Butterflies pollinating Kleinia flowers

[SteveB]

I have only quite recently become aware of Kleinias as a great choice for water-wise gardening. They also seem to be particularly attractive to whites and swallowtail butterflies.


Green banded swallowtail - Papilio nireus lyaeus


Forest white - Belenois zochalia

I have not seen any blues on these flowers and I can only assume that the nectar is too deep inside the flower for them to reach. As one can see, even this medium sized butterfly has to go deep enough to cover it's face with pollen.


African vagrant - Catopsilia florella



I think most people know that many succulents are great for attracting birds and bees to the garden, but I have only recently realized that there are also others which attract all kinds of other insects.

[leonardturner]

A very attractive group; thank you for posting, and for your interesting comments.

LT

[Troels]

The picture of the yellow Vagrant gives a wonderful desciption of the animal's shape, color and texture.
Very nice and interesting.

[SteveB]

Thanks Leonardturner. I also like it when the photographer shares some thoughts about his or her picture, it sort of lets one into their world. Thank you Troels for commenting so often on other people's posts with encouragement and insights.
I think that butterflies are one kind of animal that can be photographed quite well in harsh full sunlight, because the small shadows under the scales and veins can read visually as detail and texture. I think the vagrant picture takes advantage of this.