Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012 ~ American Lady and Painted Lady

 The American Lady, Vanessa virginiensis and Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui  add a twinkle to any bloom they land on. Though plants and their flowers have a unique beauty of their own, the animation butterflies add is pure magic . . . not to mention their importance as pollinators.

When seeing these brightly painted butterflies in the gardens, it can be hard to distinguish one from the other. Both American Lady and Painted Lady adults will go for a diverse range of nectar sources. Their appearances are more akin than their lifestyles which vary in caterpillar food choices, distribution and overwintering tendencies.

Painted Lady on Eupatorium purpureum commonly known as Joe-Pye weed. 

The Painted Lady is more worldly than the American Lady and can be found in most sun-drenched open habitats throughout the world. This slightly larger and more vibrant butterfly in its larva stage shares a taste for composites with the American Lady but also enjoys a variety of mallows and other plants. Pearly Everlasting is a favorite of both caterpillars. 

Wings fully opened, a Painted Lady reveals more clues to her identity, while the mysterious little beetle companion mirrors orange and white hues. 

The Painted Lady is a migrant butterfly not being able to overwinter here in New England, where the American Lady is hardier and hibernates as an adult butterfly or in a chrysalis stage. 

A discerning eye can pick out the signs that shout American Lady above, while Painted Lady below.

Painted Lady above and American Lady below.

Note the solid black dots along the bottom of both upper side hindwings in the Painted Lady, where as the American Lady dons marks more similar to eyespots on its upper hindwings. I find the tiny white dots on the orange of the forewings of the American Lady a helpful hint too. There are many other differences but once these clues are fixed in our memories they stand out clearly in defining the butterflies.

An American Lady nectaring on an Erigeron speciosus conveniently reveals the above mentioned marks, as well as, the important two large eyespots on her underside hindwing. The Painted Lady below wears four smaller eyespots on her underside hindwing. When the wings are folded this is a definitive telling in identifying these two ladies. The American Lady is also a bit smaller than the Painted Lady.

The American Lady has two larger eyespots while the Painted Lady sports four smaller eyespots on the underside of the hindwings. I will be looking for caterpillars of the American Lady on Edelweiss when I visit nurseries this spring and look forward to welcoming these two beauties back to Flower Hill Farm gardens and fields in the upcoming months.

Meanwhile back in real time . . . first day of spring time . . . March roars with winter's last grip.

Bob does not look too happy wearing his snow bib and wild white hair with snow cotton in his ears. 

He does not wish to hear anymore of winter now that the Spring Equinox is here.

Snow fell incessantly throughout the last day of winter. 

It is inspiring to have beautifully painted butterflies, sighted in last years gardens and fields, fluttering around in layers of memory within the mind, especially on a day when our calendars announce spring and all we New Englanders can see are landscapes that speak starkly-white winter wonderlands. Snow had nearly melted into a waking earth before the last eight inches of fresh stuff fell and even tiny snowdrops had pushed their green stems up, but, alas, they will have to go back to sleep for awhile yet. 

Happy Spring Equinox! 

Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012 ~ Swallowtails

The second installment of Butterflies of 2012 features three members of the Papilionidae family. 

Swallowtails regularly make their home in our gardens and fields and seeing their wings lit up like stained glass floating about the plants is always a delight.

Last year was very exciting for a rare sighting of a Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes here at Flower Hill Farm. Butterfly enthusiasts from all over Massachusetts were reporting first time ever sightings of the magnificent giants. Climate change will no doubt bring about more joyous encounters with these beauties to our northern gardens. Though a few sightings had been reported since 2009, last years sightings were record breaking.

The giant was difficult to photograph as it rarely stops fluttering.

It is surprising to see the Giant Swallowtail's brown and yellow coloring when the wings are wide open. At a glance a giant might be mistaken for a male Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes or Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus. Upon closer observation you can see the Giant Swallowtail is quite different in color and pattern. I had never seen one before and did not identify the giant immediately but knew it was different from any butterfly I had ever seen here at Flower Hill Farm. The Giant Swallowtail's larger size is very obvious, though size is not clearly illustrated in the photo above due to the Black Swallowtail and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail below being zoomed in on. 

A male Black Swallowtail from 2011.

A female Black Swallowtail from 2012. 

 Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail from 2011 to show full pattern for comparison.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtails flit about the gardens in numbers especially when the lilacs are in bloom. Unfortunately for them, it is a peak feeding time for baby birds too. Luckily tigers are in abundance so birds are not a great threat, but it is hard to see them being persistently pursued by Catbirds and Chickadees. Often tiger wings are tattered, so to find a fresh and perfect butterfly is a lucky sighting in our gardens.

Folded wings offer other patterns and colors to help identify these three Swallowtail cousins.

A quiet second from fluttering for this gorgeous backlit Giant Swallowtail.

In twenty-twelve I had the joy of raising and releasing this Black Swallowtail into the gardens. I have raised hundreds of Monarch Butterflies over the years but this was only my second experience raising a Black Swallowtail.

Strikingly patterned Swallowtail butterflies grace our world throughout the summer months and add another dimension of enchantment to the gardens and fields. Of course, beyond human enjoyment, all butterflies are important pollinators, and being near the bottom of the food chain, they are, sadly, important food for birds.

By clicking on the words highlighted in red above you can learn more about these Swallowtails.

Now, in the middle of a snowstorm, I so look forward to another year of enjoying the gardens and butterflies.

In honor of my fourth anniversary of blogging, I have given the blog a facelift and added a search bar so that readers can now type in an item of interest and articles will appear at the top of the screen.

Exciting Sighting Today ~ Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

A hot day brings an exciting new sighting of a Giant Swallowtail Papilio cresphontes butterfly. 

It was really a treat to be in the garden with this magnificent creature. 

It is a rare visitor here in Massachusetts.

You can learn more about the Giant Swallowtail butterfly here.