A kaleidoscope of butterflies with white mistflower
Great purple hairstreak. (Thanks for the ID, Lee.)
A kaleidoscope of butterflies—and bees—have been fluttering around the shrubby white boneset (Eupatorium havanense ) for days.
Also known as white mistflower, though much woodier and shrub-like than blue mistflower, it’s my latest blooming perennial, often starting around Halloween and continuing through November. The flowers have a kind of spicy scent, neither attractive nor unattractive to me, though it drives the pollinators into a frenzy. I wish you could see this shrub right now, spangled with white flowers and alive with butterfly wings.
Painted lady
Another view of the painted lady
And here she is again, from the front. See that long tongue?
The bees were a-buzzing too.
Anyone know what this one is called? ID’d by Sandy as a Texan Crescent.
Amazing pictures Pam! I especially love the purple hairstreak – a lovely butterfly.
Thanks for the ID, Lee. That one was my fave too. I’d never seen it before. —Pam
These butterfly photos are unbelieveable. I felt like I could pet the Painted lady. It looks so soft and fuzzy.
Doesn’t she? Thanks for commenting, Lisa. —Pam
Wow! And here it snowed today! I love the tongue shot! Who knew?
Snow? Wow. It was summery here, but we are finally supposed to get some cool weather again tomorrow. —Pam
These photos are stunning, Pam. Can you tell us a little about the camera you use? How close were you actually standing to these butterflies to get the photos? Very fun to see as we anticipate Arctic cold and snow tonight here in Denver…
Thanks, Jocelyn. I use a Canon Powershot S3 IS, which I purchased in August. It has a nice macrofocus, which I used while inching as close to the butterflies as I could get without scaring them off—about one foot away.
After the Arctic cold has its way with Denver, it’s expected here tomorrow afternoon, much diminished, I expect. But we’ll drop from the 80s (we set a record high today) into the 40s and 50s. —Pam
Your pictures have always been beautiful, Pam, but something has been different lately, they are even more stunning than usual and I also noticed that you now copyright them.
Your butterflies are beautiful, I miss being able to see them in my own garden.
Thank you, Robin! Perhaps it’s the softer Autumn light. Regarding the copyright notice, I decided to do that after seeing one of my photos posted on another blog without attribution to me, without a link, and without permission. It’s not the first time it’s happened either. While we bloggers know that our photos and text are always copyrighted, whether specifically noted or not, I figure that saying so is one more small defense against theft. —Pam
Wow. All I can do is echo the previous comments and thank you for sharing these images with us, Pam. I thought the picture you posted a few days ago with the yellow sulphur on the purple coneflower was exceptional, but these are absolutely exquisite!
Thanks, Nan. —Pam
Great butterfly photos! That 1 with the tongue reminds me of the Spongebob Squarepants episode wherein Sandy the Squirrel’s pet “Wormy” metamorphoses into a butterfly which then goes on to terrorize Bikini Bottom (there’s actual closeup footage of a butterfly).
Ha, I wish I’d seen it. It sounds strangely hilarious. —Pam
amazing photos Pam
Thanks, Philip. I’m glad you stopped by. —Pam
Wow – what amazing photography! Thanks for sharing — I’ve got to get my daughter to come look at the butterflies up close on your blog.
Well, thanks, Diana. I hope your daughter enjoys the photos too. —Pam
The butterfly not identified looks like a Metalmark (Apodemia spp.) though it’s hard to be sure without a topside photo. Nice shots of the American Painted Lady.
I haven’t heard of metalmark before. Thanks for the possible ID, Jean, and for visiting Digging. —Pam
The unidentified butterfly looks like the Texan Crescent, Anthanassa texana. It’s a type of Checkerspot in the Brushfoot family. The Metalmarks are a separate family. The Crescents are common in my garden, but I’ve only seen Metalmarks in Corpus Christi.
Hmm, that could be it. I wasn’t quite sure about the metalmark either. Thanks for the help, Sandy! —Pam