Peck Butterfly House | a 7 Image Story The Peck Butterfly House contains hundreds of butterflies that fly, feed, and land in the enclosure. It’s part of the 385 acre Peck Farm Park which offers a visitors an opportunity to slow down and enjoy nature including a 19-acre wetland, nature & bike trails, and an observation silo. The butterflies are imported on a regular basic to keep the house populated. Although most butterflies are not native, occasionally a native species like the Monarch will be there. The house allows the photographer to capture many different butterfly poses.
These images were captured with a Nikon 1 V3 using a 30-110mm zoom lens attached to a 16mm extension tube. The V3 has a 2.7 crop factor which makes the lens a 81-297mm lens. Then, the extension tube also magnifies the image by allowing the lens to focus closer to the butterfly. The net effect allows close-up images to be captured without disturbing the butterflies.
Pieridae Butterfly The Pieridae family of butterflies contains around 76 genera and 1,100 species. Most species live in Africa and Asia with only 61 species in North America. Whites and sulphurs are small to medium-sized butterflies with wingspans ranging from 0.8 to 4.0 inches. Their flight is mostly slow and fluttering and they like to feed at flowers.
Julia Butterfly The Julia butterfly is a species of brush-footed butterfly family. It’s native from Brazil to southern Texas and Florida. With a wingspan ranging from 3.2 to 3.6 inches, it’s a fast flier. It frequents clearings, paths, and edges of woodlands where it feeds on flower nectar. The Julia butterfly is popular in butterfly houses because it’s very active and long-lived.
White Peacock Butterfly While Peacock butterflies are common in southern Texas and Florida. They are found near ponds or streams in fields or parks as well as roadside ditches. Their wing span measures 2 – 2 3/4 inches.
Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly These beautiful black bodied swallowtail butterflies can be found in most of the eastern and mid-western states. They inhabit wooded areas, swamps, parks, and fields where they eat nectar from honeysuckle, jewel weed, thistles, milkweed, azalea etc. With an wingspan of 3.5 to 4 inches, they are fun to watch in the butterfly house.
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly The Gulf Fritillary is a medium-sized butterfly with extended forewings. With a wingspan from 2.5 to 3.7 inches, it’s considered a “longwing” butterfly with long, narrow wings. Gulf Fritillaries are found primarily in the southern states like Texas and Florida; even Hawaii. It’s range extends from the southern states into parts of Mexico and Central America. They are found in mostly sunny areas near open grasslands, parks, and woodlands as well as butterfly gardens.
Zebra Longwing Butterfly The Zebra Longwing butterfly is common in Florida and part of Texas as well as Mexico and Central America. It’s Florida’s official state butterfly. They fly slowly and gracefully. Longwing butterfly adults are relatively long lived. Most other butterflies live only a few weeks, but longwings live for several months. Also, most butterflies can only sip fluids with their specialized mouth parts, but longwing butterflies can get some pollen and nectar. Their saliva allows them to dissolve the pollen to get the nutrients. Zebra longwings gather in roosts to spend the night and return to the same roost each night. For insects, they are very intelligent. They have a social order when roosting whereby the oldest butterflies choose the best places. Also, they remember where their food is located and return to the plants where they previously ate.
Monarch Butterfly The monarch butterfly, one of the world’s most recognizable butterflies, is known for its seasonal migration. Monarchs migrate from the United States and Canada south to California and Mexico for the winter. Monarch butterflies are native to North America with additional populations in Hawaii, Portugal, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. It has a lifespan of six to eight months. Its wingspan measures 3.7 to 4.1 inches. Monarchs have declined by around 90% in the last three decades due to the disappearance of milkweed plants.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Peck Butterfly House.
Click any image below for a slide show.
