Wow! I love those pictures, Geni - it looks like y'all are having a great time!
Maybe you can scout out the MWs for seed pods - Mexican MW/a. curassavica is the easiest of the MWs for me to grow, so I imagine that other Mexican types might be also.
MissSherry

Hey Geni,
enjoyed your pictures as usually..You and Larry must be having a blast there.. :)
please kep them pics coming and stay safe...
Yours
Susi

Thanks Sherry and Sue.
I am having a lot of fun starting my Mexican butterfly garden. I don't have many butterflies yet, but today I saw a huge yellow and black swallowtail come sailing through. It didn't stop, but maybe he'll be back and bring his friends. I've also seen a few Mexican fritillaries and some large sulphurs, but mostly small sulphurs and checkers.

So far I've planted lantana and bougainvilla shrubs, zinnia, balsam and dianthus seeds, and fig and orange trees. And I have transplanted clumps of a native purple-blooming sage and a large number of a native daisy-like flower.

Yesterday, I found a nearly bare stem of a datura plant with four mature seed pods still attached. When I tried to break off one of the pods, the entire plant uprooted, so I brought the whole thing home. Today I noticed that it had some new baby leaves, so I stuck the root in a pot of dirt and scattered some of the seeds around the base. If the plant doesn't make it, surely some of the seeds will sprout. There's another nightshade that is proliferating next to my house, but it has masses of tiny flowers, some white and some purple. I have seen moonflowers blooming along the roadsides, and I believe that is what I brought home. Between the two of them, I hope to get some sphinx moths.

My attempts to root branches of the native romero milkweed failed, but luckily I found two large established plants growing next to my back fence -- and they have about a dozen large seed pods, which I am watching closely. I am also watching for the seed pods to ripen on several patches of a native senna.

Things seem to grow very slowly here -- at over 7,000 feet, we don't get the heat I am accustomed to in Alabama -- and I am impatient. I probably won't see any flowers from the seeds I've planted by the time I return to the States in October. But one good result of that is the peaches are just now getting ripe. I saw them bloom in December and January, and now I'm enjoying the fruit.
g.

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Sooo Cool! What a wonderful white milkweed. That looks like soooo much fun on those pics! Thanks so much for sharing.

I like the little plant with purple leaves.

I'm reviving this thread after a year with some new butterfly photos. I finally managed to get a couple of pictures of a gigantic black and yellow swallowtail that had been eluding me.
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I think this is Papilio garamas abderus, the Magnificent Swallowtail.

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Another shot of the Magnificent Swallowtail. Zinnias apparently work as well in Mexico as in Alabama.

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I saw this one for the first time earlier this week, and today I had my camera ready. After seeing a pair fluttering around some bushes along the roadside, I found this one standing on its head in the grass. Although it was dead, it seemed to be in perfect condition, so I was able to get good macro shots, both dorsal and ventral. The most similar pics I've found so far lead me to a tentative identification as Esthemopsis radiata. I did not find any common name.

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This one actually visited flowers in my garden. Tentative ID: Cassius Blue, Leptotes cassius.

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I've seen a lot of these banded skippers, but I have not identified them yet.

We are well into the rainy season here, but the wildflowers won't be in full bloom for another couple of months. The butterfly numbers should increase between now and October, and I hope to have a very busy camera.
geni

Geni,

What magnificent shots of your butterflies and your "still life" of peaches looks like a painting by a grand master.

mike

These are wonderful photos of your Mexican butterflies and love the photo of the Imperial Moth from last year. I saw my first IM just a couple of days ago, but by the time I had gotten my camera, he had dissapeared, dang it!! :)
Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos.
Jan

I wish I had zinnias like my neighbor down the road. Walking past yesterday, I saw three of the Magnificent Swallowtails in her garden.
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Passing again on my way home, I finally got a shot of the elusive Tiger Swallowtail.
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I've planted zinnia seeds, but I think I planted them too late to get flowers before I go back to Alabama.

Here are a few more:
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Painted Lady

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I don't know this Sulphur? Any ideas?

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Texan Crescent, a little worse for wear.
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This is the first time I've caught this little black butterfly with its wings open.

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This is how they usually perch. And yes, that's cow dung it's sitting on.

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Cloudless Sulphur

As I was dumping some peaches onto the compost today, a bright orange butterfly zoomed in and landed on the bucket. I stood spellbound, but it didn't stay long enough for me to get a good look. Just long enough for me to notice the angular wings and the brown undersides. Now I'm wondering if I have been mistaking a Question Mark for a Gulf Fritillary.

geni

A walk among the wildflowers Saturday afternoon stirred up a lot of butterflies. Mexican Fritillaries and Sulphurs were the most abundant, but I was pleased to be able to photograph quite a few different species.

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Mexican Fritillaries

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Southern Dogfaces

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Cloudless Sulphurs

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This moth was about two inches long. I'd love to see it with its wings open.

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Skipper

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Mexican Yellow

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A Queen and her consort

Dainty Sulphur

Painted Lady

I have no idea what put these eggs on a black cherry leaf. Probably nothing I'd want to see in the garden, but I'll leave them.

Early this morning, I looked out the living room window and saw an emerald green hummingbird methodically sipping nectar from every flower on my lantana. Rather than risk startling him with my movement, I resisted the urge to go for the camera. Instead, I just stood and watched. If that plant never attracts another butterfly, it has justified its planting.

I really enjoy reading about and viewing the photos of your Mexican BFs. It reminds me of my Lao BFs. After 5 trips, I probably will never see Laos again which makes me very sad. But I have so many wonderful memories and photos.

Thanks for sharing.

Sandy

Geni,

I've been neglecting this forum due to work and such. Finally made time to catch up - WOW!!!! What awesome photos!!! Really love that Magnificent Swallowtail - am waiting for one of those to stray this way :o)

Do you have Glassberg's swift book on butterflies of Mexico? I see lots of those you posted in there. I purchased the book last October. He was the guest speaker at our annual butterfly festival dinner and his slide show was all about those fantastic butterflies that we all are hoping will stray here!!!

Thanks for sharing those great photos!!!

~ Cat

Sandy, have you uploaded your Laos photos? I'd love to see them.

Cat, thanks for recommending the Glassberg book. I did not know about it, and I could really use it. I'll order it when I get back to the States. For several seasons, I've been seeing huge black and yellow butterflies here, but I could never decide whether they were Tigers or something else. The best thing that's happened so far this summer has been learning that they are both! My next goal is to attract them to my garden long enough to get some closeups.

g.

The Dorantes Longtails, Urbanus dorantes, have arrived.
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They don't have the irridescent bluegreen of the Longtail Skippers I see in Alabama, but I love how the color of the flower shows through the transparent spots of the forewings.

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Sleepy Orange, Eurema nicippe, I think.

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I heard a whir next to my ear and saw a flash of orange that disappeared into a croton. I was able to get one shot before it took off again. I thought it must be a Question Mark, although I couldn't see the markings well enough in my photo. But no ... A day or two later, I saw another one, and this time I caught it basking almost out of camera range. I'm pretty sure these are Tropical Leafwings, Anaea aidea.

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I've seen hundreds of Texan Crescents, Phyciodes texana, but this was the first I'd been able to photograph with its wings folded.

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I'm still trying to identify this little beauty.

An enormous flying creature swooped over our heads as we were talking with our neighbor this afternoon in his covered porch. At first I thought it was a Black Swallowtail, then a bat, but when it landed at the top of a window frame near the ceiling, I could see it was a spectacular moth. After I snapped a couple of pictures, I chased it away because Mike had sprayed the porch with insecticide the day before.
{{gwi:446044}}From Butterflies and Moths of Michoacán

This thread has gotten so picture heavy that it takes too long to load. We are heading back to the States early next week, after Ike has passed, so next season's butterflies will start a new thread.
geni