Even though it's November, we still have butterflies in our yard. The rosemary is flowering, and it attracted this white butterfly.
The butterfly spent several minutes visiting the flowers, probing or feeding in each one.
Aren't the stripy antennae with the yellow tips fun?
Taking a few minutes, it is possible to see even more butterflies. A duskywing skipper was on the same rosemary plant at the same time as this white, and tiny blue butterflies were fluttering around a nearby fairy duster. Queen and monarch butterflies commonly visit our milkweeds, and giant swallowtails glide by the citrus trees in the back. The snout butterflies and painted ladies seem to prefer the puff-ball flowers on the willow acacia.
In fact there's no need to visit a butterfly exhibit because, with the proper flowering plants, the butterflies come to us.
For more information, see our previous posts during butterfly gardening with children week.
Five great nectar plants for butterflies
Growing list of children's books about moths and butterflies
It is time for the spring butterflies, like this checkered white.
Although common some years in the Southwest, checkered white butterflies are found throughout the United States, and are thought to move north through the summer.
Here in the desert, the adults visit the seasonal wildflowers for nectar.
(Photograph by Megan McCarty at Wikimedia)
The larvae (caterpillars) have black and yellow spots and speckles. They feed on plants in the mustard family, which are only abundant after sufficient winter rains.
Have you seen any checkered white butterflies yet this year?