Beautiful Wood Nymph
Roger Tory Peterson was fascinated by the moths he found in Jamestown as a young boy. In fact, he even approached the police department to ask for special permission to stay out past the city curfew to catch them! This bizarre and lovely moth was perched on the front door at RTPI yesterday morning. Using a Peterson Field Guide to Moths, it was identified as a Beautiful Wood Nymph (Eudryas grata). When was the last time you embarked on an exploration of the hidden lives of the moths that live in your own backyard? Summertime is the perfect time to follow in Peterson’s footsteps! Learn...
Read MoreThe Great Spangled Fritillary!
The Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) and other native butterflies provide added splashes of color on summer days as they flit about our flower gardens, parks and roadsides. Butterflies don’t need much to thrive in our immediate vicinity. As long as you take extra care to plant native flowering plants that provide healthy foods for these animals (rather than non-native ornamental plants that don’t offer such benefits to our insects) and don’t spray pesticides, butterflies will be there to brighten your day (and pollinate your other flowers and veggies)!
Read MoreMonarch Butterfly on Butterfly
Here is a look back to this summer at a butterfly on butterfly – in this case it is the Monarch (Danaus plexippus) on a Butterfly Bush (Buddleia). Look at all the glorious details on this stunning individual! Bask in the warm glow of the hot sun on the beautiful orange wings. Do you feel less cold yet? Butterfly bushes are a difficult subject. On the one hand, they are non-native, and it seems that in certain areas and regions they can readily spread and exclude some of our native vegetation. Native plants also often do provide more nutrition for native species of insects, birds, and...
Read MoreSpring Azure
This was a midsummer sighting of what looks to be a Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) butterfly though the scene had a much colder feel to it. The lepidoptera season is certainly ending this week…
Read MoreStill Not Spring
It is not spring even though many Clouded and Orange Sulphur butterflies continue flying and feeding on nectar sources like this dandelion. Something that gives away the relative date of this photo is the low sun angle adding light from the side as we are less than two months from the winter solstice. You can also see a little bee mimic fly venturing into the flower, too.
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