Although this male monarch butterfly is out of focus . . . I love the nectar that is stuck to its proboscis, which is slightly uncoiled.
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The zebra
The zebra longwing flying in for a sip from the penta flower.
The butterfly’s tongue, or proboscis, has two parts that have a groove on the inner side. When a butterfly first emerges, you can see the proboscis in two parts, as it uncoils and coils it during the early stages of emerging from its chrysalis. When it is done with that motion the two parts are fused into one for drinking.
Did you know there are muscles, nerves and air tubes the length of the proboscis? When blood is forced into the proboscis it extends and the muscles help the butterfly move it when feeding. Tiny sensory pegs on the outside of the proboscis, one near the tip, both find and taste the nectar. The zebra longwing is a special species as it collects pollen, protein, from flowers as well with its proboscis.
Only smiles here
Here is a glimpse of the flowers that are in bloom from our front butterfly garden. A perk of native flowers, they are pretty much in bloom year round in Southwest Florida. All of these flowers do wonderful in our garden, growing in full sun, and full of nectar for the butterflies to sip.
A little banged up
This monarch was hiding in my morning glory vine while I was watering. The colors caught my eye against the beautiful green of the vine, luckily, so I was able to move it before watering that section of the garden. It sat on my hand for a little bit before it dove into the red penta for a drink and then searched for more food in the lantana. It’s definitely sad when I find a butterfly whose wings are not quite right. But, it makes me proud to have a space where they find some refuge. Needless to say after filling up on nectar I brought him into our butterfly house for the night to rest.
