I have had lots of butterflies and moths so far this year, of course I haven't been able to photograph most of them as they flit around the garden and then over the fence! However I have gotten a few decent shots.

Silvery Blue with a wrinkled wing.


Campaea perlata moth.


I am pretty sure that this is a Great Arctic.

Margaret, I think the nectar is always sweeter on the other side of the fence. I'm always yelling at butterflies when they head to the neighbors. But hooray for international butterfly pictures! I love seeing things I never get to see way down here in Florida (although we do have plenty of Canadian people in the winter). Everyone - keep those pictures coming!

Oh Margaret, that green moth is stunning! I didn't even know moths came in green. Kewl!

Ann reminded me that I forgot to say there is a similar moth that I've seen down here. The shape and veining are the same. But it's more of a white to pale pink color not that cool green shade. Must be a cousin, though.

Oh duh! I just remembered the Luna moth is green.

Great pics all. First time I've seen the Red lined Hairstreak,, Silvery Blue, Great Arctic, and the Campaea moth (stunning!).

Pearl Crescent on the Holly


Gold Banded Skipper fascinated with an old spot of white paint on the slate rock

Dave, isn't that a Silver-Spotted Skipper? Is that an alternative name or are there two similar butterflies?

Mellie you are right. Thanks for the correction. It is the Silver-Spotted and NOT the Gold Banded.

I just Googled the other one Dave and they are very similar. Could have fooled me on some of the pictures!

Well, I had a very weird day at MOSI. Mostly, the butterflies were being weird. We have a Cassia alata (Candle Tree) in the flight cage and it's blooming. I found one of those yellow form Cloudless Sulphur cats on it and a Sleepy Orange so that was cool. But later on I was looking at it and noticed an egg. A Giant Swallowtail egg! And my trainee and I started looking and they were everywhere! And I found about six just-hatched caterpillars that were clearly Giant Swallowtails. Now why would it lay eggs on a Cassia? Confused? Smell receptors not working? Butterfly insanity? I have NO IDEA! I Googled it but couldn't find anyone mentioning this happening to them. (Unlike the time when someone else did have a Long-Tailed Skipper lay on their Wooly Pipevine like I did.) I sent a message to my boss to ask her if she's aware of this phenomenon and to check the plant again tomorrow because I was getting dizzy and didn't check the higher leaves. So bizarre!

And then, we had a tank of Orange-Barred Sulphurs that were eating the Cassia alata. I found a cat today so I went to add him to the tank. But all the caterpillars were dead - and I mean about 10-12 caterpillars! Oddly enough, I found two Sleepy Oranges in the tank that were fine. So I started a new tank with a different kind of cassia and put the sulphurs in there instead. It was a weird day.

But an exciting one, too because we have Atalas again! Here's a picture of the pop-up with their chrysalises and the adults waiting to get out. I was waiting for my trainee to come so she could release them with me.



And here's some pictures of them.



Sitting on its host plant (coontie) but not laying eggs. They lay on the underside, FYI.



The Hickory-Horned Devils (Regal Moths) are getting big and scary-looking! They really don't like to let go of their plant so I had to pick the stem he was on. They're worse than sulphurs and they're already really strong so I hate to think what they'll be like full grown.



Everybody hangs out in the corner because that's where the sun comes up in the morning.



Bad anoles eating lunch. Boo!



Malachites are still around. They kept landing on my face this afternoon. I also got to replace their rotting fruit which was not my favorite job today. We're feeding them banana and mango.



Still lots of Black STs.



And Monarchs.



And we have lots of Giant STs right now.



Always the Zebra Longwings.



Cloudless Sulphur



Orange-Barred Sulphur



Spicebush Swallowtail



Buckeye bothering the Giant ST on the right.



Little skipper we saw outside in the garden.



And in case I haven't made it clear enough for everyone, the butterflies decided to help me by being educational today. Pipevine ST eggs are the orange-red ones, Polydamas are the yellow ones. No, they don't normally do this. I'm not quite sure what the second one there was thinking.



And here's the Sleepy Orange caterpillar I found. They really are as soft as they look.



Back at the house, I took some pictures last night. Here's some Pipevine ST cats enjoying stem.



This morning, one of my Viceroys was officially in his J. I had to tape him up, though to keep him away from the others.



And I had a Polydamas that was clearly going to come out soon.



And it was out when I came home and ready to fly. I knew as soon as I opened the lid it would be gone so this is all you get.

Melanie I just love looking at your pictures

I'm really starting to get worried that I'm not seeing much this year

Checkered White




Bumble Bee Moth

Nice in flight shot of the Checkered. I think the bumble bee moth is a Strawberry Clearwing (a type of Hummingbird or Sphinx moth).

Finally got the pix off my digital camera from the Black ST I fostered.
First one is right when I first saw he had emerged.
















I carried him outside in a plastic container (to get him past the cats!) and put him on my Monarda.

Thanks J. I checked in my 'Insects of the Pacific Northwest' and then I Googled, and it said Bumblebee 'Hemaris diffinis' or Strawberry.

Red Admiral

Hummingbird Moth

Those hummer moths are amazing, Jack.

Thanks Glen. They are so neat at night, this variety comes out at dusk. To get the pics one has to protect oneself w/ a fog of bug spray to thwart the mosquito attacks. I've identified 4 kinds in my garden, and 1 in the wild over the years. The one in the pics (and my avatar) is the most common.
This is the first time I've got pics of them in Larkspur, usually they sip at Flowering Tobacco, lilies, and/or moonflowers.

Cool J! I just found out that my Lonicera sempervirens is a larval host for the Clearwing hummingbird moth as well as the Spring Azure butterfly. the Spring azure is not real common here but it does exist in north Fl. away from the coast -- that's me!