Butterfly help
Location: unknown
May 27, 2011 1:17 pm
I have just become the lucky recipient of two cases of mounted butterflies from a very old collection. I have been able to identify only a few of them (Blue morpho and Great orange tip). Could you please let me know what the others are?
Signature: Thanks! Kelli
Vintage Collection
Hi again Kelli,
The palid white moth with the tailed underwings is a Luna Moth, arguably the most elegant and ethereal Giant Silk Moth in North America.
¶ Posted 27 May 2011 § Moths ‡ ° Butterfly help
Location: unknown
May 27, 2011 1:17 pm
I have just become the lucky recipient of two cases of mounted butterflies from a very old collection. I have been able to identify only a few of them (Blue morpho and Great orange tip). Could you please let me know what the others are?
Signature: Thanks! Kelli
Vintage Butterfly Collection
Wow Kelli,
We feel like that roadshow about antiques. We are certain our readership would love to write in and provide us with some links. We will post the second case of specimens tomorrow.
¶ Posted 27 May 2011 § Moths ‡ ° swallowtail and buckeye, paso robles
Pale Swallowtail
Ed. Note: Our dear friend Clare Marter Kenyon just sent these photos because she knew Daniel was preparing a powerpoint presentation for the Theodore Payne Foundation and he didn’t have many photos of the Western Tiger Swallowtail despite the countless individuals that flit around his Mt Washington garden in the summer.
Pale Swallowtail
Correction: January 15, 2012
Thanks to input from lepidopterist Julian Donahue and Clare Marter Kenyon who took the photo, we have corrected this identification as a Pale Swallowtail, Papilio eurymedon, which may also be viewed on BugGuide.
Papilio (Heraclides) thoas autocles ?
Location: Long Beach, California
May 20, 2011 6:51 pm
Hi.
This is little flew into my garden today, and I found him on the ground. I’m not sure if he is passing away or if he is injured. I’m also unsure if I should try to feed him or how to help him in anyway.
Signature: Sarah
Giant Swallowtail
Hi Sarah,
We actually believe this is the very similar looking Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes, which you may find on BugGuide. We wonder what calamity befell this lovely creature.
Giant Swallowtail
Do you know why he would be in my area? I live in Long Beach, California near Cypress or Seal Beach….. I’ve been checking on he religiously to see for any movement. He doesn’t move around or anything much but at times I will see one of his legs move, a little bit though. I know they need sunlight for energy, would it be better to keep him inside? Then tomorrow move into sun ? Is there anything I can do for him ? I put leaves and some dryer fluff in the container hoping to keep him warm. The problem is my mom is deathly afraid of butterflies, and moths……
Please any information given will help me. I am not sure if I should find someone who specializes in butterflies or ?!?!?
Sincerely,
Sarah
The Giant Swallowtail has naturalized in the Southern California area. Sorry, but we can’t offer any resuscitation advice. Butterflies are not especially long lived insects, though Swallowtails should survive several months. We suspect, as we mentioned earlier, that this individual met with some calamity. Its wings are in magnificent form to be an older individual.
large and beautiful butterfly
Location: Yakima, WA
April 28, 2011 9:00 am
I am unfamiliar with this striking butterfly but because it is so large and beautiful, it must be easy to track down. My friends seem to think I know this stuff. They’re calling it a moth, but it holds it’s wings at rest like a butterfly. Hope you can follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=1726393562934&set=a.1726331241376.2088000.1331261297&type=1&theater
Signature: Paul Huffman
Orangetip
Hi Paul,
What a beautiful Orangetip in the genus Anthocharis. We are uncertain what species it is, but there are some nice photos on BugGuide.
Spring in Full Swing!
Hello Daniel and Lisa,
04-21-11 At first I thought these butterflies were Spring Azures, then maybe Cabbage Whites, but neither of those have scallop-edged wings. Can you help me?
04-22-11 The moths were plentiful this morning on the wall under the safety light, and…watched a bird, think it was an Eastern Phoebe, having a snack or two as it flapped up and down the wall. (no photo available)
04-23-11 This morning, I was told by a couple of very early risers, a raccoon was climbing on that wall, holding on with three paws while scooping the moths into its mouth with the fourth! (again, no photo available :’( )
04-27-11 I believe this is a Bent-line Gray Moth, Iridopsis larvaria…
Hoping your Easter, holiday adventure was safe and happy,
R.G. Marion
Sevier County, TN
Great Smoky Mountains
Courting Orange Tips
Dear R.G.,
We absolutely love your photograph of the positively salacious behavior of the courting OrangeTips. The female has her abdomen raised and she is quite possibly releasing pheromones into the air which have attracted the fluttering male with the sexually dimorphic namesake orange tips. We are uncertain of the species, but an excellent candidate is the Falcate Orangetip, Anthocharis midea, which ranges all around Tennessee and is profiled on bugGuide. It is the only Eastern species profiled on BugGuide. We love this photo so much we are going to feature it.
Wow! Thanx! I’m so pleased that you liked the photo of the “Courting” Orange Tips. I do get lucky once in a while.
Since there hasn’t been a sighting reported in Tennessee according to the link that you included, I was wondering if it is possible that they were blown this way by all the storms we’ve been having here in the Southeast this month? Do things like that happen in the fragile-bug world? Or did I really get lucky? Just curious…
R.G. Marion
Hi Again R.G.,
Since the OrangeTips were reported from all surrounding states, it is fair to assume that they are also found in Tennessee, but that there have just not been any submissions to bugGuide.
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