mexican moth
Hello,
I spotted this moth in Yucatan. I have tried to identify it in a couple of books but can’t find the exact match. Can you help? thanks, and congratulations on your website
Pablo Vargas Lugo
Mexico City
Hi Pablo,
This is not a moth. It is a butterfly known as the Gray Cracker, Hamadryas februa. According to Jeffrey Glassberg in his book Butterflies through Binoculars The West: “Male Crackers are capable of making a clicking or cracking sound.” This species is usually found in tropical woodlands, flying from tree to tree. It often rests with its head down and wings open.
¶ Posted 06 February 2007 § ‡ ° Um… two more. This one’s a pair of mating butterflies…
… but inland on Vieques. They’re maybe 2″ in diameter, and hairy as a pair of moths, but their antennae say “butterfly”, don’t they?
Jim
Hi Jim,
These are Checkered Skippers in the genus Pyrgus. Skippers are classified as butterflies.
Junonia
Hi! I found this butterfly in my backyard, in Parana, Argentina. I would like to know whether it is a Junonia evarete or another species. Thanks!
Emiliano
Hi Emiliano,
This might also be a Tropical Buckeye, Junonia genoveva, which ranges as far south as Argentina.
¶ Posted 03 February 2007 § ‡ ° Late Summer Butterfly
Thanks so much for your excellent site. I use if often to identify butterfly caterpillars. Now I have a photo of a butterfly for which I am uncertain of the identification. This photo was taken in August 2006 at the Butterfly Garden of the Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge near Glen Allen, MS. I thought it was some sort of Fritillary and we have planted Passion Flower Vine in the garden to attract fritillaries. But I haven’t been able to find any pictures of fritillaries that look like this. Sorry that I only have the one picture with the wing backs.
Alice
Hi Alice,
This Gulf Fritillary is not a true Fritillary and might have been attracted to the passion flowers, the larval food.
¶ Posted 01 February 2007 § ‡ ° fritillary??
Hi. I think this is some sort of fritillary, but for the life of me I can’t figure out which one. It was taken in SE Pennsylvania, in early September, and there were just hundreds of them around my friend’s garden, and actually around the whole neighborhood. I have some butterfly bushes that supplied us with a constant stream of entertainment all summer, but I never saw these guys there. Any ideas? PS: You are doing such a great thing with your amazing website! Thank you.
Louise
Hi Louise,
To add to your identification confusion, we are of the opinion that you have two different species of Fritillary here. Sadly, we will not be much assistance as we have never mastered the nuances of identifying the different species. Eric Eaton provided this addition: “The upper [left side] fritillary is not a true fritillary, but is called the “variegated fritillary.” The other is something in the genus Speyeria, but you usually need to see the underside of the wings to have a better idea of a species ID.”
¶ Posted 21 January 2007 § ‡ ° 2 great iPhotos
RLPHello Bugman/ Buglady:
I am new into this hobby as I got my 1st digital camera (Nikon Coolpix s4) on my 71st birthday and am having a ball getting much closer looks at the Critters around me. I am finding more sources each week on the internet : WTB; BugGuide.Net; and some University collections. Bob Patterson’s from Maryland helped last night. Some of the species I’ve had little problem with, but boy there are lots that are very difficult to identify. I am trying to build a photo collection of wild critters of this area & hope to eventually place the info onto a website through the local Skull Valley Historical Society. I am not familiar with your guidelines for submittal. Please let me know how to make these communications more effective. I am including the "comment" section and title for each photo. I’ll start with these two immages of what I think are Golden-headed Scallopwing taken on 9/12/06 @ 12:22PM. (Title info didn’t transfer with the immage!) We are @ 4250 elevation in a Valley with good water: Freemont Cottonwoods, mesquite, Hackberry,desert willow, Screwbean, Four- winged saltbush, Rhus Trilobata, catclaw;scrub oat (Q. turbanilla) and the hills have pinion pine & Juniper . Martin Mountain & Bradshaw> Mountains range up to 6200 & 7200 feet. There are some Ponderosa Pine at the higher elevations. Man the Dusky wings are a challenge: Juvenals or Funereal…? I spotted these two "Lovebugs" with golden heads & thought they would be a good place to start. Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos) pair copulating, on Raspberry plant. Peavine Ranch, Skull Valey, AZ Thanks for your help.
Bob Pearson
Hi Bob,
You submitted this perfectly, with a nice detailed letter, a vivid description, and it is wonderful that you provided your own identification. We also like getting only one species per letter.
¶ Posted 18 January 2007 § ‡ ° some help with your rss problem.
I was checking your wonderful website for updates, which I do every day (keep up the good work!), and I noticed a reader had asked you about having an rss feed, and you said you would check with your web host. There is a free rss service available from rsspect.com that will let you easily add an rss feed to your site for FREE. It is totally advertisement free as well. Keep up the good work. You have one of the coolest websites I know! Also, I thought you might like these photos of a crablike spiny orb weaver enjoying a large meal in my backyard (Austin, TX, last fall). I saw the little guy’s massive web shaking from far away. He was very excited.
Bobby
Hi Bobby,
Thanks for your kind letter and RSS suggestion. We will research this possibility. Also, thanks for sending us your photos of the Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver female feasting on a Skipper. Like other Orb Weavers, Gasteracantha cancriformis females are the larger, commonly seen members of the species. Males are considerably smaller and less visible.
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