A visitor to the garden

It's going to be a hot and humid week. When I went out to water the plants today, I spotted this butterfly in the garden. It fluttered from plant to plant making me chase it high and low with my camera. It finally came to rest on the hanging basket of petunias.

Are butterflies garden friends or foes? They are pollinators, but they also lay eggs that hatch into caterpillars that are fully capable of decimating plants. Needless to say, I'm cautiously intrigued by this beautiful little fella ...