Bumblebee gathering pollen at a wild bergamot flower in my pollinator garden. Backyard photography.

After reading my own description about the differences between male and female tiger swallowtails, I decided that my less than scientific definition might leave people a bit confused. I was saying silly things like the females look as if someone took beautiful blue spray paint and lightly misted her lower wings.

Anyway, I decided a translator might be in order so people can see the differences. Today, that translator is Wikipedia.

Note: On the image of the black morph, you can see her tiger stripes if you look closely. I was unable to get a snap of her open wings, she stayed in the deep shadows with her back turned away from me most of the time she was here.. Also those pesky goldrims were hassling her for a date as she was trying to sip nectar, so she decided to leave this nectar club and find another.

From Wikipedia:

The male is yellow with four black "tiger stripes" on each forewing. Females may be either yellow or black, making them dimorphic. The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous band of blue spots along the hindwing, while the dark morph is almost completely black.

I disagree slightly with Wikipedia's description of the black morph, they have brilliant blue spray paint like the yellow morph does :)

Have a wonderful day and happy snapping.

After emerging from it's cocoon, this male io moth spent the day drying it's wings a the tip of a crape myrtle stem. After a full day of getting the opportunity to photograph this beautiful moth, it flew off just after sunset.

Schwalbenschwanz (Papilio machaon)

Thanks for views, faves and comments! :)

Oregon Gardens

Dawes Arboretum, Newark, Ohio

Male Orange tip. Underside markings. 02/5/20

Up close and personal with a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly as it gets nectar and pollenates at the same time.

mating dragonfly

Spotted this moth when I turned on the patio lights this morning to let the dog out. Colors are somewhat off because of the fluorescent lighting. Didn’t get much time to fire off two quick shots before it took off into early morning darkness.

The erebid moth Ascalapha odorata, commonly known as the black witch,[1] is a large bat-shaped, dark-colored nocturnal moth, ranging from the southern United States to Argentina. It is the largest noctuoid in the continental United States.

On Lavender