I was out whale watching (not much activity there) when I saw these two butterflies engaged in a mating ritual, I think. They have somewhat similar markings to monarch butterflies, though not as delineated. They get their name because the caterpillar feeds only on passion vines.
Tag Archives: Macro
Hawaiian garden spider
Sorry arachnophobes, but there are spiders in Hawaii. These are Hawaiian garden spiders (Argiope appensa), which came from Asia originally. Mostly it’s the female spider, the large, colorful one in the center of this web, that is seen. Indeed, this was the first time I’ve noticed a male, the much smaller, brown spider. Another web nearby also sported a male and female pair.
Their distinctive webs usually feature one or more broad zigzag lines of silk, called stabilimentum. I’ve read that this is to stabilize the web, but might also serve to lure prey or as a marker to birds and the like, so they don’t fly in to it.
For more information about the Hawaiian garden spider, go to insectidentification.org.
Hawaiian monarch butterfly
The Hawaiian monarch butterfly comes from the same stock as the mainland variety. It made its way to Hawaii in the mid 1800s, shortly after the milkweed plant (one of the Monarch’s host plants) was introduced. There’s a white variant that’s been seen on Oahu, but not on the Big Island as far as I know.
Hop little grasshopper, hop
I’m not sure why this little grasshopper sitting on the trail caught my eye, but it’s probably a good thing it did because it was about to be stepped on. I took some photos and thought, ‘Maybe I can get one of it jumping away.’ So I scuffed a foot in its direction. I knocked my water bottle over with a thud. I leaned in, casting an ominous shadow its way. It twitched a couple of times, skittered to face a different way, but no jump. Of course, I knew exactly what would happen. I straightened, putting my camera away and admitting defeat and the grasshopper duly pinged away into the grass.
With those kind of survival skills it will have a good chance of attaining the size of the grasshopper below, which I saw on the lanai some time ago. When I got close, it leapt straight into a railing, but it too survived. They’re both Schistocerca nitens I think. It’s one of those troublesome invasive species so common in Hawaii.
Graham's Island 