Tag Archives: Butterflies and Moths

The Numbers Game #77

Lunchtime for a pueo!

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 198. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A Pink-Spotted Hawkmoth in Hawaii
A Pink-Spotted Hawkmoth.
A House Sparrow on a shiny-looking lanai.
A surfer rides a wave in Hawaii
Riding a wave.
Rosy-faced Lovebirds in Hawaii
Rosy-faced lovebirds.
A Green Hover Fly in Hawaii
A Green Hover Fly.
Sunrise over Hualalai.

The Numbers Game #76

A juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron watches from a Kiawe tree.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 197. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Orange Sulphur Butterfly on a Bougainvillea.
Gold Dust Day Geckos warm up in the morning sun.
A Northern Mockingbird snags a meal.
A Green Turtle swims by.
A cat in the grass.
Cement tanks at sunrise.

Hawaiian Crown Flowers

White Hawaiian Crown Flowers
A Hawaiian Crown Flower bush

Hawaiian Crown Flowers (Calotropis gigantea) came from India originally, and became popular here because they were favored by Queen Liliuokalani, the last ruler of the Hawaiian monarchy. The purple flower was the one first introduced here, back in the 1880s, with this white variety arriving some 30 years later.

The plant gets its name from the shape of the flowers, which are used in making leis. As members of the milkweed family, they also host Hawaii’s Monarch Butterflies. The plant has a milky sap that is toxic, but that Monarchs, and their caterpillars, are immune to. The caterpillars are voracious eaters, decimating the Crown Flower leaves, but the plant will bounce back after the caterpillars pupate. The plant is drought tolerant and does well on the dry side of the island here.

Hawaiian Crown Flower seeds

The Numbers Game #73

This Gold Dust Day Gecko snagged a moth for lunch.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 194. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Rust on a water tank
A rusty water tank.
A cow alongside the road.
The Ala Kahakai Trail sign at Kohanaiki In Hawaii
The Ala Kahakai Trail near Kohanaiki.
Too heavy to drink?
A Bird Wrasse.
An Hawaii Amakihi taking a break.

Butterfly hut

A photo of the butterfly hut at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

One of the new features at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is a butterfly hut. In it are rows of chrysalises and, after the appropriate time, newly-emerging Monarch Butterflies. I took this photo to capture one such, but somehow, neither the butterfly or chrysalises can be distinguished. Instead, there’s reflections and layers of plants and mesh and glass at different levels, which I rather like.

Ailanthus defoliator moth

An Ailanthus defoliator moth in Hawaii
An Ailanthus defoliator moth in Hawaii

I saw this moth (Eligma narcissus) resting on a piece of pipe and knew it was something I hadn’t seen before. A name like that suggests trouble, but I’m not sure how much. I couldn’t find much online, and nothing about its presence in Hawaii.

It’s a native of tropical Asia, and some subtropical spots in that part of the world. Its larvae feed on Ailanthus species as well as Canarium species. And that’s about all I know!