A Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly (Phoebis sennae) in My World

This tattered and worn Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly on a tattered and worn zinnia flower seems an appropriate symbol for current conditions in my world. Nature is winding down for winter.

We've only had a couple of light frosts thus far, but soon a major blast of Arctic air will come barreling down from the north and all the bugs and flowers will be gone. Or will they?

While I won't see nearly as many insects until spring, they will still be here. Most will be hiding in leaf litter or underground in their larval forms. A few  will overwinter as adults and surprise me with their appearance on warm winter days. All will be waiting for spring to begin again their life cycles.

In their own way, the zinnias will also still be here. All the genetic information needed to produce new plants and flowers is stored in their tiny seeds. Were we good gardeners, we'd deadhead each flower after the bloom is spent. Were we even mediocre gardeners, we clean up all the old plants after they freeze. But if history is any guide, the dead zinnias will remain in the garden for most of the winter if not all the way into next spring. Our excuse is that the zinnias need plenty of time to reseed themselves. Also, many times I've seen Goldfinches feeding on zinnia seeds. Regardless, the zinnias are still here.

Nature will soon take a winter's rest, but insects and flowers still abound and are just waiting for spring to begin again.

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A Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly (Phoebis sennae) in My World

Nature Notes: Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Butterfly Weed is a native herbaceous perennial. Though it is a member of the milkweed family it does not have milky-sapped stems.

Butterfly weed is easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Drought tolerant. Does well in poor, dry soils. New growth tends to emerge late in the spring. Plants are easily grown from seed, but are somewhat slow to establish and may take 2-3 years to produce flowers. Mature plants may freely self-seed in the landscape if seed pods are not removed prior to splitting open. Butterfly weed does not transplant well due to its deep taproot, and is probably best left undisturbed once established.

Butterfly Weed has a long bloom period from late spring throughout the summer. Flowers are a nectar source for many butterflies and leaves are a food source for monarch butterfly larvae (caterpillars).

Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies are among the species attracted to Butterfly Weed by its color and its copious production of nectar.

We hope the Butterfly Weed's wind-borne seeds have a successful journey and establish many more plants for future years.

All photos are by Jo.

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Nature Notes: Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Io Moth (Automeris io) Life Cycle

Female Io Moth: Tend to be a reddish brown color. White-filled, black and blue eyespots on hindwing are distinctive for this species.

Male Io Moth: Tend to be a more yellowish brown color. Were his wings open fully, you'd see the male also has the distinctive eyespots on his hindwings.

Io Moth eggs: Normally, the female would lay her eggs on a larval host plant -- and the list of host plants includes over 100 different species, but for some reason these eggs were laid on the framing of our porch.

Io Moth caterpillars emerging from eggs after approximately ten days. Early larvae (caterpillers) are gregarious (i. e. They stay together.). Early instar caterpillars are often seen moving around a host plant in a "train".

Final instar caterpillars vary from green to yellow. These caterpillars will leave the host plant and form a papery cocoon usually in leaf litter. They emerge from the cocoons as adult moths. In the south, up to four generations per year are possible, but only one generation is common in northern latitudes. (The above photo is by Sturgis McKeever via Forestry Images and is used in accordance with Creative Commons copyright protection.)

CAUTION: Io Moth caterpillars should not be handled. They have urticating setae (barbed hairs that break off and inject a poison). The degree of resulting irritation varies depending upon the amount of contact and the sensitivity of the individual.

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Io Moth (Automeris io) Life Cycle