Back in July I posted that I had a serious lack of butterflies.
They are back! Not as numerous as in past years, but I’ve seen several swallowtail and gulf fritillaries.
Actually LOTS of Gulf Fritallaries. I’m assuming that they returned because the passion vine that I thought had died and is one of their host plants made a miraculous recovery. Plus thousands of cosmos burst into bloom. They do love those flowers.
I do not get many Queen butterflies. And I’m guessing it’s because in this photo, that’s a weed. A hateful weed that takes over. It’s little seeds stick to everything and it’s next to impossible to get rid of the weed. Thought I had eliminated them. Not so. After my six week vacation, they blossomed as well as the cosmos. And now it appears that they are a favorite of the Queen butterfly. (But I’m still going to pull them)
I’ve had a few swallowtails, too. These are the Palamedes Swallowtail Butterfly.
And last, one of my favorites, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
Still haven’t seen any Zebra Longwings but I have hope!