What is it about the swallowtail butterflies that make your jaw drop just a little? The tails, the large wings? The graceful flight? Always, always grab my attention. The pipevine swallowtail.
Swallowtails
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Monthly Archives: July 2023
The state butterfly
It was such a sight to see today. So many zebra longwing butterflies being raised and released at Rotary Park here in Cape Coral. They have yet to make it to my garden, something I truly miss since Hurricane Ian impacted our city last September.
In May and June of this year, I wrote an article for a publication I contribute articles to, North Fort Myers Living, and it was all about zebra longwing butterflies. It was so good to hear that two organizations around town are helping to repopulate this butterfly.
Here’s a blurp:
Hurricane Ian created a tale of two butterflies – the monarch butterfly thriving, while the zebra longwing butterfly, the state butterfly, disappearing.
“After the hurricane we have not seen the zebra longwing anywhere near us,” The Butterfly Estates curator Sherri Williams said. “I have lots of butterfly enthusiasts (friends) that have not seen them. A friend of mine from Miami sent a few caterpillars to get them established here.”
At the beginning of May the excitement has grown, as she said they have probably 45 zebra longwing butterflies flying inside the butterfly house.
“The females will lay like 400 eggs. I will have eggs to share, always for a donation. The donation helps us go buy plants to feed the ones we keep,” she said of the caterpillars eating corkystem passionvine. “I am really excited about the zebras. I am getting quite a few eggs now.”
Recovery efforts are also underway in Cape Coral.
“They were wiped out in the hurricane,” Tom Allen Memorial Butterfly House curator Cheryl Anderson said, adding that their host plant, the passionvine, was also wiped out. “Since Hurricane Ian, we have seen one zebra longwing at the butterfly gardens.”
“There are zebras out there, caterpillars out there. We need concentrated effort and we need the plants. The health, wealth and volume of a butterfly depends on the wealth and health of the host plant,” she said.
Today while we visited The Tom All Memorial Butterfly House at Rotary Park Cheryl told us they have released close to 50 zebra longwings. We saw them fluttering all around the garden, with many still in their butterfly house. Cheryl showed my daughter quite a few zebra longwing caterpillars that they were also raising inside.
She told us, although the hope was to repopulate areas of Cape Coral, the zebra longwings seem to be hanging around Rotary Park as there is an abundance of host plants, with one of their favorites, the firebush planted on the grounds.
A looker
The monarch butterfly, I don’t know there is just something about the coloring, the flight pattern, that just grabs your attention and holds it there. This male monarch butterfly landed right in front of us at Rotary Park, a favorite destination close by due to of all of the butterfly host, and nectar plants.
The maypop
Some of the butterfly host plant flowers are absolutely remarkable. The maypop passionvine, I think, is one of my top favorites. The flower looks 3D. It’s incredible to watch it slowly open, a sight my daughter and I have experienced only once. Petal, by petal it slowly falls open.
As I have shared in the past, it definitely is invasive, as it sends out shoots everywhere, quite far from the original plant. So needless to say, both of my gardens are a bit of a jungle with lots of the pathways no longer available because of this great host plant. I love the natural look, so it may end up becoming moving the stepping stones to new areas of the garden.
The birthday wish
I don’t know who was more excited, my daughter, or I, for this year’s birthday destination, a trip to Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, Florida.
In 1986, Butterfly World began building its sanctuary in Broward County within Tradewinds Park. I read that Butterfly World keeps 20,000 butterflies on display, although there are often more that can be seen. At any given time there are up to 50 tropical species, with more than 150 different species throughout the year. Along a wall there were glass enclosures with a great deal of chrysalis, as well as some newly emerged drying its wings.
Every where you looked there were dozens fluttering by, all beautiful vibrant butterflies of various sizes. A few times they landed on us, as they were making their way to their next destination. Of course, my little butterfly whisperer had the beautiful blue butterfly (a morpho species) sit on her finger as she beamed uncontrollably.
It was such a special occasion to see her walking around pointing out different butterflies that caught her attention, a few of which we have seen either in our garden, or at Butterfly Estates in Downtown Fort Myers.
It was definitely worth the trip. A trip that may have to be taken again someday. It was hard to choose some of my favorites. Enjoy the 20 images below of the few that caught our attention.
