August 2, 2017

Location: Vero Beach, Environmental Learning Center

I am now a Coontie Hairstreak,
A beautiful adult butterfly.
I'll live a happy life of about a month,
Lay eggs, and then I'll die.

Welcome to the final day of my special series on the lifecycle of the Cootie Hairstreak butterfly. I hope you have enjoyed it!

Sources: UF/IFAS - Features Creatures: Atala Butterfly

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

Butterfly Resources

The following are sources used in our Butterflies of Indian River County Presentation:

• Labeled Butterfly Anatomy Diagram
• Butterflies Vs Moths: What are the Differences?
• Butterfly Lifecycle
• San Mateo County Parks: Difference Between Butterflies and Moths
• Swallowtail Comparisons
• Butterflies on Dee at 8 AM
• Gulf Fritillary
• Common Buckeye
• Zebra Longwing
• Giant Swallowtail
• Black Swallowtail
• Tiger Swallowtail
• Monarch
• Queen
• Viceroy
• Cloudless Sulphur
• Barred Yellow
• Orange-barred Sulphur
• Great Southern White
• White Peacock
• Long-tailed Skipper 
• Phaon Crescent
• Pearl Crescent
• Red Admiral

October 19, 2023

I'm a West Indian Mangrove Buckeye butterfly

I have 2 palpi that help me to sense and smell

If you look at me closely, the palpis look like

I've a secret I'm not supposed to tell!

(Note: Enlarge the first picture here. I've never gotten a photo of a butterfly from this angle before and thus never noticed the palpi before!)

Location: Joe Michael Memorial Trail, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge

Sources: https://www.mylifeatplaytime.com/butterfly-anatomy/

Photo and text © 2023 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

December 6, 2024

I am a captive African Spurred Tortoise

I live at the National Butterfly Center

I was badly hurt in fire,

But will and desire

Put me in touch with a new shell inventor.

(Read Spike's sad, but ultimately hopeful story at the link below.)

Location: National Butterfly Center, Mission TX

Sources: https://texashighways.com/outdoors/parks/meet-spike-the-national-butterfly-centers-resident-tortoise/

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

July 11, 2018

Location: Vero Beach, Lagoon Greenway

I am a Common Buckeye butterfly
I'm in the Brush-footed butterfly family.
My relatives include Monarchs and Viceroys,
We all have short front legs that are hairy.

Sources: Insect Identification for the Casual Observer - Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia)

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

June 30, 2017

Location: Pelican Island NWR

I'm a Common Buckeye Butterfly,
I'm mostly orange and brown with purple eye spots.
When I'm a caterpillar I like to eat Snapdragons,
As a butterfly,  I like sunny, warm plots.

Sources: Butterflies and Moths of North America

(Disclaimer: Due to a minor hand issue I've not been able to use my camera so am posting some older pictures that I haven't included before on this blog.  I will resume my regular 8:00 am postings soon, but for now, please enjoy these blasts from the past.) 

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

July 28, 2017

Location: Vero Beach, Environmental Learning Center

These are the eggs of the Coontie Hairstreak,
And the Coontie plant to which they are attached.
Right now they are tiny and white,
But stay tuned to see what happens when they hatch!

Welcome to a special series on the lifecycle of the Coontie Hairstreak butterfly. For the next six days, I will be showing this beautiful butterfly from an egg all the way to an adult. Enjoy!

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

December 3, 2024

I am a Dainty Sulphur

I'm a small, yellow butterfly with long forewings

On my outer wing edge I've some black spots

If I migrate north, it will be in summer or spring.

Location: National Butterfly Center, Mission TX

Sources: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Nathalis-iole

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

September 21, 2020

I am a Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly

Named after my favorite caterpillar food

As an adult I feed on honeysuckle and thistles,

But I'll check out Spotted Horsemint and Salvia too. 

Update: I was asked how to differentiate between a Spicebush and a Black Swallowtail. Check out this page which has great comparisons between similar butterflies, specifically, look at the ventral views: 

https://www.butterfliesathome.com/black-swallowtail-butterfly-comparison.htm

Location: Fellsmere, my yard

Sources: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Papilio-troilus

Photo and text © 2020 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

September 24, 2019

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

I am a Gulf Fritillary butterfly
You can find me on roadsides, in fields and in parks
You can also find me in woodlands and gardens
And if you are lucky, right in your back yard

Sources: UF | IFAS Featured Creatures Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

August 16, 2018

Location: Durham, NC, Museum of Life and Science

I am a Blue Morpho Butterfly
Shown here from the underside.
From above I am bright, iridescent blue,
But with my wings closed, it's easier to hide.

Sources: UF | IFAS Featured Creatures - Blue Morpho Butterfly

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

December 13, 2024

I'm known as a Gray Cracker butterfly

So named because I make a cracking sound

When my spiny rods contact my anal claspers

Other territorial males can tell I am around.

Location: National Butterfly Center, Mission TX

Sources: https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Hamadryas_februa%20-%20Grey%20Cracker%20Butterfly.pdf

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

December 12, 2024

I am a Great Southern White butterfly

My wings can be from white to yellow to grey

My antennal clubs are always turquoise blue

And I'm sexually dimorphic, as the scientists say.

Location: Estero Llano Grande State Park, Weslaco, TX

Sources: https://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio300b/sexdi.htm
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wildflowers/butterfly/great-southern-white/

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

June 27, 2019

Location: Vero Beach, private residence

I am an adult Zebra Longwing butterfly
Zoom in to see my proboscis is curled up tight
When I find some nectar, I'm gonna let loose
And let my probosscisy freak flag fly.

Sources: UF | IFAS Featured Creatures Zebr Longwing butterfly 

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

May 29, 2019

Location: Sebastian Inlet State Park, Campground

I am a Gulf Fritillary butterfly
I can produce multiple generations each year.
I lay my tiny yellow eggs on a host plant
Such as the Purple Passionflower shown here.

Sources: UF|IFAS Featured Creatures - Gulf Fritillary butterfly

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

May 12, 2021

I am a Northern Cloudywing

I'm sure you're familiar with the parts of mammalia

But I bet that you never gave thought to

A butterfly's genitalia.

(I never know what I am going to find when researching this blog. But I must admit that "150 year old drawings of a Cloudywings naughty bits" surprised me. Click the link below. To be honest, they kind of look like the first pattern I drew for the Pelican puppet I am making, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how these naughty bits would make a baby butterfly.)

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://butterfliesofamerica.com/thorybes_p_pylades_genitalia.htm

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

July 13, 2020

Location: (Top) Wyoming, Medicine Bow National Forest
(Bottom) Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

At the top here is Oxytropis lambertii from Wyoming
At the bottom, in Florida is a Butterfly Pea
Different states, on the same date, Dee and Joy
Both found plants in the Fabaceae (Pea) family
It’s easy to appreciate and marvel at
Botanical diversity!

Special thanks to guest photographer, Joy Handley.

Sources: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Oxytropis lambertii 

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Centrosema virginianum

Oxytropis lambertii photo © 2020 Joy Handley
Butterfly Pea photo and text © 2020 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 27, 2021

I am a Great Southern White butterfly

You can ID me by my turquoise antennal clubs

You can find me in coastal habitats

Fluttering amongst wildflowers and buds.

Location: Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park

Sources: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wildflowers/butterfly/great-southern-white/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

August 15, 2018

Location: Durham, NC, Museum of Life and Science

I am an Owl Butterfly
To a predator, my eyespots look like an owl.
I like to get drunk on fermented fruit juice
And then go out on the prowl.

Sources: Natural History Museum - Spotlight: The Owl Butterfly

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 10, 2017

Location: Titusville, Enchanted Forest

I am a male Black Swallowtail Butterfly.
When I'm a caterpillar I eat celery and dill.
As a butterfly, I like nectar from flowers,
Including milkweed, red clover and thistle.

Sources: Butterflies and Moths of North America - Black Swallowtail

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson