Autumn is a beautiful time of the year. The leaves change colors, the air gets cooler, and all the colorful harvest time vegetables grace our senses. One of my favorite things about fall, however, are the swarms of butterflies that visit my butterfly bushes in the backyard. Today, after the rain storm, the bushes were teaming with life, and I found yet another butterfly I haven’t photographed and identified yet.

Years ago, I remember seeing a butterfly collection. It was a board with dead butterflies pinned to it. I found that quite horrific, as I love these beautiful creatures. I lamented over this terrible thing while my father listened one evening. I’m not sure he found it quite as horrific as I did, but he loved these creatures too. He had a lovely butterfly coloring book that he worked on from time to time. Now, when I say coloring book, I don’t mean a children’s coloring book but one of those nice ones with the waxy pages that you color with color pencils. He had carefully colored in some of the species he had looked up and colored them with accuracy. I’m not sure what happened to that old book, but I have taken up the butterfly quest. I, however, have chosen to collect butterflies and moths in photograph. So far, I have collected 22 different butterflies and moths.

There’s not much story behind the collection other than what I have told in previous posts, so I’ll just share my butterflies and moths and their names with you.

American Lady

Bumblebee Sphinx Moth

Cabbage White

Cloudywing Skipper

Common Buckeye

Dun Skipper

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Fiery Skipper

Great Spangled Fritillary

Gulf Fritillary

Long Tailed Skipper

Monarch

Pearl Crescent

Red Admiral

Red Banded Hairstreak

Red Spotted Purple

Regal Moth (Royal Walnut Moth)

Silver Spotted Skipper

Spicebush Swallowtail

Spring Azures

Zabulon Skipper

And here are a few caterpillars:

Luna Moth Caterpillar

Sycamore Tussock Moth Caterpillar