Showing posts with label Brown Clipper butterfly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brown Clipper butterfly. Show all posts

Friday, October 26, 2012

Flutter Me Bad

Brown Clipper
And so the Tucson Botanical Gardens begin another year of Butterfly Magic. On this day I was astounded by the new additions to the greenhouse!  It was fun getting back to the docent work.
Great Mormon Butterfly
We've had some new additions like the Great Mormon and Julia butterfly, but there were certainly more:)  The best part this year is that the Butterfly Magic is included as part of the entrance fee at the gardens. So if you've never been to one of these events, it's worth checking out.
Julia Butterfly
The butterflies of Southern Arizona are quite different from their tropical siblings. In essence, I sit studying charts and names to help me ID these beauties.  I can point out our butterflies here in the desert but I still have a hard time with the tropicals.  So today I studied the Great Mormon butterfly with great interest.
Birdwing Butterfly
Of course some of the popular regulars include the Atlas Moth.  I believe as of this write a Lunar Moth also went into the greenhouse.  Another beauty in the moth world.
Atlas Moth
So while things will hopefully cool off soon, this place will be warm and humid all year round.  As a docent, we rotate out in 3 shifts over 3 hours.  Entrance, educator, and Exit.  This year I have several students volunteering from the high school and I hope they enjoy it as much I do.
If you live in Tucson and are interested in becoming a docent at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, contact (520)326-9686, Ext. 39 or email education1@tucsonbotanical.org for more information. And as always, more tomorrow......
Lacewing Butterfly