This morning I was able to get organized early enough to go for a bike ride with little e before breakfast and work. After each ride, there’s usually a decompression session where we play outside–him in the dirt, me with a camera if there’s something I can see. And this morning I saw, for one of the first times I can recall, the phenomenon of a butterfly “puddling.” There was a Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phileus) on the hood of my car, drinking up the fallen dew:
H. phileus is a widespread species in North America, most common in the South, but it also occurs as far north as New York, and as far west as California, as our trip to the Page Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits last summer bears out:
According to the species account on Butterflies and Moths of North America, its larval host is Bermuda grass, crabgrass, and St Augustine grass, all three of which we have in abundance here in Boca. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered its caterpillar, but now that I’ve done my homework, I can keep my eyes peeled. The species is also distinguished by an asterisk in Allen, Brock, & Glassberg’s field guide to caterpillars, which means that “if you live within the range of this species and have the appropriate caterpillar foodplant in your garden, there is a good chance that you will find the caterpillar in your garden.” To which I might add, “if you look!” Particularly given the note in the species account: “Nest is horizontal, at the base of the host and difficult to locate; a good way to avoid caterpillar hunters and lawnmowers!”
I suppose some would consider a caterpillar that feeds on your lawn a pest, but the butterfly is really quite charming. And you shouldn’t have a monoculture turf lawn, anyway. Break up the monotony with some bunch grasses; sprinkle in some wildflowers; sow some shrubbery. Be natural, people!
References
Allen T.J., Brock, J.P. & Glassberg, J. (2005). Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America. New York: Oxford UP.
Glassberg, J. (1999). Butterflies through Binoculars: The East. A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Eastern North America. New York: Oxford UP.