Butterfly
Butterflies, Caterpillars, and Moonflower Seeds
The gardens are alive with butterflies, bees, birds, and caterpillars. Yellow and white skippers are abundant, and swallowtails, monarchs, painted ladies, and fritillaries are frequent visitors as well. The front courtyard, which is visible from most rooms in the house, provides a picture window view to all of the activity.
The Desert Checkered Skipper pictured below was attracted to the mealy sage in the beds on the west side of the house. I love the dark teal color of his body.
Desert Checkered Skipper
This Pipevine Swallowtail seemed to prefer the French Brocade marigolds. It was difficult to get a really good picture of him in the late afternoon light, but his iridescent dorsal side showed up pretty nicely.
Pipevine Swallowtail on Marigold
Pipevine Swallowtail on Marigold
There were several black swallowtail caterpillars munching on my dill plants.
Black Swallowtail Caterpillar Feeding on Dill
The moonflowers have succumbed to the light freezes that we have experienced over the past couple of weeks, but the seed pods have set and some are dry and ready for seed collection. The first seed pod pictured below is not ready for harvest yet. The second one is dry and ready for collection.
Moonflower Seed Pod Not Ready for Harvest Yet
Moonflower Seed Pod Ready for Collection
The drought continues here. We have only had 14″ of rain this year which has made it a real challenge to establish new plants. Without the drip irrigation system we would have lost many plants. We have a chance of rain next week, and I am hoping we get at least an inch so our oak trees don’t go into a major stress mode and lose all their leaves prematurely.
Peace.
Carol
Tags: desert checkered skipper, moonflower, moonflower seed, moonflower seed pod, pipevine swallowtail butterfly, swallowtail caterpillar Discussion
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Beautiful photos! The Pipevine Swallowtail looks gorgeous on those marigolds. Do you think they purposely choose the colours that set off their own the best?
Namaste Sunita, I hope all is well in Mumbai. The Pipevine Swallowtail does look handsome on the marigolds doesn’t he? They do seem to favor gold and yellow shades of flowers to feed on, both of which contrast nicely with their coloring.
Carol