Atala

Habitat:

Found in southeastern Florida (including the Florida Keys) in the United States, and the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands in areas with their native cycad host plants such as open brushy areas and tropical hammocks, often in pine woodlands. Many populations now exist in suburban areas with ornamental cycads.

Notes:

So many Atalas this morning!!! I decided to make them their own separate post. As I've mentioned before, and you probably know, this little native butterfly almost went extinct in South Florida because urban sprawl decimated its host plant the Coontie (our only native cycad). There has been an effort to replant Coontie all over the place and the Atala seems to have been saved from the brink with populations increasing throughout South Florida. And so, they are always nice to see. There were a whole bunch of them freshly emerged from their pupae on a single Coontie this morning.