Red Admiral

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a brush-footed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Adults of the species are fast, erratic flyers that prefer sap flows on trees and rotting fruit to flower nectar. Around this time of spring they are a common butterfly in the Tampa Bay.

Found throughout most of the continental United States, the Red Admiral larvae live on species in the nettle family including stinging nettle, false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica) and pellitory. Young larvae live in the shelter of folded leaves of their host plants and older larvae will use silken threads to build nests from several leaves for protection.

The caterpillars of the Red Admiral butterfly are incredibly variable in color. Caterpillars can range from black to pale green or be spotted with patterns or lines.

Use some caution when searching for these caterpillars among pellitory, as stinging nettles look very similar and often grow in proximity to this host plant. Stinging nettles (Urtica chamaedryoides) are covered in thousands of tiny, hollow hairs. These spines, called urticating hairs are small hollow tubes, sometimes with barbs, that are filled with an acrid fluid. These hairs are designed to break off the plant and lodge in a would-be predator.  The fluid inside the urticating hairs  can cause severe rash, irritation, swelling and allergic reactions to skin.

The chrysalis of the Red Admiral has a beautiful gold undertone that shimmers in the light. You might think that appearing metallic in nature might not be the best way to camouflage, but having a slightly reflective surface allows the chrysalis to mirror back the colors of its surroundings. Taking on the colors of surroundings provides better camouflage for the developing butterfly.

Several butterfly species in Florida have reflective gold or silver spots on their chrysalis like the Zebra Longwing, Julia, Gulf Fritillary, American Painted Lady, Queen and Monarch butterflies.  For a truly amazing chyrsalis, check out the gorgeous reflective chrysalis of  the Common Crow (Eupola core) butterfly.

Dahlberg Daisy

A great little annual for the dry season in Florida, Dahlberg Daisy (Thymophylla tenuiloba) has become popular once again with Florida gardeners in the last few years. Not that long ago, if you wanted Dahlbergs, you had to grow them from seed, as they were nearly impossible to find at nurseries. Now, though, you'll find them everywhere in the fall, winter, and spring, and they make a great low-growing border in any sunny, well-drained location.

Dahlberg Daisies are native to south Texas and northern Mexico. As a result, they love hot, dry conditions, and don't much enjoy the humidity of Florida summers. Once established, though, they'll thrive for weeks on end without rain, making them ideal for the dry fall and spring months. Plant them in the fall after the rainy season ends (around November) and expect to see them thrive through May. In the gardens here at BioWorks, they have shown a great deal of frost-tolerance, though if the plants do experience cold damage, they generally recover on their own once warmer weather arrives.

Like many members of the aster family (Asteraceae), these plants are prodigious re-seeders. Once you have Dahlbergs in your garden, you can expect volunteers to return each year in the general area where you planted them. Some folks in the Southwestern U.S. have noted this plant can be almost invasive in its spread, but here in Florida, the rainy summers seem to keep it in check.

It's a low-growing, spreading plant, so place it up front in borders where the tiny flowers and lacy foliage can be admired. It's also great in hanging baskets. Here at MOSI, we have a wonderful border of it by the Fort Matanzas Red Cedar, and some volunteer seedlings nearby from previous years' plantings.While it is not listed as having any nectar value for butterflies we observed a Buckeye butterfly feeding on these flowers just this past Wednesday. Also it does seem to be a draw for pollinators like bees, so it definitely has its place in a wildlife garden.

African Iris

The African Iris are in bloom around the gardens, and they certainly are lovely! Though the flowers last only a day or so, the showy blooms draw the attention of passers-by, especially around the pond in front of BioWorks.

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There’s a lot of confusion around the name of this plant, both common and botanical. In Florida, it’s commonly known as African Iris, due to its place of origin, but in other parts of the world it’s known as Fortnight Lily or Wild Iris. The botanical name of this plant is officially Dietes iridioides, but many people incorrectly refer to it as Dietes vegeta or Moraea iridioides, the confusion most likely stemming from its previous classifications.

Whatever you call it, this plant does well in both wet and dry soils, although it flowers best in wet. Here in Florida, we seem to get a burst of blooms in spring, and then sporadic blooms the rest of the year. African Iris is rhizomatic, so it should be divided every year or two to keep it in check. It also spreads by seeds, which form after the flower dies back. The seedpod stem often droops to the ground, giving the seeds a better chance of getting started. If you want to limit the amount of spreading, you can trim the seedpods from the stem when they appear. Residents of Southern California in particular appear to find the spread of this non-native plant to be invasive, though in Florida we don’t seem to have that problem.

Butterflies and Moths of Hillsborough County

I was recently asked how many species of butterflies can a person possibly see in the Tampa area. I didn’t know the answer, but I did know where to look. The Butterflies and Moths of North America is an invaluable resource for butterfly and moth data.

As of the day this is written, BAMONA has verified 145 species of butterflies and moths in Hillsborough County Florida. You can follow this link to check out the list. To see a different county, just select yours from the dropdown box and then click on apply.

In Hillsborough County, Florida here are the numbers broken down by family:

Butterflies

• Hesperiidae Skippers : 49 species verified

• Papilionidae Parnassians and Swallowtails: 8 species verified

• Pieridae Whites and Sulphurs: 14 species verified

• Lycaenidae Gossamer-wing Butterflies: 14 species verified

• Riodinidae Metalmarks: 1 species verified

• Nymphalidae Brush-footed Butterflies: 29 species verified

Moths

• Saturniidae Wild Silk Moths: 7 species verified

• Sphingidae Sphinx Moths, Hawkmoths: 16 species verified

• Notodontidae Prominents : 3 species verified

• Arctiidae Tiger Moths and Lichen Moths : 2 species verified

• Megalopygidae Flannel Moths: 1 species verified

• Pyralidae Pyralid Moths : 1 species verified

You can help BAMONA with their database. If you sight and photograph a butterfly  or moth not previously recorded in your county, submit that photo to them and they will log the sighting. Create a free account at BAMONA and then click on the share link to report sightings and upload photos.

In 2009 I sighted a Fulvous Hairstreak (Electrostrymon angelia) in the gardens and snapped some quick photos of the butterfly nectaring on anise hyssop. When I checked the BaMoNA website I discovered that this butterfly had not been previously reported in Hillsborough County. I submitted the sighting for verification and now the Fulvous Hairstreak is listed for Hillsborough County.

The Defenses of Butterflies: Osmeterium

Swallowtail caterpillars have a defense mechanism called osmeterium. Osmeterium are a fleshy organ where caterpillars of swallowtail species sequester essential oils from their host plants, also known as terpenes. These oils coat the normally hidden osmeterium which can be everted or pushed out when the caterpillar is threatened.

The osmetierium are usually a bright warning color like red, yellow or orange and because of the terpenes smell quite foul. Having to move swallowtail caterpillars to new host plants also means that butterfly growers get their share of osmeterium love as the caterpillars arch backwards wildly, smearing predators faces and keepers hands alike with gross smelling oils. Each species has its own unique odor based upon what plants the caterpillar has been eating.

The Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar shown in these photos has its osmeterium less than half everted, so when fully extended these osmeterium can be pretty showy. This black swallowtail caterpillar was harassed and photographed by the lovely Jill Staake.

Artemesia

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Artemisia (Artemisia X 'Powis Castle') is a hybrid of two other Artemisia species, Absinthe (Artemisia absinthium) and Wormwood (Artemesia arborescens). Absinthe and Wormwood have been used a medicinal remedies for hundreds of years. Absinthe has a bitter foliage that was believed to stimulate stomach acid and bile production, and thus was prescribed for stomach aches and those with underactive digestive systems. Artemisia should not be eaten as it is toxic if used improperly.

This Artemesia is currently growing in several spots throughout the MOSI gardens and has provided lovely silver foliage throughout the cooler months.

The Defenses of Butterflies: Aposematic Signals

Another method of avoiding predation seems very opposite to hiding. Bright colors, strong aromas, and conspicuous noises are warning signals used by animals to ward away prey. By showing themselves so obviously and sometimes even calling attention to themselves, these animals show predators that it is best to avoid a meal made by something so conspicuous. Aposematic signals (from apo meaning away and sematic meaning sign or meaning) warn predators that there is something about the intended prey animal that will likely sicken the predator. Warning colors and other aposematic signals are often associated with toxicity or unpalatability. These signals are beneficial to both the predator and the prey as the predator avoids a potentially harmful meal and they prey gets to keep on keeping on.

Aposematic signals are powerful warning devices. In some areas species that are aposematic come to resemble each other in a mimicry complex known as Müllarian mimicry. This is where two species that are both noxious to predators have similar warning colors and patterns to help reinforce their unpalatability to their predators. A predator that eats a distasteful Monarch butterfly will likely avoid the similar looking and also noxious Queen butterfly when looking for a future meal.

Another type of mimicry comes from species that are afforded protection by displaying aposematic signals of noxious species but are themselves harmless. This complex is called Batsian mimicry and it involves a model species that is known to be distasteful. Mimic species that display similar aposematic signals will be passed over by predators that have already had a run-in with the noxious model species. Here in Tampa Bay the female of the Tiger Swallowtail often does not resemble its flamboyant bright yellows mate and instead has a black overall coloring with a dusting of blue scales on the lower wing. To a predator, this distinctly looks like a noxious Pipevine Swallowtail and may help the female Tiger Swallowtail to live long enough to lay eggs and ensure another generation.

The Defenses of Butterflies: Eyespots

Eyespots, sometimes called ocellus, are pigmented spots on a caterpillar, butterfly or moth that look like an eye.

These eyespots can sometimes resemble the eyes of a larger creature and can be quite striking. In the case of the female Io Moth pictured here, her eyespotted hind-wings we kept tucked under her fore wings until I disturbed her. She pulled her forewings forward and showed off the eyespots on her hind wings only after I brushed against the branch where she perched.

The caterpillar of the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly has curious eyespots on its body that don’t have anything to do with the caterpillar’s real eyes. This species spins a pad of silk onto a leaf and tightens the silk until it rolls the leaf around its body. These leaf shelters help to hide the caterpillars from hungry predators. Anyone that goes looking into rolled leaves will get quite a surprise upon seeing one of these caterpillars. Viewed from head on, they look a great deal like a small snake.

Some eyespots seem to resemble the eyes of large animals but some put eyes in curious locations, such as along the edge of a wing. These spots may help to draw the eyes of a predator to a less important part of the butterfly body. If the edge of a wing is attacked, butterflies can fly on missing a piece of their wing.

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Check out this gallery of photographs of eyespots found on Florida moths and butterflies. I have included the Io Moth, Polyphemus Moth, White Peacock, Southern Pearly Eye, Buckeye and Carolina Satyr to show just a few of the ways our Florida bugs show off their eyespots.

Shopping for Plants

Once again it is the season for gardening.

I get a lot of questions about where to buy plants. In addition to large home improvement centers, I usually suggest that people seek out a local plant nursery. Many of these small retail nurseries are very specialized and can provide some unique plant material and hard-to-find native plants that larger stores don’t have room to stock . Also, nursery professionals at local nurseries often have long time experience with the local area and can provide great tips and suggestions for plant choices or gardens with challenges.

Large home improvement stores do have some great specials and coupons so keep your eyes peeled for sales. As I see it, any money you save means more plants that you can buy for your garden!

Think Native: Native plants are often the ones best for butterflies and best for reduction of water use. Native and Florida Friendly plants are best suited to our unique environment and will likely thrive in your yard.

As there seems to be no exhaustive list of Tampa Bay nurseries, I put together a list of all the ones I could find that are still in business. Some of these specialize in native plants and I have marked them with an *.

• Ansom Nursery
• 5296 West Homosassa Trail
• Lecanto FL, 34461
• http://www.ansonnursery.net/
• Aventura Nursery
• 10079 County Line Rd. Spring Hill, FL 34608
• 18332 Ayers Rd. Brooksville, FL 34604
• http://www.aventuranursery.com/
• Best Value Plant Nursery
  • 2807 North Armenia Avenue,
  • Tampa, FL 33607-2642
  • (813) 253-0984‎
• Bloom Garden Shop
• 3005 S. MacDill Ave
• Tampa, FL 33629
• (813) 805-2151
• Brandon Garden Center
• 5918 Watson Rd
• Riverview, FL 33578
• http://www.brandongardencenter.com/
• Duncheon's Nursery
  • 2720 Land O Lakes Blvd
  • Land O Lakes, FL.
  • 813-948-1890
  • http://duncheons.com/garden_center.htm
• Earl’s Garden Shop Nursery
• 4328 W Pearl Ave
• Tampa, FL 33611-3428
• (813) 839-6383
• Emerald Hill Nursery
• 1907 Hawk Griffin Road
• Plant City, FL 33565-5751
• (813) 754-4751
• http://emeraldhillnursery.com
• Florida Native Nursery *
• 4115 Native Garden Dr
• Plant City, FL 33565-2426
• (813) 754-190
• Green Thumb Nursery
• 6913 Sheldon Rd.
• Tampa, FL 33615
• 813-884-3797
• http://www.greenthumbnursery.com/
• Hollie's Nursery *
• 20545 County Line Rd.,
• Lutz, FL, 33558
• (813) 949-6735
• http://www.gohollies.com/
• Keep It Green Nursery
• 7075 N US Hwy 41
• Apollo Beach, FL 33572
• http://www.plantnurserytampa.com/
• Kerby’s Nursery
  • 2311 South Parsons Avenue
  • Seffner, FL 33584-5213
  • (813) 685-3265
  • www.kerbysnursery.com
• Lake Jewel Farms, Inc.
  • 8705 North Mobley Rd
  • Odessa, FL
  • (813) 920-8090
  • http://www.thecityoftampa.com/tampa-fl-landscaping-nurseries-lake-jewel-farms-inc/index.html
• Manny's On the Bay Plants
• 600 West Hillsborough Avenue,
• Tampa, FL 33603-1304
• (813) 231-9681
• Merrell's Flower Power Garden
• 6530 Lithia Pinecrest Rd,
• Lithia, FL 33547-3847
• Phone: (813) 653-9063
• http://merrellsflowerpowernursery.com/
• The Garden
• 3708 W. Sam Allen Rd.
• Plant City, FL 33565
• http://www.booneswholesalenursery.com/
• The Natives *
• 2929 J. B. Carter Road
• Davenport Florida 33837
• (863) 422-6664
• http://www.thenatives.net/home.html
• Tree Mart *
  • 12505 N. Nebraska
  • Tampa, FL 33612
  • (813) 972-4006
  • http://www.treemart.com/
• Twigs and Leaves *
  • 1013 Dr. Martin Luther King St. South
  • St. Petersburg, FL
  • 727.822.5400
  • http://www.twigsnleaves.com/
• Wilcox Nursery *
  • 12501 Indian Rocks Road
  • Largo, FL 33774-3037
  • (727) 595-2073
  • http://www.wilcoxnursery.com/

You can also check the website to the Association of Florida Native Nurseries http://www.afnn.org/

One last trick of mine involves checking out produce stands. Many large scale produce stands also have plants at entirely reasonable prices like 4 inch pots of herbs at 25 cents each. It tends to be a mixed bag, but sometimes you can find some gems.

Do you know of a small nursery I have missed in the Tampa Bay area or do you have feedback on one of the nurseries listed? Please list it in the comments and I will make sure to add it to the list and map.

View Tampa Bay Nurseries in a larger map

Please note: By posting this list MOSI is not recommending any one garden center over another. Rather we hope to list as many nurseries as possible so that you can make your garden the best patch of earth it can possibly be for you, your family and the butterflies.

The Defenses of Butterflies: Mimicry

Mimicry occurs when one group of organisms (mimics) evolves to share perceived characteristics with another group of organisms (models) through selective actions. There are many varieties of mimicry complexes that exist with varying results, but let's look at two particular types of mimicry that exist in the wonderful world of Lepidoptera and the scientists who are attributed with their discoveries.

Müllarian Mimicry

Johann Friedrich Theodor Müller (March 31, 1821 – May 21, 1897), better known as Fritz, was a German biologist and physician who emigrated to Brazil and spent his life studying the sub-tropical Atlantic forests south of Sao Paulo. Müller's discovery in the field of mimicry concerned resemblances between unpalatable species which helps to protect those species from predators capable of learning.

We can see a case of Müllarian Mimicry among the Monarch (Danaus plexippus) and Queen butterflies (Danaus gilippus) in Florida. Both species consume milkweed and sequester toxins from the plants in their bodies, making them both distasteful to predators such as birds. Both species utilize a aposematic or warning coloration of bright orange and red tones that generally warn of toxic qualities in prey. Both species resemble each other so strongly that they are often misidentified by people.

A bird that tastes a monarch will learn and remember that the bright orange coloration and pattern of decoration on a monarch butterfly is a signal of the unpalatability. A queen butterfly flying past later will likely be viewed as 'not food' since it bears such a striking resemblance to a creature which tasted very bad to the bird.

Thus the two species gain an advantage against predators by each offering the same bad taste to the predators and reinforcing that bad taste with a very similar appearance.

Left: monarch / Right: queen

Batesian Mimicry

Henry Walter Bates (February 8, 1825 – February 16, 1892) was an English naturalist who traveled to the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace (credited with the co-discovery of natural selection). Bates spent 11 years in the Amazon, sending home some 14,000 specimins of which about 8,000 were entirely new to science. With no formal education in science, Bates was an auto-didact (self-taught) scientist whose observations have helped to shape moden biology. If you have the opportunity, take a look at Bates' work The Naturalist on the Rivers Amazons which tells of his travels in the Amazon.

While in the Amazonian rain forest, Bates noted that noxious species of butterfly in one family of butterflies were often counterfeited in appearance by members of the Pierid (sulphur) family of butterflies. Bates work traced butterflies in the Danainae (milkweed)and Heliconiinae (longwing) families who feed on milkweed and passionvines respectively. The butterflies of these families sequester noxious compounds from their host plants within their bodies and therefore taste bad to predators.

In this mimicry complex, the Danaids and Helaconids become the models. Their mimics, members of the Pierid (or sulphur) family gain protection from predators by mimicing the visual appearance of the distasteful models. Even though they would be quite tasty to predators, the mimics appear to be noxious butterflies and thus are left alone by predators who have already encountered the noxious butterflies and learned that they are bad to eat.

Here in Florida there is an example of Batsian mimicry visible with the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) and Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucas). The Pipevine Swallowtail is the model, a butterfly that tastes noxious to predators because of chemicals consumed in its host plants, pipevines (aristolochia spp).

The Tiger Swallowtail, a normally bright yellow butterfly with tiger-like striping has a black form that occurs in females of the species in areas where the Pipevine Swallowtail is present. This black form mimics the look of Pipevine Swallowtails and gains protection for these female butterflies to mate and lay their eggs without being eaten. Probably very handy if you are a female Tiger Swallowtail.

Left: Pipevine male / Right: Tiger female, black form

Etymology of Mimicry
mimetic 1637, "having an aptitude for mimicry," from Gk. mimetikos "imitative," from mimetos, verbal adj. of mimeisthai "to imitate." Originally of persons, attested of animals or plants from 1851. Online Etymology Dictionary

The Defenses of Butterflies: Camouflage

de Camouflage is a type of crypsis (hiding) which allows a visible creature to blend into their environment and thus become difficult to see. Tigers Swallowtails have stripes that help to break up their overall form and modern soldiers wear a camouflage print that has the same effect. By utilizing colors similar to their environment, counter-shading and patterns, the eye of a human or predator is tricked

The Art of Camouflage: There are four main strategies of camouflage: cryptic (or blending), disruptive (or dazzle), mimicry, and countershading.

Cryptic camouflage involves colors and patterns that help an organism blend into their surroundings and become invisible to the eye. The Goatweed Leafwing butterfly (Anaea andria) has the coloration and shape of a dead leaf and becomes nearly invisible on the forest floor among the leaf litter.

The pale yellow wings of the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly help it to blend into sunlit foliage and flowers so that when this butterfly stops and closes its wings it seems to disappear. For an even more impressive show of camouflage, check out the disappearing act of the Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) shown on the Awesome Photography blog.

Disruptive camouflage dazzles the eye by providing visual cues that override the characteristics of creature. The eyespots found on many butterfly and moth species create an image of large, circular eyes often similar to the eyes of predators. Octopus ink is another sort of disruption that catches the eye and disrupts smell and sight to allow the octopus to escape. Eyespots a very diverse and super neat, so I will cover them in their own post.

Mimicry camouflage allows one organism to present itself like another organism, often a dangerous or toxic creature. Mimicry is a complex topic so I’ll cover more about it in a later post.

Another variety of mimicry is called Masquerade. This sort of mimicry describes a living creature’s appearance that is modeled after something innocuous. In the case of the Giant Swallowtail, the caterpillars of this species are mottled brown and white and are often very shiny and look a great deal like bird poop. Birds, one of the main predators of the Giant Swallowtail, may overlook these tasty snacks that look like they have already been eaten and excreted.

Countershading mimicry utilizes coloration to override the normal cues of depth perception. This mimicry employs light coloration in places where dark colors are normally found and dark colors where light ones are normally found. In nature, most animals are lit from above by the sun and thus have a shadow on their undersides.

The Giant Swallowtail butterfly has a dark upper wing and a pale, buttery yellow underside of the wing that is patterned to break up the overall shape of the insect. When viewed from below, this butterfly in flight is harder to see with its pale underside matching the bright pale colors of the sky.

The bright white bellies of many sharks or of salmon are shadowed so that in the wild the become nearly the same color as the darker top side of the animal. This same principle is used in camouflage makeup for the military where light colors are used in the normally shadowed parts of the face like around the eye and darker colors are used for the normally well lit, protruding parts of the face such as the nose. This swap of visual cues for depth perception tricks the eye into seeing a textured face as flat.

Check out some other cool insects and animals exhibiting incredible camouflage over at the Conservation Report blog.

Eight-Spotted Forester Moth

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The Eight-Spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata) can be found from Florida north to Quebec and west to South Dakota and Texas.

This species has bright orange fuzzy patches on its legs. At first glace, these hairy socks give the impression of a bee laden with pollen. Eight-Spotted Forester moths are day fliers which means that mimicking the colors or appearance of a bee might help to keep predators at bay. If anyone knows of a good paper about this moth as a bee mimic, please drop me a line.

These adorable moths can be found hosting on Virginia Creeper and grape vine, both of which could be found in abundance in our Backwoods Forest Preserve. Larvae burrow in pulpy wood or other protective places to make their cocoons.