Four pages of butterflies including brown and orange (on this page), blues, skippers, yellows, and striped ones, and a page of colorful moths.
The Phaon Crescent butterflies at the top of this page have a wingspan of approximately one inch. The others on the page are considered large butterflies.

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The Phaon Crescent is brown and tan on the outside lower wing and colorful on the upper outside wing.
[The butterfly is perched on a blade of grass with its white legs. Its wings are folded up showing a pattern of brown spots and dashed lines on a white background. There is a few peeks of orange at the top.]

With its wings folded up it is barely wider than the blade of grass on which it is perched.
[The butterfly is perched on a blade of grass with its head pointed toward the camera but downward so that the antenna are easily seen. The antenna are striped light and dark with orange tips at the end. ]

For size comparison there is a Halloween Pennant dragonfly on the left and that small splotch of brown and white about three inches in front of the dragonfly is a Phaon Crescent butterfly.
[Amid the blades of grass are a dragonfly with striped wings and the underside of the wings of a Phaon Crescent (the wings are folded up). ]

The many colors and patterns of the wings.
[Top-down view of the butterfly with its wings fully flattened. The edges are brown. The inner parts are an orange base with brown dots and brown line segments. There are also some white dots in the upper part of the wings.]

Same general pattern, but this one has slightly different coloring.
[Top side view of the butterfly with its wings fully flattened. The brown coloring on this one is darker and the white patches are more elongated rather than circular.]

Mating phaon crescent butterflies with a third in the lower left. (The two smaller butterflies are the males.)
[Top down view of the butterflies. The two mating have their wings fully open and are joined tail to tail. One is significantly larger than the other and the patterns on them are slightly different. The third butterfly is approximately the same size at the smaller one and has its head near the head of the smaller one. Only the left wing is visible because the right wing is vertical.]

This is a Gulf Fritillary butterfly which has a wingspan three times the size of the phaon crescent butterfly.
[The butterfly is perched on some leaves with its wings fully open and flat. The wings are mostly orange with strips of brown edging throughout. There are also brown dots and three white dots at the top of each upper wing. The body of the butterfly is orange too.]

Full wings are not necessary for flight for this Gulf Fritillary butterfly.
[The butterfly is perched on some leaves with its wings fully open and flat. The upper and lower wings are the left side are complete. The upper wing on the right side is missing the outer third. The lower wing on the left side is missing almost a full third of the wing from the body out to the edge on the part closest to the upper wing.]

The tips of the antennae are orange.
[The butterfly is perched on a flower with its wings fully open and flat. The upper and lower wings are the left side are complete. The upper wing on the right side is missing the a chunk. The long antennas are black with orange tips which are slightly thicker than the rest of the antennae and contrast against the greenery of the background.]

The under side of the wings of a Gulf Fritillary butterfly has large white patches.
[The butterfly is perched on lantana plant flower facing left. There are many large white spots on this side of the lower set of wings and seems to blend right into the orange and white body. The upper wings are mostly orange with black spots.]

I found this expired Gulf Fritillary butterfly on the sidewalk.
[The butterfly wings are together as it lies on its left side. The undersides of the right wings have many large white splotches surrounded by dark orange. In one section of the upper wing is a large patch of red with several black-ringed blue and white dots. The body seems to be mostly missing with only two legs visible.]

The body of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly is striped white and orange.
[The butterfly is perched on the yellow center of a flower and has its tongue extended into the yellow. Its wings are up in a vee-shape so the longitutinal white and orange stripes of the body are visible. The tips of the antennae are orange. The wings are translucent and thus light in coloring.]

Yellow tiger swallowtail butterfly.
[A large mostly yellow butterfly with open wings is just about to land on some greenery near a chain-link fence. The outer edges of the butterfly are brown and there are thick brown stripes leading downward from the upper edge of the wings.]

This Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly wasn't cooperative about sitting still for me.
[A large dark brown butterfly with a series of yellow spots along the outer edge of the wing.]

A fast-moving Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly.
[The butterfly's wings are completely open. The buttefly is slightly blurry but the colors are clear. It is nearly all brown except at the edges which have white spots along them. At the bottom of the lower wings are small patches of orange and quite a bit of blue.]

Another view of the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly in flight.
[Against the blurred background of grass the butterfly's body and inner wings are in focus as the outer wings blur with motion. The butterfly appears to be about to land on a bush in focus in the foreground.]

Monarch butterfly with its polka-dot body.
[The orange butterfly with black edges and veins with white dots in the black at the edge and on the body is perched on a white flower. Its black antenna stick out above its head and over the flower bud. Its wings are folded together behind its body.]

The same butterfly now in motion on a different flower bud.
[The wings are nearly fully extended showcasing the wings. There appears to be two rows of white dots in the black at the edges of the wings. There are streaks of white across the wing as the movement blurred the white dots into a streak.]

The underside of a Monarch butterfly.
[The wings are fully extended as the butterfly is perched on a closed flower bud surrounded by leaves. The top of the wings are a straight line and the two black antennas are each bent down toward the outstretched wings. The white dots on the black boday are a blob in the center while white dots in black bands cover the outer edges of both the upper and lower wings. The main color of the wings is orange with thick black outlining each individual orange segment.]

I saw this Monarch butterfly on my morning exercise route. I'm not sure what took a chunk out of its wing, but it seemed unable to fly. It was quite agitated and trying to walk away from me as I unpacked my phone from its holder and took a few photos.
[A black and orange butterfly is on the grass. The left wing has an outer portion with spots on it. The right wing is missing that entire spotted portion of the wing.]

Red admiral butterly
[This mostly brown butterfly is perched on an all yellow flower. The brown wings have a reddish orange stripe in the center of the top wing and near the outer edges are white splotches. The butterfly's wing spread is probably only as wide as the extended petals on the flower on which it stands.]

Continue to page 2 of 5 to see the "blue" butterflies.

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All photos © S. M. Garver