Cute whatever it is! Love the blue in it! Mayybe some type of skipper? I have a butterfly book. So many different names for them all.

nice pictures....they don't come easy..:) have you found out the name yet? i'm butterfly/skipper ????? love to see them!

Both M's, you're right, it's a skipper! The hint was that my house is only 100 yards from them ;-)

Tom

We call that Snake Weed here, a great butterfly attractant. Pity it's such an invasive weed. The butterfly just doesn't quite have the full Skipper look to me. At some angles it looks like a Lycaenid. But thorax and abdomen are very Skipper-like.

When you mention mangroves, does it prefer mangrove habitats?

When you mention mangroves, does it prefer mangrove habitats?

Well, since it's a Mangrove Skipper I'd have a tendency to say yes ;-)

Tom, beautiful pictures!

Silvia

Thanks Silvia, I figured most of you folks had not seen a Mangrove Skipper up close and personal and these pictures are much better than most of the ones I reviewed on GI.

Tom

Beautiful photography, Tom. Thanks for sharing. I don't think that I have seen a mangrove skipper before.

Christine

When you mention mangroves, does it prefer mangrove habitats?

Well, since it's a Mangrove Skipper I'd have a tendency to say yes ;-)

Of course, if you already know it's a Mangrove Skipper.

Thanks Christine

Of course, if you already know it's a Mangrove Skipper.

I know, I was holding back to put a little mystery in it ;-)

Tom

That's a Rhizophora species you have there, isn't it? Do the butterfly larvae feed on the leaves? If so, they'd have to like their meals heavily salted. ;O)

Those are some amazing pics! My son and I loved them. Thanks for sharing!

...Do the butterfly larvae feed on the leaves? If so, they'd have to like their meals heavily salted. ;O)

Yes, and yes ;-)

TSF- my pleasure.

I linked this post over at the Butterfly Gardening forum as I'm sure 99.9% of them have never seen a Mangrove Skipper either....

Tom

I never saw one. I'm just starting to get interested in butterflies. We have little yellow skippers here in NE Georgia. And of course plenty of Zebras. I have a blue Porter's weed in my greenhouse that I snagged from a friend's garden in Vero Beach. Mine's in a pot and struggling. I'd love to put it in the ground, but I don't think it would take a freeze. You were lucky you had a good poser. I tried to take photos the other day and they kept flying away from me!

I've always liked mangroves, they're sometimes referred to as "The Cradle of Life". A very important part of the ecosystem. I've often seen lots of butterflies near mangroves but they mainly seemed to be feeding on flowering plants on the shoreline or getting salt from saltwater dampened sand. Off the top of my head I don't know any butterfly species that has larvae feeding on any mangrove species. I'll have to keep an eye out for that now.

Butterflies can be difficult to photograph, but now and again you can come across a good poser. I have opportunistically got some good photos over the years.