If only you could see the whole series of images that this one came from. The series is like a dramatic opera without music but so much movement! Butterflies love this flower, Tithonia rotundifolia. That’s the orange flower that caused the drama. I highly recommend it if butterflies bring you pleasure. An annual plant that requires me to remember each year to plant it. Best of luck, if you’re like me and don’t necessarily remember little things like planting this, that, or the other thing at the proper time of year.

But let me get on with the topic at hand. The Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe). There are two of them in the small photo above. These beauties can be found in North America, the West Indies, Costa Rica and Belize.

The wing span of the Sleepy Orange is between 1.5 and 2 inches, or about the size of a Cabbage White. The host plants include Cassia, Clover, Wild Sennas, and Partridge Pea. The adult Sleepy Orange loves to sip nectar from flowers using its tongue like a straw.

The flight period of the Sleepy Orange in Virginia are generally June until October. Sometimes several are seen “puddling” or gathering around a puddle or patch of wet sand where they get sips of water along with the natural salts they need.