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Some Backyard Butterflies of Jaltemba Bay
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| This is known to butterfly enthusiasts as a "puddle party", where butterflies congregate to lap up nutrient-rich fresh water. On the nearby beach of Playa las Cuevas ("Cave Beach") a Great Southern White (Ascia monuste) sails in to join three Dark Kite-Swallowtails (Protographium philolaus) and a Mexican Kite-Swallowtail (P. epidaus). Photo 20 August 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| While we're not particularly butterfly enthusiasts, we enjoy seeing the large number and variety of lepidopterans visiting the shrubs and vines just outside the windows of our computer room.
Other than the beach photo above and another taken in the forest, we photographed all of the butterflies and moths on this page in our yard and, in some cases, inside our house. There could be many more species illustrated here but butterflies just aren't good at holding still for pictures. We thank our friend Gerry Einem for his enthusiam on this subject and for his expert assistance in identifying many of the animals on this page. |
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| A very common butterfly here, this individual has narrowly escaped being dinner for a bird or a lizard. Resting on Bougainvillea sp. Either Thoas Swallowtail (Papilio thoas) or Giant Swallowtail (P. cresphontes) but I'd have to capture it to know for certain. Photos 26 August 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| A Swallowtail without an obvious tail, the Pink-Spotted Swallowtail (Heraclides rogeri) feeding on Caesalpinia pulcherrima. Photos 26 August 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| Above: a White-Angled Sulphur (Anteos clorinde) Right: an Orange-Barred Sulphur (Phoebis philea) both feeding at Ixora coccinea. Photos: above summer 2005; right 25 March 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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A Sky-blue Hairstreak (Pseudolycaena damo, above left) and just a hint (left) of the brilliant, iridescent colour of its upper wings, seen only in flight. Wingspan ~ 9cm. Photos 1 June 2005 ©Terry Coomber Above right, an Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas) with a wingspan of just 2 cm. It's tough to photograph such a small creature and extremely fortuitous that I found two individuals together showing both sides of the wings. |
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| A Pixie (Melanis pixe) trying to hide in a Monstera sp. Photo 6 March 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| A Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) feeding at Caesalpinia pulcherrima. Photos: (above) 26 August 2005, (right) 2 September 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| A Julia (Dryas iulia) hanging out in our Jasmine. Photos March 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| At left a White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae) photographed in the forest 11 December 2005. At right a Banded Peacock (Anartia fatima), one of the most common butterflies in our yard, spring 2005. Photos ©Terry Coomber |
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| Malachites (Siproeta stelenes) seem to be more common this year. These two individuals and others spend the night beneath the leaves of the Devil's Ivy (Epipremnum aureum) climbing our back wall. Photos (above) 12 February 2006, (right) 26 February 2006 ©Terry Coomber |
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| A small Checkerspot butterfly, possibly Chlosyne sp., perched on a blade of a coarse grass. Photo 20 July 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
A small Spreadwing Skipper (Thessia jalapus?) feeding on Bougainvillea. Photo summer 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| A small (4-5 cm) Sootywing Skipper in the house. Photo 14 September 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| A Skipper (6-7cm) on the floor waiting for a cat to play with. Photo 19 December 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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| Black Witch Moths (Ascalapha odorata) on the ceiling, a male (left) and a female (right). These large (~15 cm wingspan) creatures were known to the Aztecs as "mariposas de la muerte" ("butterflies of death"), but the only problem we've found with their visits is that they need help finding their way back outside afterward. Photos: male 18 July 2005, female 27 August 2005 ©Terry Coomber |
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