Milkweed and Butterflies!

I have talked previously of the uniqueness and marvelous adventures we have experienced in the Dolly Sods Recreational Area and Red Creek. As you enter Laneville, WV on the way up the mounatin to Dolly Sods, you will first cross Red Creek and see the Forest Service Cabin on your left. If the milkweeds are blooming to the right of the cabin, stop and smell the blossoms! What a great, wonderful smell from a poisonous plant. As you know the milkweeds contain glycosides that are very toxic! The famous case of an insect using these toxins for protection is the Monarch Butterfly above. The caterpillar's first meal is its own eggshell. After that, Monarch caterpillars eat the poisonous milkweed leaves to incorporate the milkweed toxins into their bodies in order to poison their predators. Some groups of Monarchs migrate for over 2,000 miles during August-October, flying from Canada and the USA to overwinter in coastal southern California to the transvolcanic mountains of central Mexico.
During one day at Laneville, I photographed the following butterflies feeding on milkweed blossoms. Hope you not only have the opportunity of smelling the flowers, but to see these great butterflies personally!