Here in central Florida we have lots of gorgeous butterflies of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Most we see throughout the spring and into the late fall or mainly in the spring and fall with just a few being around in the middle of the summer. The bean leaf roller butterfly or long tailed skipper(Urbanus proteus), however is only seen in Florida in the fall. They happen to be one of my all time favorite butterflies and they are definitely my favorite fall butterfly. There are actually a couple of reasons for this. The first one you can probably guess; they’re gorgeous! What I think is especially cool about them, though, is that if you see them from the side or from underneath, they look pretty bland. It’s only when they spread open those wings and show off their beautiful backs that you can truly appreciate them. They also have a special place in my heart since one of my first really decent butterfly photos when I was first starting out was of one of these guys. So every fall, I look forward to them showing up to feed on the fall flowers, especially the blackjacks. They don’t stay long, but I sure do enjoy them while they’re here.