Can you NAME the butterflies in the photo collage? If not, challenge yourself to identify and NAME the 5 Florida butterflies. The names are located at the bottom of the page if you need help.
All of the butterflies photographed were from my backyard. Backyard butterflies are easily attracted with just a few basic plants. I prefer and choose low maintenance plants; my favorites are zinnias, lantana, Queen Anne's lace, and the herb, dill. Any day is a good time to start butterfly gardening.
Butterflies have fascinating colors and patterns that remind me more of stained glass windows than insects. The brilliant colors come from tiny waterproof scales that cover the surface of their wings. These vibrant colors can also be a caution signal of toxicity to the butterflies natural predators, even though not all butterflies are toxic. Butterflies are some of the world's best pollinators, second only to bees. Their presence or absence in the environment reflects the overall health of the ecosystem due to their sensitivity to environmental conditions. Did you know insects make up 90% of the earth's life forms? It's true, we are outnumbered. The worldwide human population is 7.8 billion while the insect population is 10 quintillion (a quintillion is the numeral 10 followed by 18 zeros)!
Five quick facts about butterflies:
- Butterflies taste with their feet.
- Butterflies cannot chew, they sip liquid through a proboscis - a straw like tongue.
- A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope.
- A person who studies and collects butterflies/moths is a lepidopterist.
- Zebra Longwing is the official Florida state butterfly.
Newer books to read on butterflies:
The Truth about Butterflies by Maxwell Eaton III
Butterflies Belong Here by Deborah Hopkinson
Butterfly Gardening: the North American Butterfly Association guide by Jane Hurwitz
Already a Butterfly: a meditation story by Julia Alvarez
Hello, Little One: a monarch butterfly story by Zeena Pliska
Other titles in the collection for adult non-fiction, juvenile, and children to flutter through.
Names of the butterflies in the order they appear in the above photo: Monarch, Zebra Longwing, Gulf Fritillary, Red-spotted Purple, Cloudless Sulfur