Tag: beneficial insect

In my Backyard

Polka Dot Wasp Moth

elauervose

I was admiring another new butterfly that showed up in my backyard last week when this stunning creature landed on a flower right in front of me. I took several pictures and then ran inside to look it up. So now I know this is a Polka Dot Wasp Moth - and it is actually a moth. You can see the feather-like shape of its antennae in this photo. It also has the characteristic spread out resting wing shape where a butterfly would fold its wings up over its back. Although most moths are nocturnal, the Polka dot wasp moth is diurnal (active during the daytime).

In my Backyard

White Peacock Butterfly

elauervose

It was a busy morning at the torch flower bed today! I saw a new butterfly - the White Peacock butterfly along with a pair of mating Gulf Fritillary butterflies. The White Peacock butterfly is a native butterfly in the brush-footed (Nymphalidae) family of butterflies. These brush-footed (or sometimes called four-footed) butterflies are so-called because… Continue reading White Peacock Butterfly

In my Backyard

The wrong milkweed!

elauervose

I planted milkweed to entice butterflies and to support an endangered species by providing food, shelter, and host plants for their caterpillars. Last week, I figured out that I had planted the wrong milkweed. Not just a little bit wrong, or kinda unhelpful - I planted a type of milkweed that is actually contributing to… Continue reading The wrong milkweed!

In my Backyard

Monarch Butterflies

elauervose

For most of the summer, I only saw Gulf Fritillary butterflies flitting over my two passion flower vines and occasionally sipping nectar from the flowers I had planted. Then sometime in late September, I saw my first Monarch! It was utterly thrilling to see as many as three or four at a time nectaring on the Torch flowers and laying eggs all over the milkweed plants!