Madison Indiana Butterflies

Red Admiral

Wood Nymph

Pearl Crescant

Tiger Swallowtail

I have seen so many butterflies this year I don’t even know where to begin. We have such a rich diversity of nature here in the Madison area and butterflies are a big part of it.

It’s not hard to come across these flying little gems, with all the public land and the many gardens that we have in this area it’s no wonder I have been able to locate and photograph so many varieties.

So now after getting back into this blogging thing a bit I will start sharing some of the many beautiful images of these great little miracles of nature !!

Zebra Swallowtail

Another awesome butterfly captured at Big Oaks NWR in Madison Indiana. This is one of my favorite butterflies not because of their beauty or elegance but because of their aggressive nature.

As an example last year I was sitting in a lawn chair photographing great spangled fritillaries on butterfly weed at Splinter Ridge FWA in southern Indiana. The plant was covered with the fritillaries but this one beat up zebra would fly in and run off every other butterfly on that plant and even took aim at me a couple times flying right up into my face just daring me to do something !!

So even though they are one of the most beautiful and unique butterflies that grace our local fields and woodlots it is their fighting spirit that really makes them one of my favorites !!

Thanks for stopping by and having a look.

Viceroy

Another great butterfly from the Madison Indiana area photographed at Big Oaks NWR in Jefferson County. This is a really cool little butterfly that mimics the larger Monarch butterfly to protect itself from birds and other predators.

The Monarchs have a really bad taste to predators, so I have been told, so the Viceroy has mimicked the look of the Monarch to hopefully protect themselves from birds and other predators that may want to have a taste of them.

Whether that is true or not I am not really sure, recently I have read that Viceroys have always had a bad taste.I would sure love to know who is tasting all these butterflies and is it really a good idea to be doing that !! Please excuse my attempt at being humorous.

Whatever the case they are one of the most beautiful butterflies that grace our area and are always a wonderful site to behold. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look !!

Black Swallowtail

Here is another great butterfly from Big Oaks NWR in Madison Indiana. This is the Black Swallowtail not to be confused with the Pipevine Swallowtail or the Spicebush Swallowtail or the Dark Morph Tiger Swallowtail, this is why butterfly identification can be confusing lol !!

It’s always a good idea to carry a butterfly book with you when searching them out and even then it’s still not easy telling them apart especially skippers !! But it is a very rewarding family or solo activity.

And now is the time to be out looking for these beautiful little flying gems, you can find them as close as your own backyard or in the biggest nature preserve just look for flowers and open sunlit areas and then you can drive yourself crazy trying to id all the different species lol !!

Tiger Swallowtail

Another great butterfly the Tiger Swallowtail probably the most abundant butterfly here in the Madison Indiana area.

This wonderful butterfly is one of the largest and most beautiful butterflies to view and photograph, generally they will sit pretty still if you don’t move to fast and they really enjoy the many garden flowers that we have here in Madison.

This subject was photographed at Big Oaks NWR and was feeding on Blazing Star which is one of the best wildflowers for attracting pollinators.

Hope you enjoy the image and if you get out in the fields or backyard keep your eyes peeled for this great Butterfly !!