What’s Flying? - December

The holiday season is here, and so are the welcome cold fronts of winter in Florida. Cooler days and nights mean fewer species of butterflies are around, but those that are still here are present in great numbers. Here’s what you might see in our garden during December.

Gulf Fritillary

Cloudless Sulphur

Orange Barred Sulphur

Sleepy Orange

Polydamas Swallowtail

Monarch

Duskywing

Tropical Checker Spot

Long Tailed Skipper

Blues

Fiery Skipper

White Peacock

Gray Hairstreak

Zebra Longwing

Barred Yellow

Painted Lady / American Lady

Notes From the Field:

• After last month’s surprise early Buckeye spotting, this month our unexpected early spottings were of Painted Ladies. These butterflies are ostensibly found year-round in Florida, but we tend to think of them as spring and early summer butterflies. Still, we’ve spotted several over the last couple of weeks, nectaring on lantana in the front garden.
• Zebra Longwings are never as abundant in this part of the state as in others, but they can be found fairly reliably this time of year around one particular firebush in the Backwoods here at MOSI. For some reason, this bush is a big draw for our local population.
• Our enormous Imperial Moth caterpillars are beginning to enter cocoons for the winter. Look for a detailed post on them in the weeks ahead.