Griggstown Butterflies

In addition to the beetles I posted yesterday, a lot of butterflies were active at Griggstown on Saturday. The diversity was not quite as high as I would expect in the middle of summer or early fall, but there was still plenty of color.

Three Great Spangled Fritillaries were nectaring at these Butterfly Weed plants. Butterfly Weed is in the milkweed genus (Asclepias). Its nectar attracts numerous species, including butterflies, moths, bees, and flies.

This is an American Copper, a common butterfly that I often miss. These butterflies are tiny, so I am happy that I both noticed it and got a decent photo.

The last photo for this group is a micromoth (in Lepidoptera like the butterflies). I think this is an Elegant Grass-veneer Moth (Microcrambus elegans), a species in family Crambidae. This tiny moth was sitting on some mugwort.

Finally, this week is National Pollinator Week for 2010.