Time series: Purple Milkweed (Parts 3, 4)

Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens) flowers were photographed on 06 and 10 June 2016 near a large vernal pool at Huntley Meadows Park in Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

Kevin Munroe, former park manager at Huntley Meadows, designated Purple Milkweed as a “plant of interest” due to the fact that it is officially a rare plant species in the state of Virginia (S2).

Part 3

These plants are covered with ants, lots of ants!

06 JUN 2016 | Huntley Meadows Park | Purple Milkweed

Later, a single Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) was feeding on the same milkweed plant, along with lots of ants.

06 JUN 2016 | Huntley Meadows Park | Purple Milkweed

Part 4

Lots of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) were observed feeding on the milkweed. The next two photos show the same individual in two poses.

10 JUN 2016 | Huntley Meadows Park | Purple Milkweed

The proboscis, a specialized structure that enables butterflies to siphon liquids from flowers, is shown clearly in the next two photos.

10 JUN 2016 | Huntley Meadows Park | Purple Milkweed

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) was feeding on another cluster of milkweed flowers. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is the State Insect of Virginia. Really, who knew there are official state insects?

10 JUN 2016 | Huntley Meadows Park | Purple Milkweed

The last photo is my favorite in both galleries.

Related Resources

• Time series: Purple Milkweed (Part 1)
• Time series: Purple Milkweed (Part 2)

Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly

The following photo shows a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) spotted on 17 June 2015 at Huntley Meadows Park. This individual is nectaring on an unknown species of milkweed, possibly Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).

The milkweed was covered with tens of fritillaries, so it was almost impossible to get a clear shot of a single butterfly.

Copyright © 2016 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Great Spangled Fritillary

The first two photos in this gallery show a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) nectaring on Large-flower Tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora).

31 MAY 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Great Spangled Fritillary

31 MAY 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Great Spangled Fritillary

This butterfly was spotted in a small meadow near a vernal pool in the forest at Huntley Meadows Park.

31 MAY 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Great Spangled Fritillary

The wings of Great Spangled Fritillary are equally beautiful in either ventral view (shown above) or dorsal view (shown below).

31 MAY 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Great Spangled Fritillary

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Matt Ryan, Naturalist at Huntley Meadows Park, for identifying the yellow flowering plant shown in this gallery.

Copyright © 2016 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

More color therapy

Several Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) were spotted at Huntley Meadows Park during photowalks in late-summer and early-fall 2014. The following photographs are shown in reverse chronological order.

Feeding on (a.k.a., nectaring) ironweed (Vernonia sp.) …

12 September 2014

Feeding on climbing hempvine (Mikania scandens) …

04 September 2014

04 September 2014

Perching on a man-made brush shelter located near the berm that retains water in the 50-acre central wetland area …

08 August 2014

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Matt Ryan, naturalist at Huntley Meadows Park, for help in identifying the climbing hempvine plant shown in the photos from 04 September 2014.

Copyright © 2015 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly

I spotted a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) during a photowalk at Huntley Meadows Park on 06 June 2014. This individual is feeding on mineral salts from the gravel road on which it is perching, as shown in the following photo.

Finally, a look at the underside of its wings …

Copyright © 2014 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Lessons Learned: Shutter speed too slow

The following photo shows a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) spotted at Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. This individual is feeding on Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens). The flower is acceptably in focus; the butterfly is not. This indicates the blurry butterfly wasn’t caused by camera shake. In this case, the shutter speed was too slow to stop action as the butterfly took flight.

Tech Tips: I shot the photo using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 superzoom camera in Program Mode with a focal length of 108mm (600mm, 35mm equivalent) for a subject distance of approximately four- to six feet. The camera selected the following settings automatically: ISO 100; an aperture of f/5.2; and a shutter speed of 1/250 second. I should have used “Program Shift” to select a combination of a faster shutter speed and appropriate aperture. I could have selected a higher ISO in order to enable me to use a faster shutter speed. (Experience has shown an ISO of up to 400 may be used without causing unacceptable noise levels.)

Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com

Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly redux

A Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) spotted during a photowalk through Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

The flowering plant upon which the butterfly is feeding may be Arrow-wood (Viburnum dentatum), according to Alonso Abugattas, Natural Resources Manager for Arlington County Parks, Virginia USA.

Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com

Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly

Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) spotted during two photowalks through Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. These individuals are feeding on Purple Milkweed flowers (Asclepias purpurascens). See also “Purple Milkweed,” formerly posted on my Posterous photoblog.

Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com