Monarch

 

Amid the scores of Painted Ladies that have descended on the lantanas and sunflowers: a single, solitary Monarch.  Monarchs tend to appear around here in the late summer, especially on the fringed twinevine (the "milkweed of the desert") which grows over one of the pomegranate bushes.  They will drink from the flowers of the twinevine, and they use it as a host for their larvae, but they also like the lantanas for nectar.  Some years (the Monarchs don't appear around here every year), they form giant swarms along chain-link fences heavily-covered by fringed twinevine.  Monarchs face less danger from predators when they form large groups.  But the Monarch in our garden is all alone.  A few of the Painted Ladies make half-hearted attempts to chase her away, as if saying, “What are you doing here?”  The Monarch isn’t intimidated by them and just keeps sipping from the flowers.

     I never tire of watching butterflies as they spend their days feeding in the burning sun and carrying out mating rituals and laying their eggs, leaving behind colorful and voracious larvae.  They are truly like living flowers, including this solitary Monarch, who circles the garden for a few moments whenever she is disturbed.

Painted Lady Butterflies

 

Our garden is experiencing a sudden surge of Painted Ladies—seemingly out of nowhere.  Along with most of our usual butterflies, they have been absent all summer.  (Only the giant swallowtails, attracted by our orange trees and rue, have been abundant this year.)  The Painted Ladies are like clouds over the blossoming bushes, as they energetically flit from flower to flower.  They are quick and wary, and very easily disturbed, flying away for a moment when anyone approaches them.  But they quickly return.  Did they all emerge from their chrysalises as adults at the same time, or did they migrate here from somewhere else?  The world's most common butterflies, Painted Ladies are among the most interesting migratory creatures of the animal kingdom and travel long distances across generations like the better-known monarch does.  It's said that they can reach speeds of thirty miles an hour while migrating, and sometimes travel almost a hundred miles a day.  Like all butterflies, they love hot weather.  With plenty of nectar plants, as well as sunflowers and mallows for their larvae, the garden filled with sunshine is a paradise to them.

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     On the evening of their arrival, however, one butterfly was caught by a well-camouflaged praying mantis (the color of a mature lantana stem), who then enjoyed a hearty meal—his own little paradise.