Incredible Insects! #8 Butterfly

Hello again everyone! It was a very beautiful, sunny morning here, but it has changed a bit, now it is cloudy and we are experiencing a thunderstorm. However, we appear to be on the edge of that storm which is moving along south of us.

Muffin was sleeping peacefully, until she heard the loud thunder, then she went slinking away to her spot behind my chair. Thunderstorms are supposed to continue all afternoon, so Muffin is not going to have a good time. Well, here we are with another butterfly for you to enjoy. This one is the Silvery Checkerspot. It is a common, orange and black butterfly with a wingspan of up to 2 inches (5cm).

The Silvery Checkerspot.

They can be found in forest openings, fields, beside roads, marshy areas, old burned over areas and anywhere with poor soil. They tend to fly low over the area and will land frequently, making it easier to get photos of them.

They have one brood per summer and caterpillars feed on composite flowers, like asters, daisy, black-eyed susan and others. Adult butterflies feed on milkweed, dogbanes, vetches, fleabanes, daisy. I have also seen them go after my petunias and geraniums, plus sunflowers.

And here it is with wings spread open completely.

They overwinter as a caterpillar. They are flying around from early June to the end of July. They are a beautiful butterfly to see and photograph and they are quite friendly. I have had them land on me a lot over the years. Have a great day everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2025 Steve McLeod.