Eastern Swallowtail and Monarch Butterflies

Pretty butterflies

A swallowtail and monarch

On prickly thistle

Beauty and the beast

 

Beauty and the beast

Swallowtail and thistle

Living together

Sublime elegance

Eastern Swallowtail

tasting the flower's nectar.

Sublime elegance. 

Monarch Caterpillar and Swallowtail Butterfly

Seems that both the Eastern Swallowtail butterfly and the Monarch caterpillar both enjoyed this form of milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, in our front yard.

Beautiful butterfly

I happened to notice this female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - black form butterfly pass by while mowing the front yard.  Thanks to some flowers we planted, it decided to stop and pay a visit.

These swallowtails are often yellow in color, but as shown above, also have a dark morphed variation, making them a dimorphic species.

Exceptionally common beauty

Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Phlox

I recently captured this picture in my neighbor's back yard.  The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is a common butterfly in Minnesota.  It landed on Phlox, a common flower to this state.  So it seems we have some exceptionally beautiful commoners in this picture!

Abraham Lincoln once commented that "God must love the common man, he made so many of them!"

The self-esteem movement has encouraged us to all think highly of ourselves.  It reminds me that I'm special... just like everyone else!