Did anyone spot something unusual in the caterpillar photos last week? No?
Does this help? I have circled a butterfly egg on the underside of the milkweed flower bud. It is probably a queen butterfly egg, although it might also be a monarch. Both types have been visiting the plant.
In fact, the queens and monarchs were having what seemed to be aerial “battles” over the rush milkweed plant. One butterfly would be resting on the plant and another would fly nearby. The butterfly on the plant would fly up to meet the interloper and they would flutter around each other. Shortly one, usually the visitor, would fly off quickly. I had read that butterflies can be territorial, but I hadn’t seen it in action before.
Speaking of butterfly territory, I had the opportunity to visit the Tucson Botanical Gardens last weekend. The garden has an exhibit they call Butterfly Magic.
This particular exhibit is not large, but has a number of different species of butterflies.
The longer I looked, the more different kinds I saw.
Even on my shoe.
The flowers were not shabby either.
Have you been to a butterfly exhibit? Where is your favorite?
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