Okay everyone, I'm having a super awesome day. I went to see my psychiatrist this morning and like I mentioned before, he has willows that grow in the ditch behind his offices. So I took some tupperware and my camera and after my appointment was over I went looking.
At first, I saw this White Peacock nectaring on frogfruit. It's also a host plant but this one just appeared to be nectaring.
But then I got super excited because I found a caterpillar! Woo hoo! And I'm like 99% certain this is a Viceroy (more on that in a minute).
I actually found two caterpillars and I should have taken a picture of the other one because he's bigger but I got a little distracted by something dark flying overhead. I backed up and let it land - and it was a Red-Spotted Purple! My second favorite butterfly that I hardly ever see even though I have its host plant (Black Cherry) in my yard. Now, this butterfly sat on this same leaf just gently flapping its wings every few seconds for the whole ten minutes I was hunting. I have no idea what it was doing - basking? It wasn't laying eggs because I know what that looks like. Plus, my books say the RSP doesn't use willows as a host (I double-checked) even though they are in the same family as the Viceroy. So I'm pretty sure those cats are Viceroys. Enjoy lots of pretty pictures of the RSP!
Oh, and as I was leaving this morning I did catch a Long-Tailed Skipper basking. It's about the only time you get to see the pretty turquoise color on their back since they normally hold their wings closed. The picture is a little blurry because, much like my glasses, my camera lens fogs up when I move from air-conditioning to the humidity outside.
I'll post some pictures of the bigger caterpillar later and educate you guys on Viceroy behavior but right now my camera battery is charging and I'm l leaving for the movies. On a side note, I get to train a new volunteer at MOSI this weekend. Should be fun!
