One for your collection
Location: Nth Burnett. Qld. Australia
August 26, 2011 12:11 am
Hi guys,
Hope you like this shot of the Orange Ringlet, Hypocysta adiante dining on a clover flower in my yard. It doesn’t appear to be in your database. There is also a skipper in the background.
Signature: Aussietrev

Orange Ringlet

Thanks for a beautiful contribution Trevor.  This Orange Ringlet is a lovely butterfly.  Also, thanks for allowing us to have a bit of fun with the posting about the poor woman we believed to be morbidly afraid of rabbits, a syndrome we have learned is called Leporiphobia which we found defined on Uncyclopedia.  

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butterfly or moth
Location: Benton, AR
August 23, 2011 7:03 pm
I say butterfly and son says moth. Searched through pics til I wore myself out last night. Interesting little critter who did a marvelous job of posing. How bout settling the question and tell us more about this specimen. Thanks,
Ron Dupree
Signature: I am usually right.

Red Admiral

Dear Ron,
You are correct, but we hope you don’t gloat over this.  In your son’s defense, lists that try to oversimplify distinguishing a butterfly from a moth often cite the wing position as a factor.  Generally, moths rest with wings open, like this Red Admiral butterfly, and butterflies generally rest with wings folded over the body.  This may have led to your son’s confusion.  The Red Admiral was one of author Vladimir Nabokov’s favorite butterflies, and he poetically called it the Red Admirable, though in Russia it is also known as the Butterfly of Doom because great numbers migrated in 1881, the year Tsar Alexander II was assassinated.

I won’t gloat……….much.  We enjoy good-natured kidding and, as the one who has been around a bit more than my son, I am usually right but always ready to be corrected.  In fairness, I noted the folded wing position a few times also.  Thanks for making our wildlife viewing more enjoyable.  You do a good service…..keep up the good work.

We wanted to come back to this positively gorgeous butterfly.  Dark butterflies often spread their wings in the sun to absorb heat.  Dark Nymphalids, the Brush Footed Butterflies, often hibernate.  Red Admirals might hibernate, but Mourning Cloaks definitely do.  Butterflies that rest with their wings open often do so to absorb warmth.

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A butterfly just emerged from its chrysalis outside the back door. I say, good start to the week.
Location:  Highland Park, Los Angeles, California
August 15, 2011
Any idea who this looker is?
I’m your Highland Park near-neighbor.
All best,
Josh

Gulf Fritillary

Hi Josh,
We were just in Highland Park Saturday and we need to run to Digicolor on York Boulevard as soon as we finish this posting.  You must have passionflower vines nearby.  This is a newly emerged Gulf Fritillary, one of the most common butterflies in Los Angeles, and its range has expanded considerably with the cultivation of its food plant, vines in the genus Passiflora, which have naturalized in Southern California.

Correct on the passionflowers! Thanks.

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