Fritillary photobombing a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly

Fritillary photobombing a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Last week I photographed a fritillary butterfly photobomb a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly as it nectared on a Showy Milkweed high in the Wasatch Mountains. The fritillary dived bombed the swallowtail several times. I’m not sure why it would do that since there were several clumps of the milkweed nearby and the fritillary could have landed on those plants to nectar by itself without any conflict at all.

I’m fairly certain that the photobomber is a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly mostly because I see that species quite often in the mountains.

The Showy Milkweed is about to finish blooming and will soon be setting seed. None of the clumps of this native milkweed that I saw this year bloomed as profusely as they have in previous years and that may be due to our continuing and extreme drought conditions.

It sprinkled a tiny bit at home yesterday. It was just enough to make the windshield on my Jeep a mess and that is about all. We need rain badly here in northern Utah and throughout the west.

The Showy Milkweed may be able to set seed but for some plants, trees, and shrubs it is already too late for them to bear fruit or set seeds. More on that later.

Even in a drought, life is good. For now.

Mia

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