Top Photo: Eastern tiger swallowtail. Three butterflies known for early season flights have been seen this past week. There are two flight periods when eastern tiger swallowtails can reliably be seen, now, and late summer to fall. There are two separate broods. The butterflies you see now, in spring, have overwintered as pupae and are smaller than the individuals that you’ll see in summer. As caterpillars, they fed on late season, less nutritious foliage in late summer and fall beforeRead more
Posts tagged: #azure
Dazzling Sights on the MLS Outdoor Loop
Top Photo: Rat snake crosses path in front of me. A walk around our outdoor loop through the Dinosaur Trail, Explore the Wild, and Catch the Wind can be relaxing and rewarding. You never know what you’re going to run into. Anything from snakes to folded-wing skippers is possible, and frankly, expected. Here’s some of the things I bumped into this past week. The photos above and below are of a common local resident, rat snake. The individual above isRead more
A Little Bit of Blue
Top Photo: Larva on crownbeard. I was expecting to find larvae of silvery checkerspot as I bent down to look at the usually tall, broad-leafed herbaceous plant with misshaped yellow flowers, crownbeard. I always associate crownbeard with that orange and black butterfly, though I’ve never recorded one here at the museum in my 14 some years of walking past these flowers, it does no harm to look. When I see this plant along the Eno River, or other wet areas,Read more