A Few More Butterflies

Here are a few more of the butterflies that we see around here.  It’s hot right now, but the butterflies like it.  The butterflies remind me of the years we have lived in this house, but most especially of the time when we moved here.  It was a difficult year for a number of reasons, and I began to learn about the butterflies that lived here in such great numbers, partially as a distraction from all of our problems.  I was especially amazed at the number of Giant Swallowtails that were attracted by the orange trees, and the various Black Swallowtails that were attracted by the parsley and rue.

     Some of the butterflies, like the Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe), were already known to me.  The Sleepy Oranges fly in mating pairs and are very shy and hyper.  I don’t know where the “sleepy” in their name comes from! 

female Sleepy Orange

male Sleepy Orange

male Sleepy Orange (upper side of wings)

Sulfurs are also common around here.  Here is a male Lyside Sulfur (Kricogonia lyside).  They are also shy and hard to photograph.  I was chasing this one all over the place.

Lyside Sulfur

Lyside Sulfur (a little closer up)

And finally, the Fritillaries.  They are beautiful in a classical butterfly sense, with their golden and orange and black colors.  There are several different Fritillaries that come around, but the Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta Claudia) is the most common.

Variegated Fritillary (top of wing)

Variegated Fritillary (underwing)