Butterfly Decline in Arizona
Coldwater Farm butterflies have declined over the past few years. This year (2015) was the worst with many of my butterfly/bee flowers going untended. For instance, Mourning Cloaks (Nymphalis antiopa) were present only in late spring and early summer. In earlier years, the Mourning Cloaks were so abundant that I had nominated they to represent the Agua Fria River ecosystem. Perhaps butterfly numbers will rebound in 2016, but knowing nothing of the specific causes of the decline, I have no assurance they will. Click here for a checklist of the butterfly and moth species known to live in Arizona. Here are pictures of a few of the common butterflies and moths (Please excuse the fx experiments).
Moth
Buckeye Butterfly
Tiny catterpillars on grape leaf
Monarch Butterfly
Monarch butterfly at Coldwater Farm.
Buckmoth
Huge catterpillar
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Buckmoth
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Buckmoth
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Buckeye Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Tiny catterpillars on grape leaf
Moth
Mourning Cloak Butterfly
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly) on Butterfly Bush
Red Admiral Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Acmon Blue Butterfly (?)
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Cabbage White Butterfly
Melissa Blue Butterfly?
Mourning Cloak FX
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
