So I had a few things out in the garden today. I was mostly taking pictures of my bromeliads but I called out, "Here, butterfly, butterfly, butterfly." And I turned around and there was a Zebra Longwing! No kidding, folks. Apparently, I can now speak to Zebra Longwings. It landed on the plumbago but took off for this yellow weed that constantly grows in my yard. You'd think I'd know the name of it by now, but I don't. It's kind of interesting to see what the butterflies nectar on when they have a limited variety. Although, my jatropha is blooming so I don't know why the Zebra wasn't on it. Maybe I just missed that part.
If this is the same Monarch cat I've been seeing then I think it's growing pretty slowly. I hope it doesn't have parasites. Mom thinks this recent crop of caterpillars has more black striping than usual. They can vary quite a bit.
Apparently, Monarchs speak a different dialect than Zebra Longwings because the one I saw on my neighbor's firecracker fern would not listen to me. However, she vastly underestimated my stalking skills. I caught her on the Mexican Flame Vine but she soon flew to the pentas. No butterfly can resist the allure of the pentas.