Leptotes cassius

[Anne Kilmer]

Or at least I think so ... a pair of Cassius blues, one much whiter than 
the other, hanging out high in the (illicit) Australian pines in my back 
yard.
This is a tentative identification, based on long acquaintance with this 
butterfly and its habits; i.e. if such a butterfly comes down to where I 
can see it well, so far, it has been a Cassius blue.
They spend much time in the Avocado, where I think they are nectaring 
among the lacebugs, which excrete honeydew.

The Coromandel, Asystasia gangetica, despite frost-blackened leaves, is 
blooming happily, lavender-white flowers which glow with ultraviolet and 
are a favorite of bees. Giant swallowtails also like this flower, but 
today is not their day. The bees, on the other hand ... some small 
variety, perhaps a wasp, but I think it's a solitary bee ... are 
aggressive in their nectaring, and I watched one grab another around the 
"waist" and try to yank it out of its flower. Wow.

Half a dozen or so zebra longwings (Heliconius charitonius) are already 
gathered among the dead vines where they chain to sleep. They rouse from 
time to time, reshuffle themselves and settle again.
The squirrels are twitterpated.
Cheers
Anne Kilmer
South Florida


 
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