This little butterfly was so interesting to watch...he kept going around in circles on the orange cosmo...He came quite often to my gardens.
It's a Pearl Crescent - Phyciodes tharos. Various species of Aster are the food of the caterpillar. The male butterfly is an active mud-puddler, so you might consider making some for them next spring.
toni....what do you mean mud puddler? Like a watery mud puddle they go into? I have never heard that before.. Thank you for the identification.
They like small mud puddles, soggy mud where they can suck up nutrients from the soil. They don't like running water, like a fountain or deep water like a birdbath. You can take a shallow dish, put some soil from the yard in it, add water and sprinkle a little table salt in it. Place it in a sunny spot, maybe put some rocks around it where they can sunbathe after getting a drink. I have also put some of those bright colored nylon dish scrubbers in a shallow dish of water so they can perch on them without getting in the water.
Oh, my, what lovely colours for my weary eyes. And such a nice butterfly too. Table salt, mud, water - I've got all that, and a dish to put it in. I'll just have to remember doing it come spring.
