parsley is their favorite leaf in the salad bar.
Bill Arnold
@smintheus:
They also like dill. (Which FYI reseeds itself if you let it go to seed, so there are always as many plants as one wants.)
rikyrah
great pictures, BC
Mnemosyne
A lot of natural history museums in California put up temporary butterfly pavilions and release a bunch of butterflies and moths inside so people can walk around — this is the one near downtown LA.
stinger
I’ve made a note to plant dill, fennel, and parsley next year — thanks, everybody!
GregMulka
We had a Black Swallowtail in our parsley 2 summers past. The kids were ecstatic. That one looks like it’s getting close to building a chrysalis. They like forks in branches in which to build.
Rob
I meant to say in my original post: Both the pictures are nice, especially the larva.
Major Major Major Major
Gorgeous! Thanks.
One of my favorite things as a kid was when the monarchs would come through Colorado each year. IIRC we grew a couple from larvae in grade school too. (I almost typed grad school, and now that I think about it, why *shouldn’t* an adult grow butterflies?)
ETA: not monarchs, but last year there were so many migratory butterflies in Colorado it was visible on radar: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41528521
MelissaM
You are fortunate to have the butterflies! In the past, swallowtails have made meals from my dlil and parsley, but not for the past two years. My library has a small pollinator patch and there were at least 4 monarch caterpillars there one day on the milkweed, and two days later, they were all gone, eaten I presume. I was sorely disappointed, but stats say fewer than 5% of caterpillars make it through to the next stage.
jeffreyw
cookie me
JPL
Yesterday a bee attacked an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and I tried to save it. I managed to remove the bee, but it was the butterfly didn’t make it. It’s the first time that I witnessed a bee attack, but I guess it’s not uncommon.
Thanks Betty for the lovely pictures.
TaMara (HFG)
Lovely pictures.
I had my first hummingbird visit my office window box yesterday. It’s a short season here – they migrate from mountains to New Mexico – so I’m always excited to see one. Great mood lifter.
Mary G
Thank you for the proof that life goes on. The pictures are gorgeous. I’ve seen a lot more monarchs here than the last couple of years, which is nice. A lot of my succulents are blooming and they are popular both with butterflies and bees.
Mnemosyne
@TaMara (HFG):
I saw a certain freelance editor at RWA. She said hi. ?
WaterGirl
Wow! Just stunning. I had a guy like that in my parsley all last summer. Gorgeous.
smintheus
@Bill Arnold: That’s a good idea, we should grow more dill.
Achrachno
@JPL: Are you sure it was a bee? That does not seem like bee behavior. How about a bee-mimic robber fly?