I was so excited to see a polydamas swallowtail butterfly drinking nectar from my scarlet sage yesterday. I have these planted in numerous places throughout the garden in both red and pink. This plant, after the flower dies, leaves behind a seed that often times blows with the wind and plants itself. So I have a lot of “voluntary” plants everywhere as well.
A trip to Butterfly Estates, in downtown Fort Myers, on July 28, 2023, provided us with a great opportunity to finish raising white peacock butterflies, as they were closing their doors. I am happy to say we had our first peacock butterfly emerge today. The coloration of this butterfly is absolutely stunning! After I released it, it stuck around the garden for a while giving me ample opportunities to take photographs.
The white peacock is part of the Nymphalidae family, the brush-foot butterflies. Their wingspans can range from 3.5 to 6 cm. I read that male and female peacock butterflies do not differ in appearance. It’s also interesting that their coloring becomes paler during the winter months and are smaller and darker in the wet summer months.
According to the Florida Wildflower Foundation, males will pick out about 50 square feet full of host plants to defend it against other male butterflies in a hopes to find a female.
This species enjoys the warm weather, which might be why we see such an abundance in Southwest Florida. The temperatures are quite extreme right now.
I have one white peacock caterpillar left that appears to have just molted. The white peacock is 1.4″ in length and can be found in peninsular Florida, as well as southern Texas. The butterfly will lay green eggs, which are laid singularly. The caterpillars oftentimes hide near the ground during the daytime.
The caterpillars eat frogfruit, and the volunteers at the Butterfly Estates said wild petunia, which is what they have been munching on inside the butterfly house. So, I have yet another plant to put in the garden for the white peacocks, as I already have two fogfruits established already.
The other five that we brought home from Butterfly Estates on July 28 have already created their chrysalis. They are tiny in size, and green.
