Oh my, turns out I was picturing the wrong butterfly!

All the little butterflies I've been seeing lately are Red Admirals. I didn't realize they could be more orange than red. The one I saw today was a nice deep red. I guess they're just variable in their color.

Cocoons and pupae arrived. I believe I have two Luna moths, two Polyphemus moths, and five Modest Sphinx moths.

Food for thought. And bugs.
https://www.bbc.com/future/art...

NMoasis said: Food for thought. And bugs.
https://www.bbc.com/future/art...

That's us!

This little moth was taking time out on my window screen the other day.

Oblique-banded leafroller moth

At first glance I thought that moth was a stinkbug because of its stubby shape. : )

So far this spring, I've seen one Monarch, one Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, several Black Swallowtails and several smaller butterflies. I have host plants for all of them so I'm ready. Every year I see fewer butterflies even though I have more host plants. It's very sad.

I know. I remember when butterflies swarmed in such large numbers where I live!

Not seeing bunches however Red Admiral and Question mark as a stand of Stinging Nettle I keep is for those two . Pearl crescent or two and one Eastern Swallowtail earlier this week
a Cabbage white or two less often now .

I'm still only seeing Red Admirals.

A few years ago, I had a wide variety of butterflies regularly visiting. They were absolutely swarming my large butterfly bush. Haven't seen as many butterflies since.

Unfortunately the bush perished when attempting to move it as well... Which was sad, cause they loved it.

This ragged gal floated in while two of us were working in the yard and she was entirely unfazed by our presence. First one this year. Given her tattered appearance, she's seen it all and was only interested in laying eggs on the dill plants growing everywhere this year.* I took a gazillion photos just because she let me.




*Wouldn't you know it, I've let a massive parsley flower for exactly this purpose, and she chose the dills I'm planning to harvest.

I just added 2 more dills behind the garage just for them, so I'm happy to see her using it. You can harvest around her eggs maybe? They're hers now!

Lol, she visited about 10 plants! I harvest by whacking down the entire plant. Gonna have to give this some thought. Maybe I can relocate the eggs and/or babies to the parsley.

Nancy, here they freely reseed from the plants I leave to flower and seed, so I never intentionally sow. This year was extraordinarily fruitful. Do they reseed in your climate?

Blooming parsley. Scissors for scale


PS...a few minutes later: oh WOW, look closely! Found them on 3 plants so far 🤗

Two summers ago I planted some dill, fennel and parsley behind the garage for the butterflies and they seem to be reseeding. I'm not sure about the fennel yet, but the other 2 for sure have reseeded. I happened to have some seeds so just added a few more back there. It's usually just weeds, so a patch for butterflies is perfect back there.

Sounds lovely 💚

I tried dill last year in hopes of attracting swallowtails but no luck. I did attract some kind of small moth though, as I found little caterpillars late in the season.

I got more dill for this year. I might get some fennel and other plants as well. I have two large barrels I typically use for herbs, then a third for flowers. Most of them I intend for pollinators rather than harvest.

Just saw my first black swallowtail of the year! Didn't get a picture as it was just travelling over my yard, but nice to see one.

AFAIK the BST only have used my fennel. I have two kinds of native parsleys, but last time I checked there wasn't anything on them. Stopped going out to check the plants on the property because the ticks are so bad now.