So how many instars does bird poop go through BG? LOL N. antiopa is so common in the west it rivals P. rapae for being found everywhere. At just about any riparian area with willows you'll find their ova or larva from spring to fall. 20 odd years ago my son reared maybe 300 of them for a school project. Since they would emerge while we were away on a butterfly trip to southern Utah, we took the pupa with us in our RV. They started to eclose while we were camped at a place called Pine Lake about 15 miles north of Bryce Canyon Nat'l Park. The other campers and camp ground hosts were so taken with the releases every day and all the BF's flying around that somebody drove into town and told the local paper about it. A reporter showed up with a photog in tow to get the story. Made the front page of the paper with several pictures, but better yet allowed us to make the public aware of butterfly conservation.

Thanks Larry, It's not one of my best, but it's not bad. I chased this gal/guy all over the place. .... john P.S. If you're interested, there are a few more on my website at http://www.shinnen.ca/Pictures.html (If anyone recognizes the red one with white borders, about halfway down the page on the right, I'd appreciate knowing it's name.)

Thanks everyone. I had fun chasing these little guys around my garden! OK, so knowing the name lets me do some research. Here's what I learned: The larva of Strymon melinus (aka Gray Hairstreak) is also known as the cotton-square borer because it will become pesty in bean and cotton crops. In the garden the larvae can often be found on cultivated Hibiscus, though it appears the larvae are not picky in their food habits: The larva of Phoebis sennae (aka Cloudless Sulphur) appears to feed almost exclusively on the Showy Partridge Pea, which likes our hard red clay soil here in TN. The butterflies may migrate to the deeper South late in the season. You can tell male from female - males are often solid yellow, with the two circular marks on the lower wing (both sexes have that) while the female is yellow to white and has a brown to black darker edge, and a mark on the upper wing (though I saw a few pics labeled "male" that had the mark on the upper wing.) Based on this description, I'm tempted to say the one I photographed is female... turtledon, what do you think? See pics of Cloudless Sulphur larva, adult, and cocoon here.

Top image: Try looking at the skippers, either the cloudy-, sooty- or dusky-wings. There should be enough pattern in the photo to match it up in a guidebook for those few skippers. Bottom image: The common name is "chickweed geometer" (sounds like monitor--is this a local name?), or "chickweed moth".