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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Common Buckeye

Tan and Rust Colored Butterfly
September 27, 2009
Hi,
I’m having no luck identifying this butterfly. I took this photo in a conservation area along the Mississippi river. Any help you can offer will greatly be appreciated.
Thank you!
Sheri
Northeast Missouri

Common Buckeye

Common Buckeye

Hi Sheri,
We believe your butterfly is a Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia.  The dorsal view is quite distinctive.  The ventral view has more subtle, and somewhat variable markings, but we matched your photo to an image on BugGuide.

Posted 28 September 2009 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Caterpillar: Metamorphosis into Chrysalis

chrysalis formation of monarch caterpillar
September 14, 2009
Hi! A few weeks ago, my kids and I collected some monarch eggs and caterpillars from a local park. After weeks of collecting fresh milkweed every day and watching the caterpillars grow, we were rewarded by seeing them turn into beautiful green chrysalids. One morning, we happened to be watching when a caterpillar started to shed its skin to reveal the green chrysalis underneath. I took some photos of the process that I thought you might like to see. It took about four minutes for the caterpillar to become a pupa. So far, five of the butterflies have emerged and been released. We have two more that should emerge in a few days. We are already looking forward to raising monarchs again next summer, and even plan to tag them for the Monarch Watch program.
Thanks for such an awesome website! We are big fans!
The Ganino Family
Madison, CT

Monarch Caterpillar Metamorphosis

Monarch Caterpillar Metamorphosis

Dear Ganino Family,
Thanks for the awesome images showing the transformation of the Monarch Caterpillar to the Chrysalis.  Your first image shows the caterpillar skin splitting and the second image shows the Chrysalis while it still maintains the more elongated shape of the caterpillar.

Monarch Chrysalis Metamorphosis

Monarch Chrysalis Metamorphosis

Posted 15 September 2009 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Compton Tortoiseshell

What kind of moth or butterfly is this?
August 10, 2009
 I was on a weekend away in Perry Sound Ontario Canada, and spotted this little beauty on a rock by the watter..
Any Idea what it is? It looks like a moth.
Laurie
Perry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Compton Tortoiseshell
Compton Tortoiseshell

Hi Laurie,
The Compton Tortoiseshell, Nymphalis vau-album, is a butterfly.  According to Bugguide it is found in:  “deciduous and coniferous forests; often associated with “cottage country” in the north, overwintering in tree cavities, under eaves, or in garages, outhouses, and cottages.“  BugGuide also indicates:  “larvae feed in groups on willow (Salix spp.), birch (Betula spp.), and poplar (Populus spp.)  adults feed on sap, rotting fruit, and nectar of willow flowers“

Posted 10 August 2009 § ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Probably White Admiral Caterpillar

Caterpillar on poplar leaves
Sun, May 17, 2009 at 1:49 PM
I found these caterpillars on poplar leaves in our field in WNY. I rescued them from the hard freeze we are going to have tonight. I have been unable (yet) to identify them and for curiosity sake I wondered what they may be>
Mark
Western New York

White Admiral Caterpillar

White Admiral Caterpillar

Hi Mark,
Your caterpillars belong to a butterfly in the genus Limenitis, most likely the White Admiral, Limenitis arthemis arthemis.  The species, Limenitis arthemis has three subspecies, and the White Admiral is the northern subspecies in the east.  Further south the most common subspecies is the Red Spotted Purple and in the western U.S. the dominant subspecies is the Western White Admiral.  The three subspecies will interbreed where their ranges overlap, giving way to subspecies intergrades.  BugGuide has a wonderful information page on this species.  The caterpillars also feed on the leaves of cherry, willow and birch.

Posted 19 May 2009 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Bajá de Dos Colas: Two Tailed Pasha Caterpillar

A Nawab Caterpillar?
Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Hello I’m came from Andorra la Vella (Between Spain and France). Today I discover a Caterpillar in a Flower, is this true? I attach photos about it
Luis Espinosa
Andorra la Vella

Bajá de Dos Colas Caterpillar

Bajá de Dos Colas Caterpillar

Hola Luis,
We tried finding information on the possibility that Nawabs, genus Polyura, might be found in the Mediterranean, but we had no luck.  Then we tried to search the family name and found the genus Charaxes on the ButterflyCorner.net website.   A butterfly called the Two Tailed Pasha was pictured.  Its range is described as “Afrotropic ecozone (Africa) and the Palaeartic ecozone (Europe). The distribution include whole Africa without the Sahel and the South of Europe (Spain, France, Italy and Greece).”  Sadly there were no images of the caterpillar, but we searched the species name and located what we believe to be your caterpillar, the Two Tailed Pasha, Charaxes jasius, which according to Wikipedia can be found in the Mediterranean.  Continued searching gave us the Wildside Holidays website that describes:  “The caterpillar can be up to 6cm in length. It is green with 4 very distinctive backward facing spikes on its head. They create a silk pad on a leaf and return to this after feeding.”  Finally, the common Spanish name for the butterfly is Bajá de Dos Colas. So, your presumption that this was a Nawab Caterpillar is quite close as the Nawab and the Pasha are closely related.

Posted 19 February 2009 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Question Mark Caterpillar

Black & Red Caterpiller
Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 10:52 AM
My 4 year old son found this caterpiller in our backyard along with many monarch caterpillers. We live in northern Oklahoma and there are a lot of critters around here & I had just never seen something like this before. I was hoping you’d be able to tell me what kind of caterpiller it is so we can put it in our nature book we started. It’s a great way to get out of the house on a nice day and to teach your children about outside & nature. So please let us know what kind of caterpiller this is. He’s a strange one.
Heather from OK
northwestern oklahoma

Question Mark Caterpillar

Question Mark Caterpillar

Hi Heather,
We believe your caterpillar is a Question Mark Butterfly, Polygonia interrogationis.  This is a highly variable caterpillar species, but there is an image on BugGuide that is very close in coloration, though your specimen is much brighter.  Question Mark Caterpillars feed on Nettle, false nettle, elms, hackberry, Japanese hops, and it would be very helpful to know what the food plant was for your specimen.

Posted 13 October 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Queen Chrysalis

Chrysalis ID
Hi Bugman, I’m hoping you can ID this chrysalis which several docents found on the grounds of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, on 9/19/08. It was hanging on a Totem Pole Cactus. We’re thinking it may be that of a Queen butterfly, which are common at the Museum this time of year.
Carole
Tuscon, Arizona

Queen Chrysalis

Queen Chrysalis

Hi Carole,
We believe you are correct with the Queen Chrysalis identification. If this is not the Queen, Danaus gilippus, it is another member of the genus which includes the Monarch.

Posted 20 September 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Dingy Purplewing: imago and caterpillars

Dingy Purplewing
Here are photos of a Dingy Purplewing butterfly and some caterpillars in one of my Gumbo Limbo trees Assassin bugs will eat all the caterpillars so I raise them in the house if I can get to them in time. Normally you can only see where they were. We released almost 30 butterflies from the batch in the picture.
Tad Swackhammer

hi Tad,
Just imagine our elation to read your subject line for a species we did not have represented on our site. Then we were crestfallen to realize you did not provide us with a location. We are guessing you may be in Florida as all the submissions to BugGuide for the Dingy Purplewing, Eunica monima, originated in Florida. Your story of intervention is quite touching.

Posted 14 August 2008 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Caterpillar

New London, NH USA
Can you tell me what these caterpillars are? I think one is a swallowtail but don’t know the other one. Thank You

Your caterpillar is a Monarch, not a swallowtail. It is on a milkweed pod, the larval food plant.

Posted 09 August 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Unknown Butterfly Caterpillar from photo archive is Brush Footed Butterfly Caterpillar

what is this caterpiller
I’m scanning some beautiful slides of a photographer who died a couple years ago. She had no family and so her friends and I are trying to save her work and show or sell them. It would help if we knew what we’re looking at and I hope you can help with this one. She traveled all over the world but lived the last decade in Florida. I think this caterpiller was from here. Thank you
Cindy

Hi Cindy,
We don’t recognize your caterpillar, but it is a butterfly and not a moth. Because of the structural similarity to the Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar, Battus philenor, we suspect this is one of the Swallowtails, probably an exotic species and not a Floridian one. Perhaps one of our readers will recognize this stunning caterpillar.

Update: December 18, 2008
Caterpillar Identifications
Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 8:57 PM
Hello again, Daniel. … a few other IDs and correction.
This larva is in the genus Idea (Nymphalidae, Danainae). If I could see a high-resolution photo, I would probably be able to identify the species and country/area of origin.
I hope the above information is helpful.
Best wishes,
Keith Wolfe
aka “EarlyStages”

Posted 08 August 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Vanessa Caterpillar: possibly Red Admiral

UNIDENTIFIED CATERPILLAR NEEDS YOUR HELP
Hello, Here are two caterpillars that I found on a type of weed that I call the sandpaper leaf weed because the leaves feel exactly like sandpaper. It looks a little like a mourning cloak caterpillar but I don’t know for certain. The chrysalises’ are about 7/16th of an inch long. I looked through your website and couldn’t find any that looked like this. Can you help me? Thanks a lot. I’ve named many a caterpillar from images from this site. Keep up the good work.
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
Since your photos are not critically sharp, and because there is much variability in the caterpillars, we cannot provide a conclusive species identification, but we are certain the genus is Vanessa. We believe your caterpillars are either Red Admirals, Vanessa atalanta, or Painted Ladies, Vanessa cardui. The Red Admiral feeds on plants in the Nettle family and that is consistant with your plant description, so we are favoring the Red Admiral. Since you have actually observed the caterpillars, you can follow the links to the BugGuide images we have posted with your letter on our homepage and try to determine if we are correct. You can also keep a chrysalis in a small cage until the butterfly emerges. Please let us know what you discover.

Posted 01 August 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Caterpillar

Dear Bugman,
I found this Caterpillar in some vine on my fence in the backyard. I live in central Illinois. Can you help me figure out what kind it is? Can I possibly watch it change? Thanks!
Blaire

Hi Blaire,
The vine must be a climbing milkweed since this is the larva America’s (if not the world’s) most beloved butterfly, a Monarch Buttefly Caterpillar.

Posted 01 August 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

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