Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Swallotail Tale part 2

Swallowtail was on the Poinciana and moved accross the yard to the red hibiscus. I posted the blurry  because that is what I saw, a blur of beauty
There are over 2,000 species of butterflies in the rainforests of South America.

Butterflies are further divided into 30 orders, the main basis of classification being their wing structure.

adult swallowtails feed on nectar from various flowers in the surroundings. The tongue of these species is specially designed to suck nectar from the flat topped flowers. When not in use this flexible tongue is coiled up into a spiral formation.
 I stand and watch these butterflies as they seem to attach themselves to the flowers like they are sucking from the middle. I found this fact about them, so now I know they ARE indeed sucking the nectar from the flowers.



16 comments:

Deb said...

you are right Sandra a blur of beauty....who says photos have to be a certian way to be beautiful...I find improfection adds to the beauty....

LC said...

Thaanks for fascinating details about these flowers with wings!

Unknown said...

Beautiful, butterflys. I'm just begining to see some here in numbers, enough to try to get photos. Bee's also.
Good information to.

From the Kitchen said...

We are still enjoying more butterflies than usual. I need to keep my camera closer at hand!!

Best,
Bonnie

Christine said...

Never met a butterfly I didn't like. These are beautiful!

Ginny Hartzler said...

More great pictures, and facts!!! It looks like they have four wings in a couple pictures! The top half of the wings is fluttering while the bottom half is still. How else could that be unless the wings are divided? I got a good picture of the spiraled tongue this year.

S. Etole said...

The fluttered beauty is well shared! what a wonder they are.

Chatty Crone said...

I learned something new today - I didn't know any of that - thanks for the biology (?) lesson and the beautiful pictures. You got some great close ups.

EG CameraGirl said...

Interesting how the one side of each wing looks so yellow and the reverse so black. What a pretty butterfly!

Remington said...

Beatuiful pics and great information! The last one is AWESOME!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi There, Been to Tullahoma all day... Dad is not doing well. Bless his heart.

Love the butterfly --but that Poinciana is gorgeous. Wow!!!!!

Hugs,
Betsy

SquirrelQueen said...

I love these! The first few shots with the swirls of color remind me of a ballerina in motion.

They definitely love the nectar, pretty much anytime you see one sitting still on a flower its proboscis will be inserted in the center.

Ann said...

"A blur of beauty' i like that. That is a pretty butterfly. I've only seen a couple around here so far this year.

George said...

Thanks for this additional information -- and the great pictures -- about butterflies. I knew there were many different species, but I didn't realize there were that many.

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

You have all that beauty to photograph, breathtaking! Did you see the eyes? red eyes with blue eyebrows? NEAT~

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

It is a blur of beauty but sets down to be beautiful!