Perching at eye level in a shady spot along the road.

Tags:   Both sexes are brown dorsally with black patches lending the butterflies a strongly mottled or banded appearance (Opler and Krizek 1984). Above and below they are light brown with lavender cast; very strong contrasting dark patches on all wings so it appears almost banded; tiny glossy spots on fore wing; brown fringes (Pyle 1981). Spring or 1st brood phenotype is smaller (male forewing 1.8-1.9 cm) and liter (with more white scaling) than summer or 2nd brood phenotype (male fore wing 2.0-2.1 cm) Limenitis arthemis astyanax

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The Zebra Swallowtail is our only kite swallowtail. Paw-paw, their host plant, is common along the Pee Dee River. The trick is to find one while it still has 2 fresh tails.

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Butterfly Weed blossoms at the end of May in the Carolina Sandhills and attracts all of the large, charismatic butterflies. Around the first of June I usually find one or two of these small but distinctively marked Coral Hairstreaks. They have no tails and very few markings on the forewings but their scarcity plus a band of bright orange circular dots on the hindwing lend a certain charm.

Tags:   Coral Hairstreak Satyrium titus

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Three blossoms on a slender flowering stem with more on the way. Always a tree in a sandhills streamhead.

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The top blossom of three on this handsome Grass Pink.

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