Subject: Mating Cabbage Whites
Geographic location of the bug: Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California
Date: 06/18/2018
Time: 11:50 AM EDT
Out editorial staff returned from visiting family in Ohio, and Eric, who picked us up at the airport was kind enough to take this image of mating Cabbage Whites on the huajes tree at the end of the driveway.
Mating Cabbage Whites
Subject: Anise Swallowtail on lilac
Geographic location of the bug: Mount Washington, Los Angeles, CA
Date: 06/05/2018
Time: 11:00 AM EDT
From the window this morning, Daniel thought he saw a Giant Swallowtail on the last bloom on the lilac bush, but upon getting closer with a camera, he was excited to see it was an Anise Swallowtail.
Anise Swallowtail
After getting a few initial images, the Anise Swallowtail alighted on the avocado tree, allowing for a somewhat obstructed view of the ventral surface of the wings.
Anise Swallowtail
Subject: Moth?
Geographic location of the bug: Northern CA
Date: 05/18/2018
Time: 02:01 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: This one decided to crawl up our wall in the backyard and change to this. What type or moth or butterfly is it?
How you want your letter signed: Karen
Mourning Cloak
Dear Karen,
This is a newly emerged Mourning Cloak Butterfly. The caterpillars can be quite numerous on elm and willow trees.
Subject: Butterfly
Geographic location of the bug: Taiwan
Date: 05/11/2018
Time: 04:04 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hi, I was wondering if you could help me identify this butterfly.
How you want your letter signed: Thanks! Libbi
Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger
Dear Libbi,
When we checked our emailed identification requests, we found 16 requests from you. We are impressed with your enthusiasm, but that is nearly a week’s worth of postings for us so we will slowly answer as many of your requests as possible, but we also have additional requests from other readers. Your butterfly is in the Milkweed Butterfly subfamily Danainae as indicated in this Butterflies of Taiwan page and Taiwan News has an unidentified image of numerous individuals. It might be a Blue Tiger, Tirumala limniace limniace, which is pictured on My Butterfly Collection. According to Encyclopedia of Life, the range is “South Asia and Southeast Asia. Also found in numbers in Queensland (at least as far south as Mackay, but also recorded in Brisbane) Australia.” An even closer visual match is the Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger, Ideopsis similis, which is pictured on FlickR and is also found in Taiwan according to this FlickR posting. According to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Hong Kong site, it is found in Taiwan and is called the Blue Glassy Tiger. According to Encyclopedia of Life: “The Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis similis) is a butterfly found in Asia, including India and Taiwan.” Our money is on the latter of these similar, related species.
Guérande butterfly
Location: Guérande, France
Date: April 27, 2018
Swallowtail
Yesterday Monique and her sister Michele from France visited for coffee and Michele asked about this lovely butterfly, which we identified as an Old World Swallowtail, Papilio machaon, though the common name is just Swallowtail according to the Butterflies of Britain & Europe where it states: “Papilio machaon is widespread and common throughout much of the northern hemisphere. It occurs over the whole of continental Europe, eastward across temperate Asia to Japan; in Africa north of the Sahara; and throughout much of North America. In Britain it is locally common on the Norfolk Broads, an area of fenland and lakes in eastern England.
Individuals originating from France occasionally migrate across the English Channel and have been periodically recorded in Hampshire, Dorset, Sussex and the Isle of Wight, but such sightings are very rare – perhaps one or two sightings per year. Genuine migrants can usually be recognised by their faded and worn appearance. Fresh looking insects seen anywhere apart from Norfolk can be attributed to escaped or deliberately released livestock – both the British subspecies brittanicus and the continental gorganus are commonly reared by hobbyists. ( it is illegal to capture or breed stock of British origin, but nevertheless a widespread practice ).
There are no similar species occurring in Britain.“
Subject: Giant Swallowtail
Geographic location of the bug: Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California
Date: 04/20/2018
Time: 011:20 AM EDT
This morning from the window, Daniel noticed this Giant Swallowtail land in the meadow out front. Daniel has learned through the years to get a shot quickly before fine tuning adjustments and camera angle, and sure enough, as he moved closer for a better angle, this beauty flew off. If memory serves us correctly, Giant Swallowtails, which are native to the eastern United States, first appeared in Los Angeles around 1998. Cultivation of citrus trees and the adaptation of citrus trees as an acceptable food for the caterpillars have led to this significant range expansion.
Giant Swallowtail
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