The Butterfly At Cafe Caffè

The Rio Grande Valley is well known as one of the best spots in the US to see a wide selection of birds and butterflies, and sitting out in Cafe Caff I get a continuous parade passing through.The Queen's Wreath is in full bloom now and both the hummingbirds and butterflies seem to love it. Yesterday there was a swarm of Yellow Dogface Butterflies, as bright yellow as anyone could dream of. I cannot imagine anything that has a more vibrant yellow color than these small fliers. There must have been twenty of them fluttering around the Cafe, seemingly oblivious to both me and Demi, a few landing on the Hummingbird Feeders but most simply flitting about, when a wondrous thing happened.One flew across the Cafe to the Queen's Wreath and .................... disappeared. One second it was there, the next it was gone. Looking closely at the point where it disappeared I finally saw it. The wings were reflecting the green of the foliage and not the yellow I saw when they were in the sun. What was really amazing though was when I moved closer to try for one more closeup picture, three flew away that I had not even seen.

Quite sure. When they flew away as I got too close they were bright yellow again.

Right.

The picture of the one on the dirt is a stock photo but of the same species.

There is lots of variation among the Yellow Dogface Butterflies AKA Southern or California or ...BUT, most of the difference in wing shape is the result of what is actually reflected, of environment. For example, the spots can seem bright almost ruby red all the way to brown or umber depending on where the critter is at the time. The "Dog Face" or "Poodle Face" that gives them their common name is actually a pattern in the upper wing that surrounds the spot but on many I cannot make it out at all.The edges of the wings too look entirely different when they appear yellow than when they appear green, and that too seems to be light dependent. The edges seem much smoother normally than they do in the close up of the one on the Queen's Wreath. The difference really surprised me when I saw the closeup.The swarm that came through that day were bright yellow, sitting with wings folded and in flight but I could not get a picture of any showing the yellow before they flew off. Hopefully the next time they visit I'll do better.Remember, I am not a Lepidopterologist and so it is also very possible that the yellow stock photo is not the same species, however the one on my vine is bright yellow when not sitting there and both top and bottom of its wings appear bright yellow.Edited by jar, : disclaimer.