Variegated Fritillary Euptoieta claudia Silver and gold

While working in the garden the other day I spotted this little gem. It brought to mind some metal smith working in molten silver and gold: as he worked, drops of silver and gold dropped from his workbench and clumped on the floor.

In fact it's the elegant wrapping around a gem of a different sort: there is a pupa of a fritillary inside that chrysalis. It's the Variegated Fritillary   Euptoieta claudia, a species whose host plants include passion flower. The chrysalis was found not far from a rampageous tangle of Passiflora incarnata in the garden. To see Passiflora incarnata, look here:

http://mcwort.blogspot.com/2007/07/surpassing-delight-of-all-flowers.html

Asters, yet again

Aster 'Bluebird' is a butterfly magnet. In fact, several sorts of nectar feeders are swarming the flowers today. The butterflies are getting all of the attention from passing humans, but the most exciting sighting on the flowers today goes mostly unnoticed: we have honeybees again, and apparently lots of them! Someone nearby must have set up a hive lately. It's been a long time since honeybees have been abundant in this garden.

The butterflies shown are all common ones; but if you don't know that, and maybe even if you do, they are still fascinating and beautiful. Top to bottom, the visitors are: buckeye, pink-edged sulfur, honeybee, skipper, bumblebee and variegated fritillary.