Subject:  Monarch Caterpillars?
Geographic location of the bug:  Columbus, Ohio
Date: 09/06/2018
Time: 09:24 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Do I finally have some?  After years of “growing weeds” (according to my husband), do I finally have some Monarchs on my milkweed?  I’ve spotted at least three…. I’m so excited!
How you want your letter signed:  Amber

Monarch Caterpillar

Dear Amber,
Your excitement is justifiable as these are indeed Monarch Caterpillars.  After all your years of gardening diligence, you are finally getting the rewards for your efforts.

Monarch Caterpillar

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Subject:  Black and yellow spiny caterpillar
Geographic location of the bug:  Clinton, IL
Date: 08/26/2018
Time: 01:21 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  My son and I found this hiking in a heavy wooded area. We have no idea what species it is. We did find Colobura dirce but that’s inky found in Central America. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
How you want your letter signed:  Ray and RJ Alvarado

Eastern Comma Caterpillar

Dear Ray and RJ,
We believe this is a Moth Caterpillar in the subfamily Hemileucinae, possibly a Buck Moth Caterpillar, Hemileuca maia, which is pictured on BugGuide.  The coloration on your individual is different from any other images we have located.  We have requested assistance from Bill Oehlke on this identification.

Eastern Comma Caterpillar

Bill Oehlke makes correction:
Hi Daniel,
I think it is more likely a butterfly larva from Nymphalidae family.
Bill

Thanks so much Daniel. My son is super excited about finding a color that’s not normal.
Ray

Hold tight Ray.  We are going to have a correction for you.

Correction:  Eastern Comma Caterpillar
Hi again Ray,
After hearing from Bill Oehlke that this was more likely a Nymphalidae butterfly caterpillar, we located an image on BugGuide of an Eastern Comma Caterpillar, Polygonia comma, and then located a second BugGuide image as substantiation.  According to BugGuide:  “Larvae feed primarily on Hops (Humulus) and Nettles (Urtica, but also False Nettle (Boehmeria), Wood Nettle (Laportea), Elm (Ulmus), and probably other members of families Urticaceae and Ulmaceae.”  Despite having over 26,000 unique posting, this is the first image we have of an Eastern Comma Caterpillar on our site, though we have several images of adult Eastern Commas.

Perfect. Thanks for the follow up and you guys are welcome to use our pics if you’d like.
Ray Alvarado

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Subject:  Hungarian Butterflies
Geographic location of the bug:  Hungary May 2018
Date: 08/15/2018
Time: 03:18 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello there!
I have sent a few of my butterfly pictures to you in the past and I thought you might like a couple more for your site from a trip I made to Hungary earlier this year. The first is a Common Glider, the second is a Scarce Swallowtail
How you want your letter signed:  Butterfly watcher

Common Glider

Dear Butterfly watcher,
We split your submission into two distinct postings so that we could categorize your two butterflies, which are from different families, appropriately.  The Common Glider, Neptis sappho, is, according to EuroButterflies:  “A delicate butterfly, gently glides through dappled light in woodland and along woodland edges” and its habitat is “Open woodland, clearings and woodland edges in dappled shade. Feeds on flowers, Euphorbias for example, and takes salts from mud” in “NE Italy and eastwards. Sporadic in the Balkans to north Greece. Double brooded in May/ June and July/ August.”  The common name is Pallas’ Sailer according to iNaturalist.

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Subject:  Black and blue butterfly
Geographic location of the bug:  Northern Lower Michigan
Date: 08/12/2018
Time: 10:24 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This is a very friendly butterfly. We are camping mid August northern lower Michigan, in a small clearing in the middle of 100 acres of mixed forest. Poplar, birch, maple, pine and cedar among other underbrush species.
How you want your letter signed:  Prettpuddles

Red Spotted Purple

Dear Prettpuddles,
This gorgeous butterfly is a Red Spotted Purple.  Thanks for providing a list of plants in the area.  Poplar and birch are both caterpillar food plants for the Red Spotted Purple, a list that includes “A variety of deciduous trees: willows and poplars (Willow family), cherries, apples and pears (Rose family), birches (Birch family), oaks and beeches (Beech family), Basswood (Linden family) and others. Also recorded from currant and blueberry bushes” according to BugGuide.

Red Spotted Purple

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