Most people mistake them for true,
yellow-disked sunflowers, whose ray florets are neutral, not
fertile as these long persistent ones are, But no one should
confuse them with the dark cone-centered ox-eye daisy. Small
bees, wasps, hornets, flies, little butterflies, beetles, and
lower insects come to feast on the nectar and pollen within the
minute tubular disk florets. The bright fulvous and black pearl
crescent butterfly, with a trifle over an inch wing expanse; the
common hairstreak; the even commoner little white butterfly; and
the tiny black sooty wing, among others, appear to find generous
entertainment here. The last named little fellow, when in the
caterpillar stage, formed a cradle for himself by folding
together a leaf of the ubiquitous green-flowered pigweed or
lamb's quarters (Cizenopodium album) and stitching the edges
together with a few silken threads. Here it slept by day,
emerging only at night to feed. Usually one has not long to wait
before discovering the white-dotted sooty wing among the
midsummer composites.
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