I knew that installing a garden camera would lead to cool surprises. But this treat, I saw with my own two eyes, doing a simple task. Pruning.
And I also discovered how helpful fellow butterfly lovers can be. It all started with this photo, from my cell phone, I have learned to keep close by when ever I am in the garden.
I was about to prune my super happy Sweet Almond when I came across this guy. I did a double take because I see Spotted Wasp Moths on this plant a lot too. In fact several were all over the plant on this day. But I spotted one polka dotted beauty with big, butterfly like wings. See the iridescent blue in the back of the wings? Check out the cool red/orange body. I had never seen a butterfly like this in the garden before. Watch how beautiful it is in the sunlight.
So I ran inside and started a Google search.
I started to wonder if it was an Atala. An elusive butterfly in Florida because I have Coontie Palms in the yard. But that butterfly is rare in this part of the state. The images online and my snapshot did not quite match up.
So I started searching for a butterfly expert I could email this picture to and ask. That’s when I came across www.butterfliesarestillfree.com. I took a chance and emailed. Rick Cech quickly got back to me. Really quickly. He even mentioned he was out on errands. But he had no doubt, this was a Great Purple Hairstreak visiting my garden. I was so moved by his quick response. So refreshing. Thanks again Rick!
And no wonder I did not recognize this butterfly, I had never heard of it before. In fact I went back through my notes from a butterfly gardening seminar I attended and no mention. So now that I knew the name of my visitor, I needed to see why it decided to come in the first place.
I went to my favorite resource first UF County Extension. Here I learned all kinds of cool information. Like the host plant is Oak Mistletoe which grows here. In fact we have a marshy area in the neighborhood that has a lot of oaks, and once I knew to look for it, I think we have this mistletoe too.
Great Purple Hairstreaks like a variety of nectar. Apparently, Sweet Almond is among the favorites. I’m just glad this one stopped by and stayed awhile. Hopefully it will drop in for another visit soon.
