Sunday June 1 - swallowtail in the blackberries

What a day, we planted over 700 tomato, eggplant, pepper and tomatillo plants last Saturday.  As I went to take some photos of the freshly planted fields, I stopped by the blackberry plants just in time to see a swallowtail enjoying the blackberry flowers. 

Science lesson of the day
In the closeup of the photo, you can actually see the butterfly's proboscis in the flower sucking up nectar.  The proboscis is the long straw-like feeding tube that is normally rolled up in front of the butterfly's head.  The nectar is stored in a "nectary" in the flower, and is loaded with sugar. Its sole purpose is to attract pollinators, like our swallowtail, that brush up against the pollen and carry it from the anther to the stigma so it can fertilize the ovule (see diagram below).  You can also see the antennae very well...butterflies have club-like antennae and moth antennae look more like feather plumes.

Swallowtail on blackberry plants

Digging holes (lots of them!) for tomato plants

Tomatoes, eggplant and pepper

Swallowtail butterfly sucking nectar from the flower

Diagram showing where nectar is in a flower