I liked the colors of this Large Orange Sulphur Butterfly feeding on purple bougainvilleas.
Large Orange Sulphur Butterfly
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Tag Archives: Butterflies and Moths
Who, me?
Most predators, on land and in the ocean, have a relatively poor success rate when it comes to snagging prey. Even when they’re successful, there’s no guarantee they’ll get to savor their prize.
I don’t know whether this Gold Dust Day Gecko was the one that caught this moth because, an instant after the capture, two or three other geckos swooped down to snatch it. There was a flurry of bodies and this one emerged from the scramble with the moth firmly stashed in its jaws. This look suggests it was guilty of robbery.
Monarch Butterfly on Bougainvillea flowers
For whatever reason, I don’t usually see much activity on bougainvillea flowers and I don’t see a lot of monarch butterflies. On this occasion though, this monarch was one of several insects feeding on a group of bougainvilleas.
Long-tailed blue butterfly
A long-tailed blue butterfly feeds as it makes its way along a kiawe flower.
Passion vine butterfly on a purple zinnia flower
I saw a this passion vine butterfly flitting from one colorful flower to another to feed. The purple zinnias are particularly striking, especially when viewed from above.
A spiky passion vine butterfly caterpillar
This is a caterpillar with a message and the message is ‘Back off.’ This is illustrated by the orange and black coloring and black spikes, which in this case conveys that these caterpillars are poisonous. Fortunately, I wasn’t hungry at the time so no harm done. Passion vine butterfly caterpillars, on the other hand, seem to be permanently hungry. Whenever I see them they’re munching leaves like old time video game characters.
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky.’ See more responses here.
Fiery skipper butterfly on aptenias
I often see fiery skipper butterflies on what I know as ice plants. I thought the different color flowers were just variations within the plant but, while they’re members of the same family (Aizoaceae), they’re different plants. At the top is an Aptenia haeckeliana with its yellow flower. To the left is an Aptenia cordifolia with a magenta flower.
It’s a different butterfly on the two flowers, but both are fiery skippers.
Black witch moth
I found this black witch moth on the lawn and took the opportunity to get a few photos of its gorgeous patterns and coloring.
Graham's Island 