Walking at Orlando Wetlands -- the Insects

Lots of Buzzing

Earlier this week I showed the larger animals that I encountered while walking at Orlando Wetlands. Click Here to Read the earlier story But fall in Florida has lots of insects around now. Specifically interesting insects are everywhere. Here’s part 2 of that trip — the insects.

The viceroy is one of a number of orange butterflies in Orlando. They mimic the monarch butterfly. The best way to tell the difference is to look at the hind wings. Viceroys have a well defined line across the hindwing.

The robberfly is a hunter of dragonflies and other insects. He has very sharp mouthparts. He lands on the back of the dragonfly and pierces their back. He then often hangs from the underside of a leaf while eating the prey.

The swallowtail butterflies are pretty common in Florida. The black swallowtail is one of the more common. But they’re not just black. It’s always nice to get a picture of all of the colors on their wings.

The eastern pondhawk is another common dragonfly of Florida. In insect species that the male and female have different color patterns the male is almost always brighter and more colorful. Not so with the pondhawk. The male is a powder blue color but the female is a spectacular green and black above.

The white peacock is one of the most common of Florida butterflies. They’re almost always around during the summer and fall.