One good turn deserves another, lepidopteranly speaking

On October 1st, after I left the area where I’d photographed the gulf fritillary, I drove about a mile east to the Meister Lane cul-de-sac in southern Round Rock. This time the butterfly I found on some Maximilian sunflowers, Helianthus maximiliani, was a monarch, Danaus plexippus, evidence that the avant-garde of the fall migration southward into Mexico was entering central Texas. Artistic avant-gardes frequently change styles and palettes, but butterflies are conservative and retain their patterns throughout many generations. I can be a creature of habit too, but I think I’ve broken tradition by showing butterflies here two days in a row (and critters three days in a row).

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman