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Flickr Lounge: Enjoy
I have watched for this opportunity for several years now. September 2017 I got the next-to-the-last piece of the full life cycle, watching a monarch emerge from its chrysalis on a mint plant in my backyard. I already had an egg (though I would like another chance at that someday), caterpillars in every instar, and so forth. (Collage of shots in the comments.) Today I finally got the mating shots.
I watched this pair for exactly an hour and got several hundred shots. I will post a few others in the days ahead but wanted to start with just a couple. Lots of monarchs were on the swamp milkweed, and it occurred to me to be on the lookout for a mating pair. Then I found this pair. Periodically he flew to a different plant, carrying her. Occasionally she was perched on a flower, too, though for the first hour or so that I watched them, she didn't feed even then. But for much of the time, he fed, opened his wings if bees or other butterflies got too close, and she kept her legs folded next to her body and her proboscis curled. Here she is perched on her own flower--but not feeding.
Interesting . . . when I choose "most interesting" in Flickr's algorithm on the "about" page, this comes up as my seventh most interesting photo. But it never made Explore.
Tags: 366: The 2020 Edition 366:2020 Day 218/366 05-Aug-2020 Danaus plexippus monarch butterfly monarch butterfly insect mating monarchs mating butterflies
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Flickr Lounge: ABC (butterfly)
The huge flowers of the swamp rose mallow seem to be pollinated exclusively by bees, not by butterflies, and thus it's rare to see a butterfly on one unless it just pauses for a moment, as this viceroy did.
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Usually I see the painted lady, and I never remember the difference without looking it up. This is the American lady, so hopefully I'll get to see "painted" this year as well, since it has been several years since I have seen both in the same year.
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painted lady butterfly on red clover
For more wildflowers of the American Midwest and South, visit www.flickr.com/photos/cherylmolin/albums/7215770582469124...
Tags: painted lady butterfly red clover ALittleBeauty
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