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Delightful Orange
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is in bloom right now on my mountain, creating bright orange patches scattered here and there. It’s a flower that attracts bees, wasps, and butterflies. This bunch of orange attracted a Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) creating a scrumptious color combination of black, white, and orange. Butterfly Weed has a wider native…
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Swallowtail On Milkweed
A few days ago I published a post titled, A Milkweed Plant, about the Fourleaf Milkweed (Asclepias quadrifolia). And now I’ve come upon a couple butterflies enjoying the blooms of this same Fourleaf Milkweed. These two butterflies are Zebra Swallowtails (Eurytides marcellus). Their host plant is the Pawpaw Tree. Adults feed on the nectar of…
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The PawPaw Patch
PawPaw (Asimina triloba). An understory small tree or large bush. Native to eastern North America. There are patches of them here and there up here in the mountains. And for a few years I had three or four individual PawPaw trees growing in my yard. Ones that I had planted. I was thoroughly enjoying them.…
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Zebra Swallowtail
The larval host of Zebra Swallowtail (Protographium marcellus) is any of the eight species of the genus PawPaw (Asimina). I’m in the process of replacing three PawPaw trees that I recently lost. An important quest for me. Exquisite Zebra Swallowtails depend entirely on PawPaw trees for their very existence. No PawPaw trees, no Zebra Swallowtails.…