Ray's Thought for the Day - Rainfall Update + Rayetta's Butterflies

The CB rain gauge is close to 25.00" for DY 1, already. Er. 24.85" + 0.1" = 24.95".

Dr. Pistrum. Ahoy there, Dr. Pistrum, I am done with the rainfall update. Oh, Ray-et-ta. The rainfall update is complete. It is time for Rayetta's Butterflies. It is your turn at the venue, Rayetta.

Hold your horses Ray. Crumby needs to help with this one. Lomo, go find Crumby.

Lomo go find Crumby?

Yes Lomo, find Crumby. Then, once you find him, make sure Crumby reports to the laboratory, pronto.

Lomo go find Crumby!

Hmmm. All righty then. Now I just need to take this, and this and I am all set to head out for the laboratory. Here I am. Ray, stop scratching those chigger bites. You'll infect yourself. Now go off somewhere else, Ray. If you see Crumby and Lomo, tell Lomo to hurry Crumby along.

All righty then, Rayetta.

Let me see. This one and this one need to go into the venue. Where is that Crumby Ovate? Here he is. That's better. Crumby, you need to identify this frog fruit to species.

What particular frog fruit, Rayetta?

This one, the one in the picture. See the picture I have stuck in front of your noggin.

Oh! Er. Frog fruits are beyond the skill of a mere mortal such as myself to identify. Therefore, all frog fruits are, by default, Phyla incisa that some have lately come to call Phyla nodiflora.

Are you sure about that, Crumby?

Yepper.

All righty then. Today, on Rayetta's Butterflies, a humble yet ecologically important plant is featured, none other than frog fruit (Phyla nodiflora). Frog fruit is important to my littler butterflies, -2 and 3 on the Rayetta scales. The biggest butterfly I have observed using frog fruit is the Common Buckeye. However, the little ones are on frog fruit a lot.

This little butterfly, a Phaon Crescent, is ovapositing on the frog fruit.

This alternative little butterfly, Southern Skipperling, is dining upon the frog fruit. I have observed some other butterflies on frog fruit, but I seem to have misplaced the list that contains those names. Well, never mind the list. One of those other ones was dainty sulphur.

Crumby, do you have some information about frog fruit that you would like to share with the venue?

Yepper. The technical keys available for identifying frog fruits to species almost ruined my life entirely. I could never get those keys to work on any of my specimens. Boo-hoo-hoo, I cried. But then the Blessed Goddess sent me an epiphany.

Crumby, She advised, all those frog fruits are the same difference. Do not fret any longer over those frog fruits. Hence, I no longer fret over them. Yet I no longer disdain them either. Once I stopped fretting over them, I learned to appreciate frog fruits for their own sakes.

Anything else?

Uh. The frog fruits have got into the nursery trade. So if the general public wants frog fruit, it is handy.

Anything else?

They are much like a stoloniferous grass in habit. Plus, in these parts, frog fruits rival silver-leaf nightshade for ubiquity, occuring in seasonally dry spots as well as wet spots. Frog fruits may provide relief from graminoid monotony, a common peril.

Anything else?

Noper, Rayetta.