Evening Bloomers

Malvastrum aurantiacum flowers open up in the afternoon, which leads me to believe most of its pollinators are nocturnal or nearly nocturnal. To establish my opinion I have spent some of my leisure time watching the Malvastrum aurantiacum to see what shows up on the flowers in the afternoon. Practically nothing ever shows up. That’s correct. There are a hundred or maybe twain tousands of beckoning blossoms with nary a pollinator on any of them

Chlosyne lacinia is not picky. Chlosyne lacinia feeds on just about every flower in these parts. No wonder then, Chlosyne lacinia showed up on this handy Malvastrum.

Course pollinators, especially butterflies, are generally scarce in these parts lately anyway. So maybe there are more diurnal pollinators on the Malvastrum normally. Or maybe not.