For the last week or so I’ve noticed a lot of little orange butterflies fluttering around the garden in front of our offices. I’ve been wanting to hunt them with my camera all week, but the winds been blowing (like it normally does this time of year) and we had a bit of rain so “hunting” for a good photo has been out of the question. Today was a gorgeous day and at lunch time I headed out with my camera in hand.
When I got home I paged through my The Wildlife of Southern Africa book and actually found it. It is a Garden Acraea (Acraea horta). “Body black. Wings reddish-orange. Fore wings have translucent tips. Hind wings spotted black. Flight slow, floppy. Secretes distasteful fluid when attacked. Throughout South Africa except arid North West.”
So while I am busy, why not dig through the bushes in the garden to see what else would show its head and what did I find? The butterfly’s pupa. From the looks of it this little guy was close to entering the world as a butterfly.
No only if somebody can tell me if this hairy spiky dude is what turns into the little orange butterfly or was it just coincidence that I found him in there as well.
It is indeed!