Two days ago I walked to the back of my property where I entered a canopy of trees, mostly Hamelia Patens that have grown to over ten feet, and I was suddenly surrounded by large insects. At first I thought they were moths, but then I saw that they were Zebras! There must have been thirty of them all flying around chasing each other.

The most I had ever seen before were seven or eight in a group swirling around. This was hard to believe. I now have Zebras in all the shady places in my gardens all day long.

This is the product of two things in my opinion. First, this is the second very mild winter here in Central Florida. We didn't have any days that got below 30 degrees and we only had a few of them. This allowed the Zebras in their chrysalises to survive. The second factor is the maturation of my garden. I started out with a few passion vines and now, about 12 years later they are coming up pretty much everywhere. The Zebras prefer the ones in shade, which are many. Also, this year the Hamelia Patens are growing like crazy. I have them in several areas, but especially in the back where I found all the Zebras. They love the flowers of this plant and the shade they provide.

I will try to post pictures later. It's very nice to have a place to share this. My kids just don't get that excited:)