Butterflies

Scattered throughout my yard are vines and plants

suitable for feeding visiting butterflies. In some years

I have nearly no Passion Vine flowers or Milkweed.

This year, I have lots of flowers and seeing butterflies

are more rare. As we do not poison our land I suspect

the culprits responsible are elsewhere in the area.

My Passion Vine, one of nearly 500 plants in the

Passiflora genus, Passiflora Incarnata or commonly

called Maypop, is usually foot for the caterpillars Gulf

Fritillary and Zeba Long wing.. I have seen very few of either

this year. I would gladly sacrifice some blooms  for butterflies.

The Zebra Longwing Butterfly.( photo from Internet,I have seen it in both black and white

and yellow and black…it also loves cucumbers, of which I have many.