Category Archives: Insects

A plethora of purple

A Bee approaches a purple bougainvillea

This week’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘Purple.’ See more responses here.

I’d like to say I have some kind of theme going here, but I don’t, outside the color.

First up is a bee approaching a very purple bougainvillea.

In the gallery, we have a Fiery Skipper butterfly feeding on a Blue Heliotrope (Heliotropium amplexicaule) flower, a purple and white spider lily, and some dark purple Helmet Urchins clinging tenaciously to a rock.

A Fiery skipper butterfly feeds on a Blue Heliotrope flower in Hawaii
A spider lily in Hawaii
Helmet Urchins on a rock on the coast of Hawaii
A Purple Ice Cream sign at Kapaau, Hawaii

Then there’s a sign advertising purple ice cream. Not sure what flavor that is, but I’m a bit wary.

And finally, a lush purple orchid.

A purple orchid in Hawaii

Let’s work together

A Painted Lady Butterfly and a bee forage on tree heliotrope flowers in Hawaii
A Painted Lady Butterfly and a bee forage on tree heliotrope flowers in Hawaii

I saw this Painted Lady Butterfly and bee feeding on Tree Heliotrope flowers. Mostly, the various insects at work seem to accommodate each other, but I’ve seen occasional flurries of activities when one insects behavior disturbs the others. These two were very harmonious.

Green Hover Fly

A Green Hover Fly in Hawaii
A Green Hover Fly in Hawaii
A Green Hover Fly in Hawaii

I caught this Green Hover Fly doing what it does best, which is hover. It kept coming back to the same area, hovering for reasons that weren’t immediately apparent, but I wasn’t complaining. I’m a big fan of creatures that remain in place when I’m trying to take photos. Are you paying attention dragonflies?

White Monarch Butterfly

A White Monarch Butterfly which can be found in parts of Hawaii

When I was taking photos of this butterfly, I was pretty sure it was a Monarch, but it didn’t look right. Monarch’s are a striking orange and black. This one looked washed out in comparison. It wasn’t until I got home and consulted my butterfly book that I learned a white morph exists on Oahu and the Big Island and this was undoubtedly one of those. There’s also a brown morph on Kaua’i.

Kamani tree

A Kamani flower and bee in Hawaii
A Kamani flower and fruit in Hawaii

Kamani is a canoe plant, brought to Hawaii by early Polynesian settlers, though it grows naturally across most of the Pacific islands. Its common name is Alexandrian Laurel (Calophyllum inophyllum).

The wood of the tree was used for canoe building, homes, containers, and food bowls, and the fragrant flowers are popular with bees.