Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Grasshopper on Red Dahlia & Butterflyless Buddleia

It has been a few years since I've seen one of these big grasshoppers.


My Buddleia (butterfly bush) began to bloom over a week ago and NO butterflies came around to sip its sweet nectar.  I did have a lot of  bees:

 and hummingbird moths...
but no butterflies!  What's up with that? 

Are you seeing less butterflies this year?
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9 comments:

  1. SueWed Sep 04, 06:11:00 PM 2013

    That's a pretty big grasshopper. We've had a slow down on them this year---seems our huge flocks of wild turkeys are doing a great job of cleaning those up.
    Love the hummingbird moth. They're always fun to watch.

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  2. NanaDianaWed Sep 04, 06:39:00 PM 2013

    We hardly saw any butterflies this year, Zoey. Kind of sad, isn't it? Your photos are wonderful! xo Diana

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  3. BethWed Sep 04, 09:22:00 PM 2013

    Hi Zoey, Two years ago we had lots of butterflies and lots of black swallowtail and monarch caterpillars. Last year, very few. We have seen a few more this year than last, with one monarch cat and six black swallowtail cats that I observed. Butterfly habitat is disappearing. There used to be approx 40 milkweed plants per acre of farm and now with the herbicide use there is virtually none. The monarchs depend on those for their larvae. Sad!

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  4. BettyWed Sep 04, 09:38:00 PM 2013

    Beautiful photos Zoey..come to think of it, there are less butterflies this year. Hmm..wondering why.

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  5. Betty Thu Sep 05, 02:45:00 PM 2013

    Yes, Beautiful pictures. We have several butterfly bushes in our yard, but the blooms are all gone. The butterflies and bees really did enjoy themselves this year.

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  6. Osage Bluff QuilterThu Sep 05, 03:34:00 PM 2013

    We noticed a few butterflies yesterday, but the hummingbirds had almost disappeared this summer. My feeders would go sour waiting. Until this past Sunday, now they are emptying one daily. I might have to dig out my other two.

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  7. DebThu Sep 05, 09:03:00 PM 2013

    we haven't had many butterflies this year...last year we had tons of them...lots of grasshoppers this year..beautiful photos...

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  8. Sunray GardensFri Sep 06, 04:23:00 AM 2013

    I have a couple of those big grasshoppers this year after many years without them also. Butterflies, same as you. A couple little whities everyday, saw one bigger one but ran for the camera but by the time I did it was gone so couldn't even identify which one it was.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  9. AnonymousMon Sep 09, 09:54:00 PM 2013

    I had a grasshopper hop on the car window in NJ on the way to the beach. It was your grasshopper's evil cousin! LOL
    We had a lot of Yellow Swallowtails and a few smaller ones along with even fewer Monarchs. I guess you may have seen my post about saving the one Monarch?

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