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Photo#704537
Dainty Sulphur - Nathalis iole - female
Copyright © 2012 Cynthia Bingham Keiser

Dainty Sulphur - Nathalis iole - Female
Solana Beach, San Diego County, California, USA
September 15, 2012
It looks like this small butterfly was Ovipositing on this plant. This is at the San Elijo Lagoon right on the trail about 20 feet from the water. I'm not sure what the plant is but there was a lot of Pacific Swampfire in this area.
Contributed by Cynthia Bingham Keiser on 16 September, 2012 - 2:50pm
Last updated 30 January, 2014 - 11:07pm

I had to look up "Pacific Swampfire"
I know the plant, I just didn't know that name. Anyway, this wasn't ovipositing on that (the larvae don't feed on Chenopods), but rather it would be a plant in the Asteraceae; probably something closely akin to Marigolds (I don't recognize the leaf off-hand though).

Moved from ID Request.
… David J. Ferguson, 16 September, 2012 - 3:09pm

 
Thanks for the response
Any idea what it's doing? I'm not a butterfly person but I haven't seen one put its abdomen on a leaf unless it was ovipositing. It did this over and over on two of these plants that were about 2 feet away from each other. Just curious :)
… Cynthia Bingham Keiser, 16 September, 2012 - 3:17pm

 
Sorry, I was a bit cryptic
"ovipositing" - laying eggs
… David J. Ferguson, 18 September, 2012 - 12:59pm

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