4.22.2007

Party Time

Butterflies are busy puddling for minerals and salts, necessary nutrients that were unavailable to them as caterpillars. Pictured above are two of the most common butterflies in the work swamp: Zebra Swallowtails (Eurytides marcellus) and Palamedes Swallowtails (Papilio palamedes).

Another of our common butterflies, the Atlantic or Holly Azure (Celastrina idella) was out in force Friday, puddling by the hundreds in certain spots. [Blogger ate the picture so you will just have to take my word for it. I'll try to post it later.]
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4 comments:

Cathy said...

I've wondered about this phenomenon. I suspected they were after something. Curious that the larval stage which I considered to be the eating phase - isn't able to get some important nutrients. Fascinating. It sure pays to be out and about this time of year, eh?

swamp4me said...

Cathy,
Yes, I had wondered for a long time why butterflies could be found on the oddest things - scat, carrion, urine, vomitus, etc. One day I ran across the explanation while doing some reading about butterfly reproduction.

Cathy said...

Hmmmm. The 'vomitus' bothers me more than the other nutrient 'sources'.
Go figure :0)

R.Powers said...

Neat!
Blooooger ate a picture? Who could imagine such a thing?
;)