What is this butterfly?
October 8, 2009
This butterfly has black edges and the rest is yellow other than one black spot on each upper wing and one yellow spot on each lower wing. I would really just like the scientific name.
scientific name?
Manchester, NH
Clouded Sulphur
Dear scientific name?
This is a Sulphur Butterfly in the genus Colias. We believe it is a female Clouded Sulphur, Colias philodice. It is the white form of the female, a common variation. Both the Clouded Sulphur and the Orange Sulphur, Colias eurytheme, have a white form female. According to BugGuide, the best way to distinguish the two from one another is: “The white form female philodice can often be separated from the white form female eurytheme by the HW outer margin. In philodice the HW outer margin will have a more narrow smoother solid black border, while eurytheme most often has an irregular and wider black border, many times with diffuse white markings within the black border.“ BugGuide also has photos that illustrate this difference. Actually, upon closer inspection, we believe this to be the typical yellow form of the female Clouded Sulphur. The female can be distinguished from the male in that the black borders on the wings of the female have spots, and the male has solid black borders.
moth
October 7, 2009
please can you tell me what this moth is that we came across whilst we were on holiday in the southwest of france in september 2009? are they poisones and should i have handled it
pauline
south west france
Death's Head Hawkmoth
Hi pauline,
Congratulations on your sighting of a Death’s Head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos, the moth that was featured in the book and movie Silence of the Lambs. It is found in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Though we have received several images of caterpillars in the past, we believe this is the first image we have received of an adult moth or imago. Wikipedia has an extensive page on this fascinating species. It is not poisonous.
Comment
The Caterpillar of this species [which I believe has a wide geographic range] is consumed. In Papua New Guinea.
Dave Gracer
Small orange and black bug sucking on nectar of goldenrod
October 6, 2009
Hi. I came across this bug at my home in Sayville, New York. There were many individuals sucking the nectar from some goldenrod flower heads. I have never seen this bug before. What is this?
Derek Rogers
Sayville, New York
March Flies
Hi Derek,
These are March Flies in the family Bibionidae. We believe they are Dilophus spinipes, a species represented on BugGuide with several images taken in New York a few days ago. Those specimens were also pictured feeding on yellow flowers. For some reason, we are unable to access any additional information on BugGuide this morning. March Flies often appear in a very small window of time, and they appear in great numbers. The infamous Love Bugs from the Southern States are a prime example.
March Fly
Spined Micrathena
October 6, 2009
Dearest Bugman,
I just wanted to share a photo of this fashionable spider I found at my friend’s grandmother’s house on 8/16/09. I’m pretty sure it’s a Spined Micrathena.
shutterbug
Celina, OH
Spined Micrathena
Hi shutterbug,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a Spined Micrathena. We posted an image earlier today, and it is very nice to have another recent example for comparison.
Butterfly
October 6, 2009
Hi Bugman,
Have had a lot of this kind of (butterfly?) this year. Always shows up at night in either the house or the barn. Can you identify it?
Thank you,
Jordan
Costa Rica
Nothus lunus
Hi Jordan,
Though it looks like a Swallowtail Butterfly, WE actually believe this is a diurnal moth and not a butterfly, but we haven’t had any luck with its identification. It reminds us of the Sunset Moth, Urania fulgens.
Update from Julian Donahue
This is a moth in the Neotropical family Sematuridae (one species makes it, rarely, into Arizona). This particular moth goes by a number of names, and a revision of the genus is clearly needed. It is most likely Nothus (= Sematura) lunus (or aegisthus?), which occurs from Mexico to Brazil. There are anywhere from four to 11 recognized species in the genus, which also occurs in the West Indies.
Julian
Update from Karl
Hi Daniel:
This is indeed a moth, Sematura luna (=lunus?), and it looks like it is probably a male (females have a white band down the middle of both wings). The taxonomy is a little confusing as I had trouble determining if luna = lunus, or if they are closely related species or subspecies. My favourite Costa Rican reference (Mariposas de Costa Rica) uses S. luna, South American references seem to use S. lunus. It belongs to the relatively small and poorly understood family Sematuridae (subfamily Sematuerinae), which has approximately 40, mostly neotropical species. They belong to the superfamily Geometroidea, along with the Uraniidae and Geometridae families. Although they resemble the large diurnal Uraniid moths, most Sematurids are nocturnal, Sematura sp. included. They are sometimes called Eyetails, for obvious reasons. Regards.
Karl
moth
October 6, 2009
Hi Bugman,
This moth looks like a dead leaf with it’s wings closed. When I set it on the table it struck a nice pose. It’s body on the underside is totally orange and there are pink blotches on the underside of the wings. Very pretty.
Jordan
Costa Rica
Hyperchiria nausica
Hi Jordan,
This beautiful moth does not have a common name. It is Hyperchiria nausica, and we located on Kirby Wolfe’s website.
Hyperchiria nausica
Black horned spider
October 6, 2009
This beauty is spinning away in my side yard. She has a preportionally huge black abdomen with horns and light colored markings on it. The underside is cone-shaped and ridged.
Jennnifer In Nyack
Nyack, NY
Spined Micrathena
Dear Jennifer,
Your spider is a Spined Micrathena, Micrathena gracilis, a harmless Spiny Orbweaver.
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