Okay folks, gather 'round and get ready to learn a thing or two. This time, with pictures!
Both this skipper and a human female were observed with their noses in the Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. I saw the skipper (Fiery Skipper or Whirlabout, I don't know) and my brother observed the human female while he was water sealing the new fence. The thing is very fragrant and we get a lot of joggers and dog walkers so I guess she wanted to sample it. But this skipper wanted to eat it. Yum!
There's still a Swallowtail flying around but I only see it through the sliding glass doors. It disappears when I'm around. I think it's that Spicebush. The Sassafras is leafing out very quickly, thank goodness. But in the meantime, this Gulf Fritillary was being much more cooperative. Now, the one picture is kind of blurry, but I think it works because you can kind of see how those spots on the underside are actually silvery when the sun hits them. It's so hard to photograph because they usually appear white.
Now for the educational part of today's post. Believe it or not, plants don't always appreciate having caterpillars munch them. I know, I know, it's hard to believe, right? But they seem to have something against it. Passion vines, in particular, evolved a method of making butterflies think that eggs had already been deposited on the plant. The plant developed little thingies that look like eggs! You usually find them on the base of the leaves. Here's some on Passiflora suberosa.
Even my cultivar, P. 'Lavender Lady' has these little spiky things near the base of the leaf and on the leaf itself.
But the butterflies have obviously figured it out, or just don't care. Because here's a Gulf Frit egg I found on that same 'Lavender Lady".
And just to demonstrate how small caterpillars are when they hatch, here's a look at my Monarchs. I found one more egg while I was outside. So there's one blurry egg to the right, one clear egg in the middle, and a blurry little caterpillar on the left. They're super tiny. But they don't stay that way!
