Sleepy orange sulphur butterflies suck salts and other minerals last week from wet rocks at the shoreline of Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve. Hundreds of the small butterflies were flitting through the air and landing on wet rocks exposed by the receding tide. According to a report by University of Hawaii at Manoa professor Daniel Rubinoff and researcher William Haines, the sleepy orange is a newcomer to Hawaii, perhaps arriving to Maui only four years ago. On the Mainland where it is common, the species has different colors for winter and summer. The summer color, as in this photo, is the only one seen exhibited in Hawaii. The report said the invasive species does not appear to feed on native plants or pose a threat to other plants in Hawaii.

The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo