Skipper
These guys are making it hard to mow the lawn--there are at least 50 of them at any given time, sitting on dandelions in the lawn. When I stop pushing the mower they sit on my feet. I need to look up their exact name in the bug book.
My Galena/Beryl hybrid is here and strung together, and now she needs painting and clothes like everyone else :D. She stands amazingly well when the wind is not blowing and the cat is not trying to kiss her.
How wonderful - here they are called "Admiral" (Vanessa atalanta, syn. Pyrameis atalanta. I think in english they are called "Red Admiral". Interesting enough: Here they appear far, far later, just ready to indulge themselves on the ripe pears that fall from the tree. And when you see them you can almost think that they are drunk from the fermenting fruits.
ReplyDeleteAdmiral sounds right! And I can believe a drunk butterfly--they are so small a little alcohol would have a big effect on that tiny brain :D
ReplyDeleteBUT: They won't have to care about their health because most of them dance only for one summer. The Admiral has to be carful with getting drunk too often because he (and his supertiny liver or whatever bears the alcohol) can get between 1 and 2 years old. A Methusalem between the butterflies.
ReplyDeleteI did not fool you about drunk butterflies. Often I saw them getting too drunk to fly, they just sit there on the pears or apples and wait until their brains gets clearer - and on the next day you find lots of wings because birds used the chance to get a dessert with some liquor-filling...