Photos: Butterflies that can be seen in California's high desert

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

By Maureen Gilmer, The Desert Sun

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

 

Once larvae mature, metamorphosis occurs inside these cocoons before they hatch into the mature winged phase of the life cycle. 

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

The gulf fritillary, Agraulis vanillae. 

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

This caterpillar is larvae consuming wildflower foliage in the late spring after hatching out from eggs laid while parents fed upon the flowers earlier in the season.

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

The desert milkweed, Asclepias subulata, is a succulent linked to the monarch butterfly.

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

The swallowtail butterfly, Papilio rutulus. 

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

The mourning cloak butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa.

© Maureen Gilmer/The Desert Sun

The monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus.

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