The butterfly population here has slowly grown this month, but this week is especially good, for some reason. Yesterday, when driving up our driveway after a trip into town, I spotted about six Bordered Patch butterflies on a single nearby Goldeneye plant, so I knew more butterflies had arrived. Then I found a caterpillar on the wall inside the house...very odd! It turned out to be a Crimson Patch cat! I love it when I get a chance to see one of those, which I seldom see...sometimes a few years pass before they return! Those tend to jump off the host plant when they feel threatened, still attached by their "silk" strands, so this one might have accidentally have become attached to me when I passed by and I unknowingly brought it in earlier...maybe? Anyway, there's some more outside on the Flame Acanthus plants also! Yesterday I saw a Giant Swallowtail in the garden, the first I've seen on the property this year. Today, I saw a Queen, also the first I've actually seen on my own property this year. Some black butterflies have come...Pipevine Swallowtails and other black ones I wasn't sure about. Common Mestras have been around here about a week. A few quick pics...first the cat:
Bordered Patch
Pipevine Swallowtail
