(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)
A tiger swallowtail feeds on thistle on an August afternoon in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.
Feeding on Thistle
Category: Butterfly
New Crop of Caterpillars
(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)
A black swallowtail caterpillar, one of about twenty-five or so on the parsley in our garden today. Looks like we were spared the hurricane and we’ll have a new crop of butterflies.
Butterfly in the Meadow
Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh.
A butterfly feeds on wildflowers in the meadow of our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.
Tiger Swallowtail in March
(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)
Things are happening a little early this year. A tiger swallowtail works the plum blossoms Friday in my yard in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.
Predator and Prey
Our backyard has been alive this summer with life such as this rare fritillary butterfly. With so much abundance, however, nature evens things out as the mantis lurks in the shadows waiting for an opportunity,
(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)
Joepyeweed
Butterflies are abundant this year on our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. In fact, I don’t remember ever having as many in our yard. There are literally hundreds. Sometimes it seems as if our yard is alive and moving in one big dance. Part of the reason is my wife has chosen plants and flowers for our yard that attract the butterflies, but another big reason is the large number of wildflowers we have growing on other parts of the farm. I clip my pastures, but I don’t trim close to the creeks and fence lines and the result is a large population of plants such as joepyeweed which act a magnet for all sorts of butterflies. I didn’t set out to do it on purpose, but a lack of time and money to keep things manicured has resulted in an abundance of wildlife.
(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)
Tiger Swallowtail
(Copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)
The caterpillars we had in our yard in Grays Chapel, North Carolina have completed their transformation. A Tiger Swallowtail works the bloom of a butterfly bush.
Butterflies to Come
We have a lot of Black Swallowtail butterflies around our home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. They laid their eggs and now their young are in the caterpillar stage. Last year the young caterpillars fed on parsley. This year, they have chosen dill. Soon they will spin cocoons and begin their change into adult Swallowtails.
(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)
Summer Butterfly
(Photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
A Tiger Swallowtail feeds on thistle in our pasture on our farm in Randolph County earlier this summer.
New Butterfly in the Parsley Nursery
A Black Swallowtail butterfly dries its wings after emerging from its chrysalis (below) on our back deck in Grays Chapel, North Carolina this past weekend. My wife plants parsley especially as a host for the butterfly caterpillars. We normally hatch several each season.
Below is a swallowtail caterpillar feeding on parsley.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Dan Routh Photography 