‘Tis the season… a little later than usual, but the season nonetheless. While I was camping in New England, the figs on the trees outside my garden decided to start ripening in my absence. By the time I returned this past week, they were fully ripe, which had not gone unnoticed by many of my woodland neighbors.
As in past summers there is a bit of a race to see who gets to the ripe figs first. I tend go out each morning and pick those figs that are starting to ripen before they fall prey to the other local fig-eaters. In the past it’s been the usual suspects… Hornets, Yellow-jackets, June beetles, and a few species of birds – especially woodpeckers and crows. But the trees were full of overripe figs when I returned and the table had been set for everyone. Now there are fruit flies, hornets, birds, and butterflies all over the fig trees.
Many types of butterflies do not live on nectar alone – some species prefer overripe fruit, tree sap, and even decaying animals or scat (animal poop) to feed on. Decaying fruits have carbohydrates and minerals, necessary to most butterflies. Butterflies have excellent chemo-receptors and are able to locate sources of food like rotting fruit from great distances.
These figs must have the right sensory signals as I was amazed at the number and variety of species attracted to the fig feast.
The most noticeable of the scaly-winged fig-feeders are the Red-spotted Purple butterflies. They are common here in the Piedmont and are easily recognized by the red-orange spots on the undersides and the bright iridescence on the upper surface of their wings. I rarely see them nectar at flowers but often find them on tree sap, bird droppings, and rotten fruit.
Yesterday afternoon there were over a dozen of these beauties flitting around the fig trees. With so many around, it should be a good year for finding their highly sculpted eggs at the tips of Black Cherry leaves, an abundant tree along the power line.
Another abundant butterfly on the figs is much less noticeable – the diminutive Carolina Satyr. There may actually be even more of these flying around than the Red-spotted Purples, but they have an erratic, lilting flight and when they land, they can be tough to see.
The undersides have a few noticeable eye spots but the upper wings are more moth-like and drab than most species of butterfly. Since they tend to be low-flying, they are often overlooked in the garden. I have yet to find one of their eggs or a caterpillar, which feed on various species of grasses. Guess I will just need to spend a little more time observing since there are now so many out and about.
The Eastern Comma is a quick and erratic flyer that is fond of fruit, tree sap, and carrion. One of the so-called Anglewings (named for their sculpted wing edges), it can be separated from its close cousin, the Question Mark, by looking at the silvery marking on the underside of the hind wings. You can see the curved punctuation mark clearly in this photo and also see that it lacks the small dot on the distal end of the mark, so this is an Eastern Comma.
When they flash open their wings, they are a beautiful brownish orange with dark spots. This is one of the few NC species of butterflies that overwinters as an adult.
My favorite fig-feeder is one I rarely see elsewhere – the Tawny Emperor. Very similar to the more common Hackberry Emperor, both species share the restrictive habitat needs of an area with Hackberry or Sugarberry trees for host plants. Both species also share the unusual habit of often landing on sweaty human observers to probe for salt. As hot as it is supposed to be today, maybe I will go out and sit near the fig trees and see if I can attract a few. The things we do for science:)
Roads End Naturalist 