Mesmerizing Moths, Monarchs, Milkweed and More…
A Monarch Butterfly managed a quick visit to our garden on one of the precious non-rainy days we have had these last few weeks.
This sign in Bartlett kind of sums things up. We’ve had a lot of rain, and for a butterfly or moth, getting hit with raindrops is “like a bowling ball falling from the sky on a human“. Seeing them this summer has been challenging, which makes this Monarch’s visit all the more sweet.
But the real thrill for me this week has been discovering the astonishing, hidden beauty of moths. Having decided that I’ve been ignoring moths for far too long, I went looking for them before dawn one morning. Using a flashlight I noticed a nondescript grayish-pink moth on a chair cushion. Upon closer inspection it magically transformed into a gorgeous, pink and yellow creature with an adorable, almost monkey-like face. Through iNaturalist, I learned it is a Painted Lichen Moth.
This dazzled me! How could this plain looking moth be so stunning? Now I’m completely hooked.
Another morning, I found this beautiful lime green caterpillar (below left). If all goes well, it will metamorphose into a stunning Rosy Maple Moth (below right), which looks more like a psychedelic stuffed animal than a garden moth. We haven’t seen one yet but are definitely on the lookout.
Above right: Rosy Maple Moth by Christina Butler (CC by SA 2.0)
Other revelations were this Ornate Tiger Moth (below left) and a Pale Beauty (below right). The pattern on the Tiger Moth’s wings looks like a stained glass window. Pale Beauties are common moths around my garden, but their paleness makes them easy to overlook. I love seeing their subtle beauty highlighted by the green leaves of an aster.
There are many more species of moths than butterflies, and while some of them are very tiny, some can be as large as the palm of your hand. I’m excited to find more in the garden!
On the positive side, the rain has been good for our garden plants. Our Butterfly Milkweed has proved itself as the pollinator workhorse in the garden. The milkweed was visited by this Great Spangled Fritillary (below left) and Small Milkweed Bug (below, top right). The Monarch (below, bottom right) visited every single milkweed plant in the garden, including the small ones growing from seed. I hope eggs were deposited, but I haven’t seen a caterpillar yet.
When the rain did stop, I photographed two other species of butterflies pollinating the garden-a Black Swallowtail (bottom right) and a Juvenal’s Duskywing (bottom left).
I also captured some new and interesting insects.
Left to right: Copulating Banded Longhorn Beetles, Common Thread-waisted Wasp, Northern Bush Katydid and Four-lined Hornet Fly, which is a wasp mimic. It possible scares off predators by looking and acting like a wasp, but it’s a fly which cannot sting. What a great strategy!
I love the bark on the River Birch (below). The native garden has so many delights – some right before your eyes, and many somewhat hidden. I have loved spending the time to learn all that is going on in the garden this summer, knowing I have only scratched the surface in understanding it all.
