northeast-flora-and-fauna

Butterfly Milkweed isn't just of butterflies, proven by both an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and a bumblebee both stopped by for lunch. Butterfly Milkweed is like Cheers for thirsty pollinators, where lots of colorful, diverse characters drop by to wet their whistles. If anything, the "clientele" on these flowers is more diverse than the personalities at a bar; between butterflies, bees, moths, wasps, flies, beetles, etc. are far less closely related than the humans in a bar. July 6, 2023 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 301262427, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's something I'll usually see a couple times during a summer, a Snowberry Clearwing Moth . I've shown this moth before , but they're always a welcome sight. Like hummingbird, butterflies, and moths like their Hummingbird Clearwing Moth cousins, they're helpful pollinators, colorful, and dynamic fliers.  They're also a good example of Batesian mimicry , where an essentially harmless animal has evolved to look like a more dangerous one. In the case of the Snowberry Clearwing Moth, they want you to think they're bumblebees . If you see one, you might want the scream "Ack! A bee!" and look frightened; the Snowberry Clearwing will experience the joy you get when a plan is working perfectly. September 8, 2022 at Fairview Farm Photo 248397240, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)