There must be something irresistible about thistle flowers, because on Tuesday I encountered multiple clusters of thistles with butterflies feeding on them during a short visit to Huntley Meadows Park. Sometimes the butterflies seemed to be socially distancing themselves, but at other times they were feeding side by side with other butterflies, including those of different species.
Of course, butterflies do not remain still while feeding—they move about constantly as they change their positions and flap their wings, complicating my efforts to capture images of them. The first photo below is one of my favorites. It shows a dark morph female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) sharing a thistle flower with two Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele). I love the contrast between the colors of these two species that together provide a foretaste of the autumn season that is almost upon us.
The second photo provides a closer view of the dark morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. The final photo is a shot of what I believe is another female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail that has a yellow coloration similar to that of a male, but has an additional band of blue spots along the hindwings. I think it is really cool that there are two different color variants of females—in many insect and bird species, the males have more color and variation and the females are drab by comparison.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
beautiful resolution and color
beautiful resolution and color
Thanks so much, Michael. So often the butterflies at this time of the year look a bit tattered, but these ones, particularly the Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, looked pretty fresh.
Beautifully captured, Mike.
The photos are beautiful. I’m surprised to see thistles blooming in your area. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one in bloom here; most have seeded out. Latitude strikes again, I suppose!
Thanks. I seem to recall that this is the time of the year when the thistles tend to be blooming. It’s been a strange summer, with periods of drought followed by heavy rains. It’s hard to remember what a “normal” summer is like!
Gorgeous scenes. That first image is super lovely.
Thanks so much. That image is my favorite photo too. I considered posting only that one, but decided to post several more images. 🙂