rss odd looking butterfly
July 30, 2009
Found what I think is a butterfly on one of our sunflowers today. It has what appears to be 2 bodies sticking out of its back.
Chris
Conroe Tx
Hairstreak
Hi Chris,
This is some species of Hairstreak in the subfamilyTheclinae of the Gossamer Wings.
Question Mark Butterfly
July 30, 2009
Dear Bugman: Due in part to our unusually cool and damp summer, we have not seen very many butterflies in our gardens this year. Today, this very welcome & docile Question Mark Butterfly was feasting on our Black Knight buddleia. It was very cooperative, as I took over 20 photos. It then flew over to our blue spruce and rested there for some time. This is the first Question Mark we have seen in our gardens, and judging from the tears and scratches on it’s wings, this butterfly has had a rough go of it. One photo shows the underside of it’s wings, where you can clearly see the small white question mark, for which it is named. The other photo shows how fuzzy and very dark this one’s hind wings are. Another picture on your site shows a Question Mark that loo ks much lighter and more patterned on it’s hind wings. Is there a difference between the colors of the males and females, or is it just due to regional population differences?
P.S.: Kudos to you and your wonderful WTB? site. My family and I use it and browse through it almost every day. WTB? is the first resource we turn to when trying to identify bugs, and we have it bookmarked as a “Favorite” site.
An Avid Butterfly Friendly Gardener
Allen Park, MI
Question Mark
Dear Avid Butterfly Friendly Gardener,
Thanks for sending us your wonderful photographs of a Question Mark, Polygonia interrogationis. The closed wing view beautifully illustrates the silvery punctuation mark that gives this species both its common and scientific names. The dark coloration signifies that this is a summer Question Mark. According to the Butterflies and Moths of North America website: “Life history: Males find females by perching on leaves or tree trunks in the afternoon, flying to chase other insects and even birds. Females lay eggs singly or stacked under leaves of plants that are usually not the hosts. Caterpillars must find a host plant; they then eat leaves and live alone. Adults of the winter form hibernate; some staying in the north, many migrating to the south.
Flight: Overwintered adults fly and lay eggs in the spring until the end of May. The summer form emerges and flies from May-September, laying eggs that develop into the winter form; these adults appear in late August and spend the winter in various shelters.“ The site also indicates that adults feed on “Rotting fruit, tree sap, dung, carrion. Only when these are unavailable do Question Marks visit flowers such as common milkweed, aster, and sweet pepperbush.”
Question Mark
Ketchup loving butterfly
July 29, 2009
My family and I were on a vacation in Holland, and during a picnic in the Hoge Veluwe national park this overly friendly butterfly decided to share my 6-year-old son’s hotdog sandwich.
Whatever it’s real name, I think it should be changed to Amicus ketchophilus, it being so friendly and fond of ketchup!
Ben
Hoge Veluwe, Holland
Grayling from Holland
Hi Ben,
We did a web search of “butterflies holland” and were led to the Butterflies and Moths of the Netherlands website. We searched the thumbnails and quickly identified your Grayling, Hipparchia semele, which is called Heivlinder in Dutch. The Butterflies and Moths of Europe and North Africa website has images with open wings. The Grayling is one of the Satyr butterflies that are often attracted to fermenting fruit, and the ketchup is perfectly consistent with their dietary preferences.
what are these beautiful butterflies
July 27, 2009
Hi Bug man,
I was hoping you could help in the names of these 4 beautiful butterflies
They are so beautiful with there painted on faces and designs
The love bugs are so cool looking God did great work making all these bugs
And it’s great to have a site like this to know what they all are.
Thank you
Sandy
eastern pa
American Painted Lady
Hi Sandy,
Your first photograph is of an American Painted Lady, Vanessa virginiensis, also known as a Hunter’s Butterfly. You may read more about this spirited butterfly on BugGuide. The mating butterflies are Silver Spotted Skippers, Epargyreus clarus. Skippers are considered butterflies, but many texts classify them as somewhere between butterflies and moths in terms of their evolution. They are classified in the superfamily Hesperioidea and the other butterflies are placed in the superfamily Papilionoidea. You may read more about Silver Spotted Skippers on BugGuide as well. Your third butterfly is one of the greater Fritillaries, but the angle of view will not allow an easy identification.
Mating Silver Spotted Skippers
Nivosus Monarch
July 27, 2009
I do alot of butterfly and dragonfly photography in the summer and was surprised by this butterfly when we came across it. I’m by no means an expert on identification, but it appeared to me to be an odd colored monarch. I looked for information online and read about nivosus or white monarchs. My understanding is that the color difference is caused by a recessive trait and affects less than 1% of the US monarch population. I think this is what I have here, can you confirm it for me? If this is rare it may have some interest for your readers.
Cindy
SE Wisconsin
Hi Cindy,
Your Monarch Butterfly surely is a light individual, but it is not as white as the individual pictured on the Monarch Watch website illustrating the paper written by Lawrence Gibbs and Orley R. Taylor. That individual is truly white. We believe your individual may have a genetic predisposition for lightness, but we also believe it shows evidence of worn wings, perhaps due to old age and perhaps due to traveling long distances. As the wing scales are lost, the coloration of the butterfly appears more faded. It is also possible that this might be an intermediate coloration between the usual orange Monarch and the pale Nivosus Monarch. Perhaps an expert will be able to chime in and solve the question.
Thanks so much for your response. I followed up with your link to Monarch Watch and sent them an email and download of the photo. I received a response from them which also included some additional links within their site. Although they would need to see the actual specimen for 100% accuracy, they said it definitely appears to be a nivosus. After doing some reading on the site and looking at more photos, it appears there is a range of nivosus coloring such as the one I found to the very black and white which you noticed at the top of the article.
Cindy
Monarch Chrysalis
Danaus plexippus
July 22, 2009
Last year my granddaughter wanted to keep a monarch caterpillar. I told her it was OK but she had to let it go when it was ready. Here are the photos. Hope you enjoy them as much as I. Not looking for a reply.
Terry Sincheff
Mound, MN
Monarch Chrysalis Hatching
Hi Terry,
We are positively thrilled to post your images of a Monarch Butterfly metamorphosing.
Monarch Emerged
What type of butterfly is this?
July 21, 2009
Dear ‘bugman’,
I believe it is some type of greater fritillary butterfly. I was hoping you could provide further information.
Thanks,
Jack Stewart
Unknown; Either Dallas, Texas or Kansas City, Kansas
Fritillary
Exact Fritillary identification often takes an expert and inspection of the specimen. It is a greater Fritillary, perhaps Great Spangled Fritillary. Photo of underside might help.
Thanks for the quick response! Attached is a picture of the underside. The specimen is several years old so the colors are probably slightly faded.
Thanks,
Jack
Fritillary
Hi Jack,
Thanks for sending the view of the underside, because now we are certain this is not a Great Spangled Fritillary. We believe it may be an Aphrodite Fritillary, Speyeria aphrodite. Again, we want to clarify that we believe a true expert is needed for definitive Fritillary identifications.
Vote in support of our initial identification
Hi Daniel:
Actually, I think you were right the first time. I think it is a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) because of the reddish base color and wide cream colored band on the underside of the hind wings. Regards. K
Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtail
July 18, 2009
I photographed this beautiful specimen in Cornville, Arizona
roowadphotog
North-Central Arizona
Two-Tailed Swallowtail
Hi roowadphotog,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a Two-Tailed Swallowtail, Papilio multicaudata, which can also be viewed on BugGuide.
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