Subject:  Butterfly or moth
Geographic location of the bug:  Tucson, AZ
Date: 08/09/2019
Time: 03:37 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello,
I saw this butterfly or moth in an orange tree in my friends backyard in Tucson yesterday 8/8/19 around 5pm.
Sent it out to family, but no one knows what it is so far.
My friend fears it could hurt the tree.
If you are able to identify it I’d appreciate knowing what it is and if it takes up residence, could it cause harm and if so, how to encourage gently, to find another home.
Thank you for your service.
All the best,
How you want your letter signed:  Patrick

Hackberry Emperor

Dear Patrick,
Though your images lack critical sharpness, we are relative certain this butterfly is a Hackberry Emperor, Asterocampa celtis, based on this BugGuide image.  We are intrigued with your friend’s irrational fear that a butterfly might pose a threat to the orange tree.  Butterflies generally feed on nectar.  Only in the caterpillar stage when most species feed on leaves would a butterfly pose anything resembling a threat to a tree, and then only if the caterpillars are very plentiful.  Is there a hackberry tree nearby?  Because the caterpillars feed on the leaves of hackberry, BugGuide notes of the habitat preference:  “Varied, but always near Hackberry trees.” 

0   I like This

Related posts:

Question Mark Mourning Cloak: Harbinger of Spring Male Queen Butterfly Bordered Patch

Subject:  Leucistic butterfly
Geographic location of the bug:  8 miles SW of Casper, WY
Date: 06/21/2019
Time: 10:46 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Daniel, I thought this leucistic Variable Checkerspot butterfly I photographed 6/14/19 might interest your readers.  I’m including typically marked checkerspots for comparison.
Cheers,
How you want your letter signed:  Dwaine

Leucistic Variable Checkerspot

Dear Dwaine,
We needed to research the term “leucistic” before we could address your submission, and we learned on Merriam Webster that leucanism is “an abnormal condition of reduced pigmentation affecting various animals (such as birds, mammals, and reptiles) that is marked by overall pale color or patches of reduced coloring and is caused by a genetic mutation which inhibits melanin and other pigments from being deposited in feathers, hair, or skin.”  In continuing our research, we found there are no examples of leucistic Variable Checkerspots on BugGuide, nor is there any mention in Jeffrey Glassberg’s Butterflies Through Binoculars The West.  We are thrilled that you have allowed us to publish your images, and also thanks for including an image documenting the normal variations of the Variable Checkerspot, Euphydryas chalcedona.

Leucistic Variable Checkerspot

You are very welcome, and I have the greatest respect for what you do.

Variable Checkerspots

3   I like This

Related posts:

Monarch Butterflies Mating Female Diana Fritillary Morpho helena from Ecuador Tourism Billboard: What’s Wrong with this Picture???

Subject:  First Monarch of the Year
Geographic location of the bug:  West LosAngeles
Date: 04/16/2019
Time: 02:34 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi Bugman,
Found this guy probably a short while after he emerged.  What a beauty.
How you want your letter signed:  Jeff Bremer

Male Monarch

Dear Jeff,
This is a beautiful male Monarch, and we agree that he is most likely newly emerged from the chrysalis.  We have seen a few female Monarch butterflies this year nectaring from the Lantana.

0   I like This

Related posts:

Mourning Cloak Clearwing from Costa Rica Greater Fritillary Another Damaged Emperor Butterfly: Is a bird the culpret???

Subject:  Migrating Painted Ladies
Geographic location of the bug:  Los Angeles, California
Date: 03/14/2019
Time: 07:40 AM EDT
For over a week now, Daniel has been seeing 1000s of Painted Ladies flying throughout Los Angeles, including on the campus of Los Angeles City College.  One neighbor sent Daniel an email inquiring:  “Hundreds if not many more butterflies emerging from the trees in Red Hawk Canyon. Been going on all day.  I tried to get some video of them but hard to discern against the trees and greenery all around.  I think they’re Viceroys. They all seem to be heading West.  Rene.”  Another neighbor left a telephone message inquiry.  Though he did not get any images of the flight, Daniel did manage to get this image of a Painted Lady nectaring on Baccharis in Glassell Park.

Painted Lady

1   I like This

Related posts:

Red Admiral American Snout Hackberry Emperor HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY: Red Admiral and Painted Ladies

Subject:  Fritillary ID
Geographic location of the bug:  Oregon, Fall River (near Bend)
Date: 02/27/2019
Time: 12:39 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Can you help identify this fritillary butterfly.  I had no idea how difficult they are to identify.  I can’t determine if this is hydaspe or maybe zerene or perhaps a different species.  Thank
How you want your letter signed:  Bruce Carlson

Fritillary, but what species???

Dear Bruce,
Thank you for including both a dorsal and ventral view.  Fritillary identification can indeed be quite challenging, but we believe it might be the Zerene Fritillary, Speyeria zerene.  According to Butterflies Through Binoculars, The West, the Zerene Fritillary is “mid-sized fritillary that is extremely variable.”  The difficulty in distinguishing different species of Fritillaries from one another is further exacerbated by the extreme variability many species exhibit.  Here is a BugGuide image of a dorsal view for comparison and also a ventral view from BugGuide.  We would defer to any Fritillary experts on this matter.

Possibly Zerene Fritillary

1   I like This

Related posts:

Compton Tortoiseshell Variable Checkerspot Southern Monarch Caterpillar from Brazil Red Admirals and Green June Beetles feast on sap