This is a Duskywing butterfly. With their delicate muted brown colours, these are often overlooked as they flit from flower to flower. A member of the Skipper family of butterflies, they are getting close to their northern range up here.
They are not the only butterflies that are back with us -- the monarchs have arrived!
These are the colourful, orange and black models with the big Wow factor. These are also the butterflies that lay their eggs, and whose caterpillars, feed exclusively on milkweed, so now would be a good time to ignore those milkweed in your garden or at the corner of the property. Just leave them be. Milkweed has a beautiful, delicate pink flower, and is quite showy. And it is the ONLY food the monarchs utilize. These butterflies are not going to pick at your petunias, gulp down your gladiolas, scarf down the salvia or nibble the nastursiums. They are going to munch the milkweed down into skeletal stalks, but never mind -- the result will be a flying garden of these extraordinary butterflies.
No comments:
Post a Comment