Okay, can I just say that "Espejito" is much less of a tongue-twister than Gulf Fritillary. We've got enough Spanish speakers in Florida; I'm just going to start saying it in Spanish.
I think I will pull that out when I have international visitors at the museum. I always like to add new trivia bits to my talks. Besides, if I say the name they're used to hearing, maybe they'll be like, "Oh, it's the same species!"
Patti, that's a butterfly? It kind of reminds me of one of our moths over here except yours is much bigger. It's the spots that are making me think of this moth I saw in WV. I had it identified by BAMONA and they called it an Eight-Spotted Forester Moth. But it's way smaller than your butterfly. By the way, I do like your plant, but I hate butterscotch. Nasty stuff. My grandpa loved it, though. Here's my moth.
One of my bosses at the museum is on vacation in Costa Rica right now and her pictures on Facebook are making me insane with jealousy! I'm not even a bird person but she posted this bird and it's so beautiful! I told her I didn't know how she wasn't smuggling plants and critters in her suitcase to take back, but she said her husband is keeping her in check and ruining all her plans.
Finally, check out the banner today. It's some kind of iris, but I swear when I first saw the yellow with the orange on it I thought it was an Orange-Barred Sulphur. That's exactly what the wings of the male look like. Isn't it neat when you see things in nature that match like that? I know that's sort of the point of a lot of butterflies and moths - blend in to hide! But I thought that was cool.
