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

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

Unknown Butterfly
Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 11:15 AM
I work in the Nature Center running programs for children in Zion. We have this wonderful butterfly display but who ever did it did not identify the butterflies. This is the only one I have not been able to identify.
The trick is, it was pinned upside down so I can not see the upper part of the wings. Can you please help me out so I can sound smart when the kids ask me to name all the butterflies?
Since this is for educational purposes I hope I’m not stuck in unnecessary carnage!
Ranger Holly
Zion National Park, UT

Common Ringlet (underside)

Dear Ranger Holly,
We absolutely love your letter.  Fear not.  You will not be categorized as Unnecessary Carnage.  In the interest of you sounding as smart as possible, you may now tell the children that this is a Common Ringlet, Coenonympha tullia.  Jeffrey Glassberg in his wonderful book, Butterflies Through Binoculars The West, writes of the Common Ringlet:  “Small.  Variable, but distinctive.  Usually with a single FW subapical eyespot (sometimes faint or absent) and a straight FW postmedian line.  HW ground color varies (mainly geographically) from green-gray to brown to pale gray or off white.  HW postmedian line characteristically jagged.  HW eyespots prominent or almost absent.”  Later, perhaps as a way to justify this vague set of identification characteristics, Glassberg writes:  “As the Supreme Court has said about pornography, it is difficult to define, but you’ll recognize it when you see it.”  We strongly recommend you getting a copy of Glassberg’s book for identification purposes.