Tag Archives: Butterflies and Moths

Gecko with wings

I peered down into a spider lily one day and this is what I saw looking up at me, a gecko with wings. The wings, of course, were those of an unlucky moth, which the gold dust day gecko had snagged from behind. The moth struggled a good deal, but there was only ever going to be one winner in this contest.

Passion vine butterfly on a passion flower

This passion vine butterfly was feeding on passion flowers, but it will feed on many other flowers, too. It gets its name because passion vines are the host plant for the passion vine butterfly’s caterpillar. Those caterpillars spend their days munching leaves, many of which have little yellow bumps on them. The bumps, which can be seen in the photos, are the plants’ way of trying to fool the butterflies into believing that there are already eggs on the leaves and so it’s not a good spot to lay more.

It’s hard to know how effective this ruse is. I’ve seen many butterflies laying eggs on these leaves, but perhaps some are discouraged. Regardless, the caterpillars will move from leaf to leaf while chowing down, but they never seem to defoliate the plant, which is, in any case, a robustly growing vine.

Red Admiral butterfly

The Red Admiral butterfly is a European native that arrived in Hawaii in the late 1800s. Despite the longevity of its time in Hawaii, it’s a butterfly that isn’t seen a lot. This is the first one I’ve seen in six plus years here. I was on my way to go snorkeling when I noticed it and, of course, I was immediately distracted and snapped a couple of photos before it disappeared from view.

White-lined sphinx moth caterpillar

white-lined sphinx moth caterpillar

This handsome fellow is the caterpillar of a white-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata). This caterpillar’s color can vary quite a bit. The markings on this predominantly black caterpillar can be green or orange, but the main color can be bright green or yellowish with black markings or red dots.

One consistent feature of these caterpillars is the orange horn on their back ends. This is also a good way to distinguish front and back. The horn looks like it could sting, but it can’t. It’s probably more of a visual deterrent to would-be predators.

The adult moth (below) has more uniform coloration. These moths and caterpillars are quite common but I rarely see then. This isn’t surprising considering how the adult moth blends in, but the caterpillar is quite striking and I’m surprised I haven’t seen more of them.

White-lined Sphinx moth

Passion vine butterfly

Passion vine butterfly

I already ran a post for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Orange’ (here, and other responses here). But yesterday, while taking a walk, I came across this passion vine butterfly and thought it fit the theme too well to pass up. The butterfly was feeding on a tasselflower with the blue Pacific as a backdrop.