Friday, July 14, 2017

More Butterflies

I shared a few butterfly species last week; here are a few more.  There's about a month while first the Ninebark is in bloom, and then the Valerian comes into bloom, fragrant as well as good food for bees, butterflies and moths.  The more common butterflies are simply fluttering around it all the time.

The striking White Admiral.  We've had more than one of these around the garden for two or three weeks.

This is the Valerian that seems to attract the butterflies so much.  A tall plant, and a volunteer in the garden, entirely arising from last year's seed, it's so fragrant it has been used for perfume in the past.

I think this is an Eight-spotted Forester moth on a Ninebark blossom.  I only got one shot of it; thank goodness it was in focus!

And this is the Virginia Ctenucha moth, which arrives in a swarm and flutters all over the garden, easily more than a dozen of them all the time.

And this is a great picture (for me) of a Viceroy.  It mimics the slightly larger Monarch, but has an extra black line across the hind wing.

We had a pair of them feeding on the Ninebark one day, though I never did get a good picture of the two of them together.

And not just in the garden, but all over the property, even on the gravel driveway, we have dozens of these tiny skippers that appear to have four wings.  It matches pictures I've seen of the European Skipper.

In last week's post on butterflies, I showed our Ninebark shrub and its flowers.  This is the Valerian that has invaded our garden and sprung up between all the other flowers, so beloved by the butterflies.  It makes the garden look like a jungle for a month, but we let it grow for those butterflies.

Linking to;

21 comments:

  1. Nice butterfly pics, especially the ones of the viceroy.

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  2. Oh, my, I have never seen, nor heard of the Forester butterfly...how I would love to see one. and I have never seen the White Admiral...I have seen a few Viceroys...another difference I think is that the Viceroys I have seen sit with their wings open a lot more than Monarchs do. But I have only seen a few...

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  3. I'm thinking I need to get busy and plant more Butterfly friendly bushes.

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  4. I can't manage clear shots of the butterflies. Great photos, FG.

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  5. these are beautiful and that you can name them is a bonus!

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  6. Love those butter fly photos, amazing.

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  7. I was sure that was a Monarch until you told me different. Wonderful butterflies and moths! :-)

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  8. Hello, beautiful captures of the butterflies. The moths are pretty too, such a nice variety. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  9. Great shots of the butterflies. I always get the Monarch and the Viceroy mixed up. I'll try to remember that tip.

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  10. Great shots capturing the beauty of those Butterflies and Moths along with the information about the plants that attracts them.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  11. Your knowledge of nature is wonderful!

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  12. I am glad you let the valarian grow for the Butterflies and yourselves too. Excellent shots of all the Butterflies. They are so pretty
    MB

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  13. Great photos!
    Just as I get focused on a butterfly, off it goes! I see a lot more butterflies than I get photos of.
    Have a wonderful week-end!

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  14. Oh so beautiful. I love to see other areas where butterflies are different species. I wonder how many different species around the world there are. Carol

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  15. Hello!:) Oh Wow! the Viceroy is BEAUTIFUL. I was lucky this year to see a Monarch, but not many more butterflies in sight. I love the black and white varieties,...very striking!

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  16. How pretty. I've seen a few butterflies this summer but none ever land long enough for me to get pictures of them.

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  17. The variety of butterflies and day-flying moths is amazing, one prettier than the next.

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  18. Such beautiful images of your butterflies and moths!
    Have a wonderful week.

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  19. Lovely post FG. I enjoyed this very much.

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