Monarch – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern The lifecycle of the monarch butterfly is complex The first thing that I noticed when I saw this beautiful monarch chrysalis were the rings of gold spots lining its exterior. I thought to myself, how in the world was this color created by an insect?! It actually comes […]
Great Spangled Fritillary
Great Spangled Fritillary – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern This great spangled fritillary was enjoying the many native flowers This photo was taken at Brown County State Park in southern Indiana. Jill and I had set up camp and were out for a hike on a hot summer day in July. This great spangled fritillary […]
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data The eastern tiger swallowtail has a unique wing extension on its hindwings This pretty pollinator is called an eastern tiger swallowtail. It is a common butterfly found throughout the Eastern United States, from spring through fall. Their range is as far south as Florida to as far north […]
Black Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern These voracious eaters would take down a three-foot-tall plant in its entirety in only a few short days! I took this photo as I was coming down from the summit of Emory Peak in Big Bend National Park. I took a lot of macro photos on this […]
Butterfly on Goldenrod
IUCN Conservation Status: – LEAST CONCERN An Aphrodite fritillary butterfly feeds ons the goldenrod flower This beautiful wildflower is called a goldenrod. These are perennial flowers that are found throughout Maine. They scatter the mountainsides in the summer months. This photo was taken in Bethel, Maine (a small town of ~2500 people). DONATE These large […]
Monarch Butterfly
Monarch butterflies are known to travel thousands of miles each year! Like so many others, I have always found the monarch butterfly to be such a beautiful insect. Its lore is made all the more powerful by the amazing continental journey that the species takes each year. The eastern North American monarch population travels thousands […]
Northern Pearly-Eye
The northern pearly-eye butterfly waited for me on a rail. This northern pearly-eye butterfly was sitting on the railing of a bridge when Jill and I were on a hike at the Weldon Spring Conservation Area just north of St. Louis, Missouri. This park provides a great view of the Missouri River. We took the […]
Juniper Hairstreak
I was out for a hike…looking for bees Getting close up with butterflies was not what I was expecting at the start of the day when this photo was taken. I was out for a hike with my brother, Nick, looking for bees. He’s studying bee diseases (that’s my simple description of it) as part […]