Butterfly?
Location: Mexico, Puerto Vallarta (west coast)
February 1, 2012 5:55 pm
I saw this amazing little colourful thing the other day, watering flowers..(it is dry season here now) and got some good pictures of it. but i would really like to know what this is.. never seen anything like it!
Signature: Nathali
Regal Hairstreak
Dear Nathali,
What a positively gorgeous butterfly this is, and we have identified it as a Regal Hairstreak, Evenus regalis, thanks to an online photo by Nelson Dobbs that alas does not do the colors justice. The Butterflies of America website has some lovely photos of Regal Hairstreaks that were photographed in Guatemala and Mexico.
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Unknown Moth
Location: Jacksonville, FL
January 29, 2012 10:33 pm
Dear Bugman,
I found this lovely moth, in a screened patio. It has a lovely subtle green shade on the body and rear wings. I thought it would be easily identified by the ”tail”, but I’m proving myself wrong. :}
I love finding and photographing insects!!
Signature: Dan
Long Tailed Skipper
Hi Dan,
Though it looks somewhat moth-like, the Long Tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus, is actually a butterfly. Skippers are generally considered to be a transitional species between butterflies and moths, though they are classified as butterflies.
Long Tailed Skipper
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What is this butterflies called
Location: Austin, Texas
January 24, 2012 9:54 am
I have taken a picture of two butterflies and will like to know what kind are they, and if they are mating or are co-joined together. thank you for your help
Signature: Mauricio Alvarez
Checkered Skippers Mating
Dear Mauricio,
These Common Checkered Skippers, Pyrgus communis, which we believe we correctly identified on BugGuide, are in fact mating. BugGuide indicates: “Larvae feed on mallows (Malvaceae), including Althea, Abutilon, Malva. Adults take nectar.” Thanks for sending these great photos, and we are especially happy that you show both the upper and under views of the wings.
Mating Common Checkered Skippers
Thank you very much for your help. Feel free to use those pictures in your website.
Mauricio
like from a scrap book, no?
Location: Misiones/Argentina (Iguacu national park)
January 19, 2012 12:56 pm
This is a beautiful butterfly I was able to get a shot in Iguacu, Argentina. It was 2 inch or so. Did not find it’s name on the net. Can you help?
Signature: Jutta
Swordtail Butterfly
Dear Jutta,
This butterfly is positively stunning. We had hoped it would not be too difficult to identify, and we started by doing a word search of “clearwing swallowtail (though we knew it was not Papilionidae) Peru (we read your location too quickly)” and after scouring many photos, we found a close but not perfect match FlickR that was called a Swordtail, but no species name. Then we substituted Swordtail for Swallowtail and we found Morton Ross’ website and a lovely photo identified as the Octauius Swordtail, Chorinea octauius. Armed with a scientific name, we found no shortage of images of this beauty on the internet, including some photos from Panama on the Neotropical Butterflies website, though we were still not sure of the family classification. Though we don’t like to cite Wikipedia as a source, it was Wikipedia that provided the family name Riodinidae, and we have created a new subcategory for Swordtails on our site. Thanks for providing us with a challenging identification. We did locate another member from the family in our archives so your beauty will not be classified alone. We also learned that the family is commonly called Metalmarks.
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Butterfly in Israel
Location: Zippori stream, Israel
January 4, 2012 10:02 am
Hello Bug people!
I was on a hike in Northern Israel last weekend (a great way to see off the old year and start the new), and during the hike I saw a couple of these butterflies playing around. I was lucky enought to shoot one of them just before it flew off.
Quick research tells me it is an Archon apollinus bellargus, of the papilionoidae family. A loose translation of its Hebrew name is the ’Colorful Transparent’.
Enjoy!
Signature: Ben
Archon apollinus bellargus
Dear Ben,
We are positively thrilled to receive your image of the Colorful Transparent. We were struck by its resemblance to members of the genus Parnassus, sometimes called Apollo Butterflies, which sad to say are highly sought by collectors and becoming endangered in their high altitude habitats in the Palaearctic. We suspect that they are taxonomically quite close to this lovely member of the same family. We found support for your identification on TrekNature which states: “One of the most primitive species of Papilionidae in Israel. It is the only specie in Israel which is active in the winter. its upper wings are bit transparent.” It is also pictured on the Tree of Life website which states: “Larvae of A. apollinus feed on species of Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae).”
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