Afternoon on the Porch

Today I was sitting on the front porch trying to edit this book that I’m working on.  I kept seeing a male black swallowtail sailing back and forth over the lantanas and rue.  I believe he was “protecting his territory,” because every time a giant swallowtail would enter his airspace, he would chase it away.  He kept it up for hours, and I finally snapped a picture of him as he took a short rest.

     There were almost no butterflies this spring.  The spring was long, but it was also cool.  And butterflies love the heat.  Now that it is hot, there are butterflies everywhere, especially giant swallowtails attracted by the orange trees.  I saw some giant swallowtail caterpillars on an orange branch the other day.  There are also gulf fritillaries, variegated fritillaries, black swallowtails and the occasional pipevine swallowtail, sleepy oranges and other oranges and yellows, cabbage moths, various blues and greys, and the occasional mourning cloak (their larvae like to make chrysalises on the apple trees).

     

     The male black swallowtail ended up distracting me, as I watched him soar about and chase the giant swallowtails.  There was also a very tame hummingbird who kept flying around the porch visiting trumpet vine flowers.  The top of his head was covered with pollen.  And great rain clouds appeared in the distance, but we didn’t get any rain.