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Show us your butterflies...


Game Warden

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offshorebirder

A Gemmed Satyr (Cyllopsis gemma). Photo taken yesterday - just uphill from the Wambaw Swamp Wilderness in the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina.

 

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Two Falcate Orangetips (Anthocharis midea) about to mate. Photos taken April 1 at the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center in South Carolina, USA.

 

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Game Warden

Are you doing anything in your gardens to attract the butterflies in? I recently replanted a straggly Buddleia which I hope will now fill out and prosper in its new location.

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offshorebirder

Each year I plant 3 African Blue Basil plants - not for eating but as a fantastic nectar source for butterflies, bees, moths and occasionally humingbirds. They bloom from spring until frost kills them which I try and forestall by covering them when it threatens.

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  • 1 month later...
Tom Kellie

A plain old Cabbage White Butterfly a second or so before landing on a flowering sea rocket stalk.

 

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~ @@Geoff

 

There's the poster for the international airline pilots association.

Coming in for a landing’.

What you've described as being “plain old” is transformed into wildlife art in your experienced hands.

Truly lovely, even if plain and old.

Tom K.

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Tom Kellie

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Battered Diadem
Photographed at 8:58 am on 11 February, 2014 at Amboseli National Park, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.
ISO 800, 1/3200 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.
*****************************************************************************************************
An adult butterfly's life is perilous and wearisome. Despite their cheerful appearance and winsome flight, they must continuously contend with life's inevitable vicissitudes.
This Hypolimnas misippus, Diadem, had seen better days, as evidenced by a missing antenna and the damaged wings. Withal, a lovely sight to begin the day!

 

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Christopher Moran

Butterfly pupae being raised at the Zanzibar Butterfly Centre. The centre pays local farmers to collect the pupae.

 

 

 

 

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Christopher Moran

@@Christopher Moran Can you tell us more about the butterfly center?

 

I visited the center back in 2010, so my memory is a little hazy... but would be happy too.

 

It's a little, private enterprise located not far from the Jozani Forest Reserve (where the Red Colobus monkeys can be seen). I've just checked on TripAdvisor, and they are still operating. It really was a beautiful place.

 

You are given a short tour of about 30min or so where a guide explains the biology of the local butterflies, their community project, and then you get to walk inside a very large, netted enclosure (about double the size of a basketball court?), where they release the grown butterflies. Although it doesn't show up in the photos, the enclosure has a bit of a "Garden of Eden" feel to it, with Zanzibar's high humidity mixed in :) There are hundreds of butterflies here, of many different species, and you can walk around on your own.

 

The center pays local farmers to collect the pupae, which in turn encourages the farmers to grow certain crops/plants to attract butterflies to breed on their farms. I left with the impression that they were genuine in helping the local communities, even though the center itself does sell some pupae to interested buyers (maybe the farmers get a share of those sales as well?). On their website they mention that one of the center's aims is to encourage local landowners to avoid deforestation of their lands for charcoal production (a common source of fuel on the island).

 

 

Here is a close-up of some of the pupae -

 

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The pupae are "stuck" to the rods with some sort of biologically-safe "super-glue" (!), and the many pupae are kept in a glass box to protect them from predators. When they are ready to emerge, the rods are transferred to another box, this time in the large enclosure.

 

I was told that those gold dots on the pupae where a natural defence mechanism - they resemble a pair of eyes (I think it was a snake) - to ward off any attackers, although looking more closely at the photo it seems at least one of them has three eyes in a row!

 

 

You can see a little of the netted enclosure here:

 

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It's a beautiful little place, and well worth the visit esp. if you are travelling to Jozani Forest.

 

 

 

http://www.zanzibarbutterflies.com/ (it's looks a little out-of-date).

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Zanzibar+Butterfly+Centre/@-6.2644,39.412982,10z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x982d022fde6a33da?hl=en

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Tom Kellie

~ @@Christopher Moran

 

That's such a nice explanation — very helpful.

The only comparable butterfly house I ever saw was on Sentosa Island in Singapore.

It looks as though the Zanzibar Butterfly House has many species.

Thank you for taking time to share this with us!

Tom K.

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  • 4 months later...

Butterflies photographed on the side of Mt. Rainier, State of Washington, USA, in August.

The Silver-bordered Fritillary is feeding on Pearly Everlasting, a wild flower growing along the shores of the Reflection Lakes.

 

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The Satyr Comma is a North American butterfly primarily found in Western Canada, where it is locally common. It just wandered a little south.

 

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Edited by Terry
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A Ulysses butterfly taken at the Mena Creek Eco Gardens in North Queensland in 2009. A gorgeous garden planted to attract butterflies.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here are a few random shots. I am really bad at Butterfly identification so feel free to ID or correct ones I have wrong.

 

Unknown - Arizona

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Blue-winged Euyrbia - Costa Rica:

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Arizona Sister - Arizona

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I think the Blue Morpho is one of the coolest butterflies but I have had no luck getting a decent picture of them

 

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"I'm so Excited" that we saw this Pointer Sister Butterfly in Belize:

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Owl Butterfly - Belize

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Gray Cracker - Costa Rica:

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Banded Owl Butterflies which appear to be mating - Belize:

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Same butterflies...different angle:

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Unknown - Costa Rica:

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At Chan Chich, Belize - please help ID

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Monarchs in Pacific Grove, California

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~ @@Patty

 

I've never been to Belize or Central America, thus regret that I'm no help at all for identification.

Nevertheless I need to tell you that it's a beautiful photograph at close range!

The black and red on the body are especially attractive.

Thank you for posting it!

Tom K.

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  • 8 months later...

Pipevine Swallowtails look like very different butterflies depending if they are at rest and their wings are folded or not. They are black with bluish-green metallic color on the hind wings.

 

These Pipevine Swallowtails were photographed in July in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, USA, which is the only place I have ever seen them.

 

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  • 1 year later...
offshorebirder

@Patty - the bottom ones look like Monarchs.  The similar Viceroy would have a diagonal black line cutting across its upperwings.

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offshorebirder

I saw these two butterflies doing habitat maintenance (yard work) this past Saturday.

 

Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus) 

 

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This is a Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius)  nectaring at Pickerelweed flowers (in one of the frog-rearing ponds).

 

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  • 9 months later...
Peter Connan

A couple from the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Towlersonsafari

In Northamptonshire there is a wood that is one of the hotspots for the second biggest UK butterfly, the Purple Emporer and it flies from roughly about Mid-June to the start of July or just about 3 weeks. It attracts butterfly fanatics  by the small bus load and a more charming bunch you could not wish to meet! I only found out about it last year, when it was too late, and so this year we diecided to wander about the woods-and to our suprise, saw them very easily. The males early in the season, come down to the ground to lick minerals as that apparently boosts breeding success, otherwise they fly high in the tree tops.The butterflys themselves fly very fast and boldy chase of all-comers and are not put off by amirers.The guidebooks suggest attracting them with the pungent aroma of dog poo, and the current favourite, urine soaked fox poo! ( 8 out of 10 butterflies preferred it)

We just settled for a nice walk!

Its called the Purple Emporer because of the purple irridisence and better photo's show this on both wings!

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Towlersonsafari

And here is one on its favourite mineral supplement-I did not bring it with me!

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Towlersonsafari

So now I have been trying to "spot2 butterflies having been woefully ignorant-here is one I saw today-a painted lady and a specled wood

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Another Painted Lady.  We saw lots of these walking along the Lancaster Canal yesterday. It is a migrant (usually from North Africa) and is one of our larger butterflies.

 

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  • 2 months later...
Towlersonsafari

2 shots of small coppers , seemn locally in October

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