Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Cloudless Sulphur: Late Afternoon Treat

I love Cloudless Sulphurs, especially at this time of year. I love the slight greenish color in their wings. Among the whites and yellows, they are the long-distance flyers. I often see them flying across the road. They’re easy to see at a distance. When it warms up between these cold spells, they’re out and about and provide some bright splashes of color in the late afternoon sun.

Their favorite plant, senna (Senna obtusifolia), has finished blooming for the season and they must to look for other sources of food. A Cloudless Sulphur was feeding at the butterfly bush this afternoon and content to move from flower to flower. It’s not often that I can get so close without spooking them. I was able to get some nice photos.

The long tongue...

The large green eyes.

Identification resources:
- Bug Guide: Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
- West Central Georgia Butterflies by Michael Beohm: Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
Click on the image to view a larger image

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Joan, thank you for your kind comments regarding the photo of the Copperhead that I took. You have a great blog- it looks like you have put a lot of work into and your photos are great. I'll add it to the list of blogs that I follow. I hope that you continue to enjoy the Fall!