Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Spanish Needle and Butterflies

Spanish Needle plants are considered weeds around here. They are everywhere. I planted one in the yard and now they are spreading. They get very tall ( up to 5’) and leggy. The flowers remind me of tiny daisies.

I had several Zebra Longwings spending time on the Spanish Needle and Lantana.

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I spotted at least 6 flitting around the plants. Then a Tiger Swallowtail came in.

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They have at least a 5” wingspan. I saw another large Swallowtail and think it may be a female Tiger Swallowtail. I’m not sure….but it is so much larger than the other Swallowtails.

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It wasn’t long before the Queens and the Monarchs were visiting the Spanish Needle.

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The Queens are really very pretty. This one is a male.

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The light on this one gives it a rich velvety look.

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This female  is on Tropical Milkweed.

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This grasshopper spent a lot of time on the milkweed.

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We thought this Hawk was watching a squirrel on it’s feeder…..it looks like it’s wearing a mask…but it’s just shadows.

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A squirrel came down the tree and scared it away.  Kind of surprised us.

So far, since we got back from our trip….I’ve released 15 Queens and 8 Monarchs. The Chrysalis on the far R is a Queen. It has a pinkish color to it. The very green one just above the Queen on the R has just pupated and shaped up. It will look more like the others tomorrow.

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I’ve been digging up milkweed and planting stalks. When they get through eating that is about all that’s left.

4 comments:

  1. Your butterfly sightings are awesome. They generally move to fast for me to capture an image.

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  2. The Spanish Needle is like a magnet attracting the butterflies like that.
    Love the shot of the hawk. Such an intense stare.

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  3. Beautiful series of butterfly photos!

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  4. I find these butterflies at the top of my list lately. Can you tell me how to get started with them. I want to learn about them...any help would be very appreciative....thanks YOu can email me.

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