Well, when I came back from lunch I saw a White Peacock out front but by the time I went to get my camera, you know it was gone. Story of my life. I'm going to have to keep my camera in my pocket at all times for the next few months.
But when I woke up this afternoon (bad night's sleep) I went out to pick food and the usual suspects were present. The Zebra Longwings were enjoying the firebush.
I don't normally grow milkweed in the half-circle formed by the driveway (that's where my bromeliads live under Dad's Canary Island Date Palm) but this one self-seeded and I can't bring myself to pull milkweed. You know you'll need it to feed a caterpillar eventually! And this one found it all by himself. There should be enough leaves on it for him to become a chrysalis so I left him alone. I did move a smaller Monarch cat on a different plant over to the Giant Milkweed, though. FYI, Dad knows not to pull milkweed, either. Although, if it seeds in the lawn, it gets mowed down. But that's not usually a problem. Mom saw some "black and red" bugs on the milkweed and started slapping my plant and I told her they were milkweed bugs and quit assaulting my plant. I'm not a huge fan of the milkweed bug but they're part of the package and unless they get too numerous, I leave them alone. Although, in the lab at the museum, I squish them because the only bugs allowed in the lab are caterpillars!
The Gulf Frits were mostly eating the porterweed, as usual, but this one stopped to check out the Jatropha. A lot of people at the museum see an orange and black butterfly and think it's a Monarch. Usually it's adults; the kids are learning Monarchs in school, thankfully. But Gulf Frits are a bit smaller, and fly very differently. They are faster and flap their wings a lot more while Monarchs tend to glide a lot (this helps them save energy, particularly when migrating). Plus, Gulf Frits have shiny silver undersides! I know it shows like white in photos, but they're actually silver when the sun hits them.
