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What kind of butterfly is this?
Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 7:01 AM
I just found this butterfly in our front yard today. I’ve never seen one like it around here. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Karen
Cincinnati, Ohio
Zebra Swallowtail
Dear Karen,
In our opinion, the Zebra Swallowtail is the most elegant of the North American Swallowtails, a family graced with numerous lovely species.
Need ID for Neo tropical Conservation Project
Sat, May 30, 2009 at 6:13 PM
I won t post any photos here as there are too many but all of them are visible on flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigal_river_conservation_project_ecuador/sets/
If anybody can help in narowing some of the identifications, it would be greatly appreciated. The place is also available for research. Thanks in advance.
Thierry
ecuador eastern slopes
Imperial Sunstreak
Dear Thierry,
We almost didn’t open your email because at this time of year, we get numerous requests from lazy students who realize their entomology identification projects are due. They send us blurry photos and frantic requests so they don’t flunk their classes. Needless to say, we ignore those requests. Your project has us fascinated, and we wish we had the time to research the 100s of unknown specimens represented by your photographs. We are happy to post the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigal_river_conservation_project_ecuador/sets/ to your project in the event any of our readers want to take a stab at assisting you. If nothing else, our readers should enjoy scanning through your wonderful images. We are taking the liberty of posting an image of an Imperial Sunstreak, Arcas imperialis, and the accompanying text:
“Imperial Arcas, Imperial Sunstreak- Mariposa Brillante- October 2008-
Thanks Kim Garwood for IDing this!
…This Imperial Sunstreak is a spledid butterfly that lives from Mexico to Bolivia, in Colombia from sea level to 1500 masl. Some of the butterflies of this family have some hairy tails that they move constantly so the predators will get confused and if they bite they won´t do it in the head. Forewing average 20-22 mm. “
Dear Mr Marlos.
Thanks for your kind words and your support. The link you posted on you website is an honour for us and will prove to be of a great help. I didn t know entomology students could be lazy (endless biodiversity in that field can’t afford lazyness!), but I guess they are like any other students… I think I owe you a presentation so here we go:
My name is Thierry Garcia, Executive Director of the Sumac Muyu Foundation from Ecuador.
We are running a Conservation Project in Ecuador (the Bigal River Conservation Project), in the Amazon part of the Country, about 60 km from the city of Coca, at an altitude between 450 m and 1100 m above sea level. We are trying to protect 2500 acres of primary forest and its biodiversity and as the area is bordering Sumaco National Park, it is a major buffer zone. The Reserve is community owned and we are struggling everyday to get more and more local individuals involved in conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
The place is still pristine because of its remoteness, biodiversity is at its highest, it is covered with lush primary rainforest bordering Sumaco National Park, one of the less explored National Park in the country, and our first goal is to keep it this way.
I would also like to put across the fact that it is not a business we are trying to run here or another expensive jungle lodge, but a true Conservation Project based on education in the local communities, scientific research, and poverty eradication, through environmental awareness. Eco tourism will be used as a last resort to generate funds and salaries for the locals and, if implemented, it will be subject to strict regulation in order to minimize the impact on the ecosystem.
You can also visit our website for pictures and other info (in Spanish, English or French) at:
http://reservadelriobigal.googlepages.com/
We are currently looking for a partnership (long or short term) involving research with a University or any other Organization in order to help us manage the place’s biodiversity in the best way as possible and to improve scientific knowledge of the area which is hardly inexistent. Needless to say, chances of discovering new species are high and that this place is in need of urgent protection, this is why we are looking for any kind of way to promote the area internationally so it becomes better known and better protected.
We are also looking for individual scientists or students who would be willing to help us identify some of the species just by analyzing the photos we could send them (or the one we post on flickr), or even better by paying us a visit in our area.
So far we have international experts for the following arthropods groups: phasmatodea, odonata, opiliones, scorpiones and amblipigy, rhopalocera, myriapoda, and I think that’s it. Any other groups needs help…
The importance for me in being in touch with specialists vs generalists is that I found out they are the only one who can ID photos without problem unless a new species occurs. This avoids collecting and therefore the bureaucracy maze involved in obtaining permits, plus it gives those animals a break at a crucial time in the history of our planet when I think every single creature deserves a break before mass extinction takes places.
Nevertheless our fondation has the necessary contacts to obtain permits and we can seriously facilitate permits obenition if needed.
I am looking forward to hearing from you. Let’s keep in touch and don’t hesitate to come and visit us at some poit if you can.
Best regards,
Thierry Garcia
Fundación Ecológica Sumac Muyu
00 (593) 087-105-383
http://reservadelriobigal.googlepages.com
Hello again Thierry,
Thanks for you wonderful explanation of your project. We are horrified to think that you interpreted our comment to mean that we thought entomology students were lazy. We actually meant students taking general biology classes which are often required in high school and college. Those classes often require students to make an insect collection and identify the specimens. We also hope you are successful in your conservation attempts. Here in Los Angeles, we are often battling with our own conservation attempts. Our offices are located in the neighborhood of Mount Washington where some of the last remaining open spaces with endangered California Black Walnut Trees, Juglans californica, are located. Activists and environmentalists are constantly at odds with developers who want to cut the trees and build McMansions.
Are these butterflies the same species, even though they look so different?
Sat, May 16, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Hi there; I was in the Smokey Mountains yesterday (May 2009) taking pictures and happened upon these little guys. At first I thought they were two different species and thought it was strange they were just kind of hanging out together in the gravel. Even when I walked up to them, they never moved more than a few inches from each other. I did a little digging around online tonight and now I think they may be Pipevine Swallowtails. One with its wings down and the other with its wings up. I was surprised at the difference in appearance from the top of the wings to the bottom of the wings, if in fact that is the case. Please let me know when you get a chance. Thank you so very much.
Tammy/TN
Cades Cove/Smokey Mountain National Park/Tennessee
Pipevine Swallowtails Puddling
Hi Tammy,
You are correct that these are both Pipevine Swallowtails. You are also correct that the upper surface and underside (revealed when the wings are closed) are quite different. The Pipevine Swallowtails in your photo are puddling, or drinking moisture that contains minerals, a common practice of many swallowtail butterflies.
Beautiful Butterfly you might be interested in
Sat, May 16, 2009 at 4:58 AM
I found this guy resting on my azeala bush a few days ago, thought he was beautiful and grabbed my camera. I have never see a butterfly like this in Long Island, NY and possible ideas?
Mary R.
Long Island
Black Swallowtail
Good Morning Mary,
We hated cropping your beautifully composed image of a female Black Swallowtail because it was such a lovely photograph, but our readership is more interested in seeing the insects as large as possible, so we eliminated much of your azalea and the fence in the background. Female Black Swallowtails have blue markings on the lower wings while the male has only yellow spots. The male is also smaller.
Ruddy Daggerwing photos
Wed, May 13, 2009 at 2:55 PM
I have raised a few of these cats to butterflies for my children to see the entire process. I hope you enjoy the photos. I love your website.
Karen
Miami, Florida
Ruddy Daggerwing Caterpillars
Hi Karen,
Wonderful contributions like your metamorphosis images of a Ruddy Daggerwing, Marpesia petreus, help to make our website interesting. The caterpillars of the Ruddy Daggerwing feed on the leaves of figs.
Ruddy Daggerwing
Wyoming’s state butterfly
Sun, May 10, 2009 at 5:39 AM
Hi Lisa Anne and Daniel, this past winter Wyoming was first designated a state butterfly, the Sheridan’s Green Hairstreak. The process was begun by some Sheridan County third grade students as a civics project. They wanted it to be the state insect but a sponsoring Sheridan legistator suggested naming it the state butterfly instead, “to leave the insect open for other students who may want to designate the state spider, for example”…insert your own joke here.
Anyway, it is a beautiful creature.
Peace,
Dwaine
near Powder River, WY
Sheridan's Hairstreak
Thanks Dwaine,
We are happy to hear that Wyoming now has a state butterfly and can’t wait to hear about the soon to be selected state spider. This lovely Sheridan’s Green Hairstreak, Callophrys sheridanii is a welcome addition to our butterfly archives, which have grown significantly thanks to your numerous wonderful photographs.
Brown Butterflies Mating in Flagstaff, AZ
Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 3:50 PM
Hello, today, April 29, 2009, I noticed 2 brown butterflies mating on the side-railing of my porch. At first, I thought the wood was peeling and went closer to pull it off, but realized that they were butterflies in the throes of passion 
They remained very still, but intermittently would flap their wings. I watched them for about 30 minutes and took several pictures and video. Although I attempted to identify what type they were by searching on the internet, there are far too many species for a non-etymologist like myself to even narrow it down. Bugman, please help me to identify these unknown butterfly lovers!
Beatrix G.
Flagstaff, Arizona
mating Mourning Cloaks
Hi Beatrix,
We love Mourning Cloak Butterflies, or Camberwell Beauties as they are called in England. The Mourning Cloak, which hibernates in the winter, is a harbinger of spring in many parts of the world. It is often the first butterfly seen when it begins to warm and the days are sunny. We are thrilled to have your image of a mating couple.
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 6:32 PM
I found these butterflies resting around a severed moose leg in Northern Ontario.
Katrena
Timmins
Canadian Swallowtails and severed moose leg
Goodness Gracious Katrena …
Was a former American vice-presidential candidate in your area? Male swallowtail butterflies are often attracted to mud puddles where they drink in the moisture which contains essential minerals like sodium. This behavior is known as a puddle party or just puddling. We have also heard that they are attracted to urine and fresh feces and perhaps to putrifying flesh, presumably for the same reason. We located an image of Pipevine Swallowtails on horse dung online. There are some awesome puddling photos on this website. The encyclopedia of Arkansas history butterflies and moths page indicates: “The males of many butterfly species gather at damp areas to imbibe mineral salts, known as “mud-puddling.” Males use these salts for their own bodily functions, but they pass them to the female in the spermatophore during copulation. These mineral salts seem to aid female egg production. Males and females may be observed imbibing mineral salts and amino acids from carnivore scat, horse urine, and rotting animal carcasses.” You photo of Canadian Tiger Swallowtails, Papilio canadensis, with a severed moose leg will make quite the conversation piece on our site. Thanks so much for sending us the image.
Brown Elfin b’fly
Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Hi Lisa Anne and Daniel. I noticed you haven’t a Brown Elfin butterfly on your site. Here is one on juniper that I found in central WY on 4/21.
Peace,
Dwaine
near Casper, WY
Brown Elfin
Hi Dwaine,
We are going to trust your identification that this is a Brown Elfin, Callophrys augustinus, because there are many species in the genus and proper identification might tax our questionable taxonomic skills well beyond the level we feel comfortable. According to BugGuide it is: “locally common; the most often encountered elfin in most of its range.” Elfins are grouped together with the Blues, Coppers and Hairstreaks as the Gossamer Winged Butterflies in the family Lycaenidae.
Some Type of Swallowtail Maybe??
Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 11:13 AM
This pretty butterfly was resting on damp fur this morning and it was such a pretty shade of mint green I had to grab the camera. It had extensions on the tail similar to yellow swallowtails (we have a bunch of those right now) but he/she was much prettier. It would not spread its wings very much for me but it did have red markings near the abdomen on the wings. I live in Eastern Tennessee and today is a nice warm, sunny day. Many butterflies are fluttering about. Anyway, I’d like to know what this little guy/gal is.
Pam Balog
eastern tennessee
Zebra Swallowtail
Hi Pam,
What beautiful photos of a Zebra Swallowtail, Eurytides marcellus, puddling. Male Zebra Swallowtails take fluids from wet sand and it is believed that they need necessary minerals and electrolytes, and this is a convenient way for them to imbibe them.
Zebra Swallowtail
Butterfly Love
Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 6:29 PM
My wife and I just got back from Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA where they have the “Butterfly Jungle” exhibit. We got tons of pictures, but I wanted to get this to you as quick as possible. I forgot to take a picture of the butterfly “legend” so I don’t know what kind of butterfly this is. You can see that the male and female have different wing markings. Enjoy!
Bob K – Bug shooter
Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA
Mating Small Postman Butterflies
Hi Bob,
We believe this is Heliconius erato based on images submitted to BugGuide from various butterfly exhibits from around the country. There are relatively strict guidelines on species selection for butterfly pavilions in order to prevent the introduction of exotic species to new habitats. We believe that either local species or those that can pose no threat if they accidentally escape are the only acceptable species. According to Wikipedia, this butterfly is also known as the Red Postman, the Small Postman, the Red Passion Flower Butterfly, or the Crimson-Patched Longwing. It is native to Central and South America and there are occasional strays to Texas according to BugGuide. We also located a nice webpage devoted to Heliconius erato that shows numerous color variations. Since the caterpillars feed on passion flower vine, it is probably an easy species to raise in warmer states where the food plant is an invasive species.
Awaiting Papilio rutulus or Papilio multicaudata?
Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 7:14 PM
I tried sending these through the website but it kept failing. Hope this is OK.
We here in Montana have been long awaiting the arrival of some overwintering Papilio/Swallowtails in our garage. Try as we might, we have not been able to determine if our caterpillars were Two-tailed or Western Tiger Swallowtails. The difference will determine if they should emerge in late May or late June (around here.) We have been waiting so patiently, it would be such a shame for us to mess up the timing now. (The garage stays so cold we will probably have to move them to get them to emerge.) We have some great photos of several different caterpillar stages as well as the pupae. Attached are a few. These caterpillars fed on chokecherry leaves in late summer (found them August 20th) and pupated mid-September. The early instars were green and had a bird (swallow?) like pattern across their backs.
Swallowtail Caterpillar
As they grew, the bird pattern faded. When they reached about two inches in length they turned brown, stopped eating and became very active. Then they hung themselves horizontally from a piece of silk (appearantly called a girdle) which you can see in the photo. Then they pupated and we have been waiting ever since. We are very excited that spring is approaching here in Big Sky, Montana (although we still have quite a while to wait.) We will send photos of the adults when they emerge. It will be interesting to see which species of swallowtail they are; it is also possible they are Canadian Swallowtails. Also, we wonder if it is possible to determine the gender? Thanks for listening.
Bigskybugkids
Swallowtail Caterpillar
Dear Bigskybugkids,
This presents an interesting identification challenge. There is an image on BugGuide of a Canadian Swallowtail Caterpillar, Papilio canadensis, that illustrates the “swallow-like” markings, but it also has distinctive horns at the end of the abdominal section. Cherry is listed as a larval food on BugGuide as well. Chokecherry is specifically listed as a larval food of the Two Tailed Swallowtail Caterpillar, Papilio multicaudata, on BugGuide. With regards to the Western Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar, BugGuide indicates: “Larvae very similar to those of Pale Tiger Swallowtail, but black pupil of false eye-spot larger, and yellow spot inside eyespot entirely separated from it, not just notched.” Those two characteristics are present in your specimen, but neither cherry nor chokecherry are listed as food plants for the larvae. The images of the Two Tailed Swallowtail Caterpillars on BugGuide show a similar pupil-less eyespot and separated yellow spot, virtually identical to the Western Tiger Swallowtail. Based on the eyespot match and the food plant match, we would suspect the Two Tailed Swallowtail to be the frontrunner. Guess the adult images will have to be the final determination. We suspect DNA may be required to determine the sex of a caterpillar.
Swallowtail Chrysalis
Update:
Awaiting Papilio rutulus or Papilio multicaudata?)
Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 3:42 PM
After a refreshing 10 month nap…the swallowtails have emerged. It looks like they are Two-Tailed: you were so right. The tell-tale (tail ) sign was the _/*thinly*/_ ringed blue/green spot inside the yellow eye spots…the Western looks almost the same but the ring is thicker. Thanks again…and, no, we still can’t tell the boy butterflies from the girls.
(ed. note: We believe this would be from Montana)
Two Tailed Swallowtail
Dear bigskybugkids,
Thanks so much for sending us the photos of your newly emerged Two Tailed Swallowtails. We will be posting them today as their own posting as well as an update to the caterpillar photos you sent in April.
Two Tailed Swallowtail
