Survival 101: Hiding in plain sight.

 On a recent foray into the field, the Weedpicker made two discoveries.  Or rather, nature illuminated a couple of camouflage secrets.  Nature has loads of tricks and mimicry is just one of them.  Let's start with a flower and a butterfly.

Meadow Salsify, Tragopogan pratensis

 Salsify can refer to several different flowers.  Some have edible roots, usually they are yellow, but occasionally they are lavender or purple.  You may have noticed their gigantic seed-head which resembles a dandelion on steroids.

Tiger Swallowtail

 Behold, this is the large and beautiful Tiger Swallowtail.  It might be hard to believe one would ever confuse this striking butterfly for a flower.

Unless that flower was in the middle of a dew-moistened field.  The photo on the left was a single flower of Salsify, which I would have sworn was a Tiger Swallowtail drying her wings.  The spaces between the petals looked like dark lines from a distance. Suddenly it struck me! Those vivid black stripes on a Tiger Swallowtail really act as camouflage.

So the second photo is a real Tiger Swallowtail in the sun "basking" position.  I have seen butterflies poised on flowers hundreds of times, but it was not until seeing this lone flower in the field I realized how similar both could look to a predator. "Nothing to eat here, just another flower..."

Last year's milkweed pods.

How else can fauna "hide" as flora?   Just study the photo below and it should become obvious.

Which is the sparrow and which is last year's milkweed pod?  When one actively seeks sparrows in a field full of spent milkweed pods, you soon learn how effective this camouflage can be!  (The milkweed is on the left; sparrow is teed-up in the shrub.)

Henslow's Sparrow   Photo by Dylan Leedom

The sparrow we were seeking: the Henslow's Sparrow.  It is a known skulker and denizen of the grasses.  It is usually a challenge to get a good look at this bird! His insect-like call, "tss-up" may be your only clue to his where-abouts.

Henslow's Sparrow in full glory.   Photo by Kim Leedom

This handsome fellow was not afraid to show himself. In fact, he was actively advertising for a mate.

This was exactly the reason we had traveled north to Sharonville Wildlife Management Area in Michigan. Our southern Ohio Henslow's Sparrows were already actively on nests or tending young by late May. We were able to travel north to see the Michigan birds on territory.

As we were leaving the area, I had the good fortune to meet Kim Leedom, who has kindly shared her personal photos as well as one taken by her son.  Birding is a wonderful way to meet fellow nature enthusiasts and an opportunity to witness nature's secret hiding places in the field.

Fashionista

Nature. Just when you think you have it all figured out, she tosses a curve ball.
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All moths fly at night, except when they don't. Katydids are green, except when they are pink (or blue)! And those female tiger swallowtails- are either black or striped, except when you find a rare in-between.




A female Tiger Swallowtail in an unusual "intermediate" color form. In all my years of butterflying, this one was a stand-out to me! Much darker than a normal striped female, she looked black when she closed her wings. This is a combination of the two female color variations.




She just couldn't decide what to wear! The darkness of her coloration was more obvious at a distance, making her a fashionista of the tigresses.
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Nature- something new every day!

The Black Tiger

Many of my birding friends show an interest in butterflies during the slow, hot months of summer. And since so many birders are proficient at sorting out look-a-like shorebirds and confusing fall warblers, certainly they can learn the few anomalies in butterflies.
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Only a few species of butterflies show significant dimorphism: the male and female look markedly different. One species, the Tiger Swallowtail, has two different female forms. These are both female Tiger swallowtails pictured in the photo below.




The commonly recognized "tiger" form of the female on the left is only slightly different than the male tiger swallowtail. She sports a bit more blue at the base of her hindwing.
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However, the black-form female tiger swallowtails can be a real poser. Maybe we need to talk about those confusing "black" butterflies? This black-form female still has a blue band at the hindwing, and if you see her against the light- you can actually see these faintest of stripes!! That is a sure bet you are looking at a dark-phase female tiger.





Suprise! Now we have added a male to the mix - a male Spicebush Swallowtail. He has just joined the ladies for a drink (of nectar). He is also a dark butterfly similar in size to the tigers, yet there are no see-through wing stripes. We can easily assess this a male, as his hindwing color is green. A female Spicebush would have a blue coloration.




Tigers can routinely be found nectaring on brightly colored flowers, such as Purple Coneflower and Ironweed. But this photo from Adams county was the first time I have seen them nectaring on the incredibly fragrant Virgin Bower, Clematis virginiana. I have one in my landscape but I rarely see it utilized by butterflies. I plan to take a much closer look to see if mine is actually a hybrid, that may not be producing a sweet smell or nectar like Ohio's native plant.

Blue Jay Barrens posted a wonderful article on Virgin Bower and I encourage you to tap on the link and visit his sight for for more information about this wonderful native plant.

Eye of the Tiger

A field trip to Adams County afforded some wonderful opportunities to get up-close and personal with many species of butterflies, and a few interesting "bugs" too. More photos will be forthcoming, but for now, let's say I happened to see things "eye to eye" with this fella.




He brought along his own "straw" to nectar on a native thistle, and while he probed the flower with his proboscis (a fitting name for the implement), I checked out the leaves to determine which thistle we were both enjoying.

Tiger Swallowtail on Tall Thistle.

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And so we stood, face to face, admiring the beautiful flowers of Tall Thistle, Cirsium altissimum. This particular thistle is not very well armed; it barely has bristles. Those lanceolate leaves also offer a nice color-contrast with their noticeably lighter undersides.

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He wondered why gardeners never consider planting these lovely plants, as they are guaranteed to attract a host of butterflies. I said I would pass the idea along, since we both agreed: thistles could add a new dimension to the average flower garden!

Backyard Butterflies

Today was a day-at-home, and there was an incredible amount of activity on my native plants with no need to go further afield.

Female Tiger Swallowtail (note the blue on hindwing) is one of Ohio's most spectacular insects. A color scheme almost too much to believe... a tiger-striped butterfly! Seriously! Nectaring on Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, this plant is irresistible to the fliers- both butterflies and finches.

The Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata was really hopping. Here is a Giant Swallowtail and a Monarch nectaring on the same plant. This is also a host plant for Monarchs, so it would be a good place for her to lay eggs as well.

Next the Giant Swallowtail and Monarch were joined by a Tiger Swallowtail. The activity on the milkweed was non-stop. Sunshine and peak flowering created an irresistible recipe for butterfly watching and the ease of photography was absolutely addicting. I must have spent an hour watching the same three plants.

Silver-spotted Skippers are normally a "frequent fliers" and difficult to find at a stand-still. Today there were 8 or 10 smitten with the nectar of the Joe-Pye-Weed, Eutrochium purpureum (warning: that's a name change) and the bee and butterfly activity on this plant was absolutely riotous. Locust trees are Silver-spot's host plants, and they are in plentiful supply nearby.

One more Joe-Pye customer, a Summer Azure (female- has darker outline on dorsal wings) is a mini-lep, smaller than a dime. Summer Azures are a bit lighter or whiter than the Spring Azure, and they may be smaller in size.

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Another summer day gone by, but this one will not soon be forgotten. There were at least 15 species of butterflies seen today on just my little 3 acre lot. It was stunning to see the diversity of species and sheer numbers of these little fliers. And as wonderful as it is for me, they have no place else to go. Our yard is surrounded by cornfields and mowed ditches, so these native plants are the only game in town.

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Are there native plants for the butterflies in your neighborhood?

Pretty in Pink

Prairie in Pink would have been a good alternative name for this post, as these species are frequently found in prairies, some wet, some dry.


Queen-of-the-Prairie, Filipendula rubra seems like a logical place to start! This plant was introduced to a Master Gardener's Convention in 2005- and wowed the socks off the landscape crowd. I had to have one, or three. And to think it is an Ohio Native, easily found in wet prairies like Cedar Bog (and my backyard)!

Native plant- Purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea - slightly obscured by a Giant Swallowtail butterfly. They seem to prefer nectaring on the coneflowers in my yard. In fact, I was not a big fan of the coneflower until I saw the Giant Swallowtails. Mark me as a "BIG FAN" now.

Oh, the Phlox of it all... this is probably some garden species from my past "landscaper" life, but I have several varieties of natives too. Spotted phlox, and Blue phlox .. any phlox is a good phlox in my book, as the butterflies love it!

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This lovely female Tiger Swallowtail (note the blue on the hind wings) was just making a spectacle of herself today. How could I not post her for the world to see? Shameless!

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We silly humans cannot begin to compete with the beauty of nature.