Last week when the atala butterfly visited my garden, she left behind quite a few eggs on the new growth of my coontie. Every day I take a walk in the garden to check and see if the caterpillars have arrived. I would think in the next couple of days they will make their grand entrance.
Excitement does not even begin to explain how I’m feeling right now.
Has something ever caught your eye, pulling you outdoors, which only turns into running back inside to grab your camera??
I am a firm believer of, “plant it and they will come,” as time after time it has rung true. So, I planted some coontie and a sweet almond bush to see if I could attract another species, a very special species to the garden.
Well yesterday that was me when I spotted the absolutely stunning atala (Eumaeus atala Poey) butterfly in MY garden for the FIRST time and she left EGGS behind.
According to the University of Florida, the atala is a rare hairstreak butterfly that has highly localized populations in coastal central and south Florida. They have “satiny black wings with an iridescent turquois shimmer.” The University of Florida said this butterfly was thought to be extinct when the coontie (Zamia integrifolia) was overharvested. It was also stated that this species disappeared between 1937 and 1959, but was rediscovered in 1979 by Roger Hammer, a naturalist and author from Key Biscayne, Florida.
To think this special Florida butterfly found my garden because I planted its host plant, the coontie, and one of its favorite nectar plants, the sweet almond bush, leaves me ecstatic. I am eager to watch the lifecycle and research more about this rare beauty.
Here are an assortment of photos of this beauty laying quite a few eggs on my coontie. It was definitely hard to choose a few out of the 80 photographs I took.
The atala butterfly can be found naturally in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties in Florida. There are groups in Lee County, Southwest Florida, that are putting their best foot forward in reviving this species in our area. One of those groups, The Florida Native Butterfly Society. They are raising them from caterpillar and releasing them around their Downtown Fort Myers property.
The atala’s host plant is the coontie.
I was excited to spot this one outside the Butterfly Estates sipping on some nectar.
