Painted Lady!

My granddaughters discovered that Painted Lady butterflies love chive blossoms!  There are several popular orange butterflies, including Monarchs and Red Admirals. To identify the Painted Lady, watch for orange wings with black spots and dramatic black tips with white polka dots on front wings.

Not a large butterfly, the underside of the wings is more of a challenge. But you don’t need to wait very long for a butterfly to open its wings for you. And don’t give up too quickly if the butterfly flies away when you approach. There’s a good chance it will soon return to the flowers it was enjoying when you discovered it.

More butterfly sexing!

Here’s a black swallowtail female on swamp milkweed. She does have lovely blue on her hind wings.

Don’t those look like crooked yellow teeth on his wings? He is enjoying zinnias.

 

Amaze your friends! Tell them the sex of butterflies like this Black Swallowtail!

This is a male Black Swallowtail butterfly. Obvious differences between black swallowtail male and female are found in the big yellow “V” on their wings. The male’s “V” pattern looks like it is composed of a long row of crooked yellow teeth. The female’s “V” is made up of a line of small yellow dots. The female also has more blue on hind wings, similar to the female tiger swallowtail. Swallowtails are easy to observe because they spend a lot of time drinking flower nectar. It doesn’t even take much patience, just some flowers.

Belly up to the bar!

Tiger swallowtail female enjoying butterfly bush!

Same butterfly from the top. Wings in motion. For some reason the female Tiger swallowtail is prettier than the male. She has the wonderful blue. Compare the wing colors from above and below. Amazing differences! Please share with other butterfly lovers.