Really no take-home point to the short blog today, merely what it’s all about: joy in  mingling this steamy afternoon in the Mangroves with Sulfur Butterflies dancing cheek to cheek in the sunflecks.   A reminder to go out and cherish Creation even when it reeks like Mangrove mud.   

Photos above by John Bradford

Whenever you get around mangroves you see Sulfur Butterflies (Statira Sulfur I think).  Mangroves don’t actually attract these pale yellowish flutterbys, but rather the Coinvines (Dalbergia ecastaphyllum) around the Mangrove habitats are the points of interest.    Coinvines may be sprawling prone on  a brackish shore, or a tangly shrub all mixed up with grapevines and whoknowswhat, or when among large trees, large woody climbing lianas. Why are they so often by brackish water—even if not necessarily so?

Coinvines are Legumes, even though they don’t look like it.    Not sure about the Sulfur Butterfly Family collectively  around the world, but  the Sulfurs I know prefer Legumes as larval hosts.    For the Statira Sulfur (if it is that species) caterpillars, the Coinvines seem to be a  preferred salad.

Walking where the Coinvines grow, look for ragged chewed Coinvine leaves.  Aside from the present suspects, not much else eats Coinvine, it seems.   At the edge of the munched area you can find the muncher loitering. Or maybe eggs.

Hurry up, and lay some more eggs!

BTW…added value extra bonus, not today, not the same species, but Sulfur chrysalids can be well disguised: