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
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly) on Butterfly Bush
Acmon Blue Butterfly (?)
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Buckmoth
Buckmoth
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Cabbage White Butterfly
Buckeye Butterfly
Monarch butterfly at Coldwater Farm.
Red Admiral Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Mourning Cloak Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Moth
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Tiny catterpillars on grape leaf
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Mourning Cloak FX
Huge catterpillar
Buckmoth
Melissa Blue Butterfly?
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Two-tailed Swallowtail (AZ State Butterfly)
Tiny catterpillars on grape leaf
