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Lovely flowers! They belong to the genus Leucospermum I think-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucospermu...
Its a Goliath Birdwing. Saw some photographs here..
http://butterfly-photo.blogspot.com/2008...
There is a wiki page on them, but sadly none that shows the back wing view that you have in your shot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_Bir...
Love their colouring though.
Do you mean colour wise? Because if that then I think so too! I though yellow ones were the norm, but these were interestingly half and half.
The shot of the proboscis is wonderful!
True. Heliconius hecale it is. Just spotted it some time ago for someone else too!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliconius_...
From the shape of the leaves I'd say Jack in the Pulpit; plus these are more likely to be found wild in N America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arisaema_tr...
Hey could this be a Heliconius hecale..
Take a look here and see if it fits.
http://butterfliesofamerica.com/heliconi...
Also called a Tiger Longwing
Ah yes, in that case the first one is definitely an H. doris from what I can tell.. Do take a look at the ref though so you can be sure too. I think spottings from captive collections are okay as of now (that's what the FAQs say), but they might discourage them in the future. Guess its fine as long as you say where you took them-captive or not.
Oh and still not sure about the second picture. Would it be better if you posted it as a new entry?
I think the butterflies are two different species of Heliconius- the first being an H. doris (also called Laparus doris); and I'm not sure about the second.
Their range tends to be limited to Central America so am not so sure about this one in Florida. Not too sure about their migratory tendencies either so this is my best estimate.
Could be a tree of the Arctostaphylos species (Bearberry trees, in the family Ericaceae). The flower shape is particular to this family, but I wasn't sure so didn't suggest a species ID. You can take a look here though..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctostaphy...
