October butterflies

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It’s October and I’m still enjoying butterflies in the backyard.

The New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae) has recently been a magnet for butterflies and bees. It was great fun this past Saturday to observe bumble bees (large, medium, and small), honey bees, and butterflies including cabbage, pearl crescent, and several different skippers. I also managed to capture these images.

orange sulphur butterfly (Colias eurytheme) on New England Aster

I see Orange Sulphurs (Colias eurytheme) fairly often and enjoy their bright spots of color.

gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

Gray Hairstreaks (Strymon melinus) are less common and seeing them is a special treat.

varigated fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)

I was especially glad to see a variegated fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) for the first time this year.

Since Saturday, daytime temperatures have dropped to the 50s and 60s. Was this my last backyard butterfly show of the year? If so, it was a good one.

6 thoughts on “October butterflies”

  1. Hope the Indian Summer Butterfly Show continues and
    we get to see more of it via your blog. It is so neat to
    get to see what I don’t ordinarily get to see. Thank You!

    1. I appreciate your comments, Beth. It’s impossible to capture the true scene but I hope the images can help you imagine it.

  2. I am also enjoying my neighbors’ New England aster – we still have a few cats out there eating but little food left – will let nature take it’s course. Yellow sulphurs are our most frequent visitor lately (really big ones). They love impatiens which are still blooming profusely. Love the pictures!

  3. Thanks for sharing your camera eye.
    I was at Kincaid lake last weekend and saw what looked like a orange sulphur that you have pictured, but a beautiful golden color like the color of a mango. I was unable to capture a picture. Do you have a picture of one with its wings open. It was such a bright spot on the dry landscape. My husband was able to catch a picture of a common Buckeye fritillary. Very impossible for me to see when its wings were closed as I could not tell it apart from the dry leaves surrounding it through the camera eye; any secrets to pinpointing something with a camera that you see with your regular eyes when it is camouflaged?

    1. Thanks for your comments, Darlene. There are several different sulphurs and they can be confusing. My best guess is that you saw an Orange Sulphur. It’s not easy to catch them with their wings open. And no, I don’t have any secrets fors getting photos of camouflaged objects. I usually watch and hope they move! 🙂

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