David July

A eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) extracting nectar from the purple flowers of my weeping butterfly bush (Buddleja lindleyana).

1915 Chuli Nene, Tallahassee, Florida: Tuesday, 14 July 2020

part of the Home Wildlife album

One of the benefits of working from home is the opportunity to notice and photograph more of the various creatures that visit during the day. Walking around the yard taking pictures is an ideal way to stretch, move around and mentally disconnect for a few minutes, something that I have found myself needing to remember to do without the urge to leave a windowless office.

Over the years I have found butterflies, who rarely sit still, generally difficult to photograph well. I have therefore enjoyed the chance to see and document many more specimen than I would typically encounter on a hike or camping trip. I have identified members from several species, all of which were attracted to the many flowering plants that live here.

Three such butterflies visiting on different days in early July 2020 were all of the genus Papilio in the family Papilionidae, or swallowtail butterfly. The first individual is a giant swallowtail butterfly (Papilio cresphontes) extracting nectar from the blue flowers of cape leadwort (Plumbago auriculata).

David July

David July

David July

David July

Next up is a spicebush swallowtail butterfly (Papilio troilus) also extracting nectar from a cape leadwort's blue flowers.

David July

David July

And finally, the same individual from the top of the article, an eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) extracting nectar from the purple flowers of a weeping butterfly bush (Buddleja lindleyana). You can see what looks like orange nectar dust on the body and leading edge of the left wing.

David July

David July