Throwback Thursday: Butterflies

In the summer of 2013, I had grown concerned about the scarcity of butterflies in my garden. In years past, my garden had seen scores of butterflies on any given day, but in that summer I was seeing fewer and fewer of the beauties. I am very sorry to say that the situation has really not improved since then. This year, there seem to be even fewer butterflies of the kinds that I commonly saw in the past. Even though Monarchs, to name one species, have made a bit of a comeback, if I went out with my camera today, I doubt that I could find half of the species that I featured in this July 2013 post.

 ~~~

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Backyard Nature Wednesday: Butterflies


A major topic of conversation among gardeners this spring and summer has been the scarcity of butterflies. I have written about it several times in my other blog, Gardening With Nature, and it was even expressed as a source of concern at my Mystery Book Club meeting this month. 

The scarcity seems mostly related to an unfortunate series of weather events that has been unfriendly to the production of butterflies, but it is likely that the profligate use of pesticides by gardeners and farmers also plays a part.

Butterflies appear to be such fragile creatures and yet they have been around on Earth since the mid Eocene epoch, between 40-50 million years ago, so obviously, they have found ways to survive in tough conditions before . The evolution of butterflies is closely linked to that of flowering plants, since both adult butterflies and caterpillars feed on such plants.

Of the 220,000 species of Lepidoptera, which includes both moths and butterflies, about 45,000 species are butterflies. Butterflies are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica, and are especially numerous in the tropics; they fall into eight different families, most of which are represented in my garden at various times throughout the year.

And even though the numbers are down, my garden does still get butterfly visitors. Here is a baker's dozen of the ones that have been present in recent months.


 Variegated Fritillary


 Red Admiral


 Black Swallowtail


 Gulf Fritillary


 Giant Swallowtail


 Fiery Skipper


 Monarch


 Spicebush Swallowtail


 American Painted Lady


 Tiger Swallowtail


 Pipevine Swallowtail


 Queen


Tropical Checkered Skipper
  

Comments

  1. CarmenJune 9, 2016 at 1:17 PM

    Haha...And you were complaining there was a scarcity of butterflies. See how many you photographed! These are lovely pictures, Dorothy.
    I love butterflies but I have never been able to capture any in pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJune 9, 2016 at 1:46 PM

      Well, there were scarcer in 2013 than previously and they are even scarcer today. I'm not sure how many I'd be able to photograph today. Once my hamstring heals a bit more, maybe I'll find out.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJune 9, 2016 at 4:08 PM

    Lovely. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sarah ShoesmithJune 10, 2016 at 3:12 AM

    It is a very worrying trend - I am hoping that numbers recover soon. I hope that your hamstring recovers soon too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJune 10, 2016 at 9:30 AM

      Thank you. So do I. I now have new empathy for athletes who suffer hamstring strains or tears.

      Delete
  4. Judy KruegerJune 10, 2016 at 2:14 PM

    This morning I was putting my hose away and saw a brownish butterfly on the stone where I lay the nozzle. It looked like it had possibly just hatched. Was sitting there shivering. When I just went to check, it was gone. I have quite a lot of butterflies in my yard and have ever since I moved to this town, but I think there are less each year. At least we give them somewhere to come to with our gardens! Loved the photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJune 10, 2016 at 2:54 PM

      I think that our very wet spring has probably not been a good thing for the development of caterpillars and perhaps that is why I'm not seeing many butterflies around the garden recently.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try.
Read more