Butterflies and Moths of 2017!

Getting us started, though I've not seen a butterfly in a couple months...

...here's one from October:


Sulfur butterfly

No photo, but I saw my first butterfly of 2017, a Cabbage White!

Can I post another cool insect I encountered this weekend here? Or should I do another thread?

>3 2wonderY: go for it! I sometimes sneak in a picture of a dragonfly.

We decided to try one of our standard bird and butterfly paths today. 10c and windy. Well, in our garden Spring is beginning to come. Not there. They have done a lot of mowing over the winter, including most of the reeds in the pools. It looked naked. A beaver has been working on the tree the hawks like. Our garden is a much better place to look for birds right now. Unless your favourites are crows, pidgeons, and gulls.

But there was one moth or butterfly caught in the wind. Tiny, nondescript brown. Neither one of us can guess what it was thinking to be out in that, but there it was.

>5 MarthaJeanne: Small butterflies are usually the first ones out in spring; one theory is that it takes less sunlight to get their body temperatures up to flight levels.

>6 CassieBash: But usually the insects have enough sense not to try to fly when it's really gusty.

>7 MarthaJeanne: Well, yes, you've got me there.... :)

>5 MarthaJeanne: I saw another small butterfly yesterday, also brownish, flying before the wind.

It was about 80 here, yesterday, so we should be seeing some Spring Azures soon, though it's dropped down into the 50s today.

Look! Butterfly! Yellow butterfly! In our garden!

Gone now, but I saw it!

>10 MarthaJeanne: I believe you!

We're having a cold spell, and a hard freeze tonight...so no butterflies.

I found some Angoumois Moths in my cupboard. I make every effort to keep them isolated, and these were confined to a plastic tub which held a box of Rice-A-Roni, and thus, already dead.

I saw a dark yellow/orange butterfly today, though at a distance, so I can't identify it positively...but I think it was a Sleepy Orange.

>12 2wonderY: doesn't say much about the health benefits of Rice-A-Roni...

>13 fuzzi: I see that I phrased that awkwardly. The infestation came in the Rice-A-Roni box, but the sequestration in the plastic tub cut the life cycle short; keeping the moths from going out and conquering more grain supplies.

>14 2wonderY: ah, I see! We had an infestation in our cupboards a few months ago, and had to throw out a lot of infested food. :(

Our bush is blossoming in March instead of December this year. It is full of various sorts of bees and one or two camera-shy admirals. Nice to see them again.

Re: Food moths
Decades ago I cleared out a cupboard to find a moth infestation. One box after another until I came to a small forgotten bag of whole wheat cream of wheat. That was full of moths and their offspring who had no intention of moving into white flour etc. until the good stuff was gone. It got me thinking. Now I try not to eat the white stuff either.

We too have suffered miller moth infestations in our bread and grain products. I got very good at snatching them out of the air in flight. They were subsequently fed to my sundew or pitcher plant.

>16 MarthaJeanne: hahaha! Smart moths...

Lovely day today.



Hmmm. Picture not showing. Well, it's on my profile.

IMG SRC="http://www.librarything.com/pic/5730060" with angles around it. Does anyone see my problem?

>19 MarthaJeanne: Lower case IMG SRC? I don't know whether that would make a difference, but I do know from trial and error that web coding can be...particular. ;)

For some reason I got a very different URL this time, and this one works.

>21 MarthaJeanne: Looks like a peacock butterfly. We're still too cold to see anything except perhaps the hardiest of butterflies (the mourning cloak is our usual). But I've not seen any of them either. But at least I did hear the spring peeper frogs last night!

There was a big yellow one, too, but it wasn't near enough to see well, never mind photograph.

>21 MarthaJeanne: lovely!!!

>22 CassieBash: I heard the peepers here last night, too.

>19 MarthaJeanne: The link you used above is to the page on your profile, where the image is. To get the proper image to use in the "img src=" html, you needed to get to the actual image (which I see you did, below). The easiest way to do that is to do a "view image" from your browser, which gives you the url to the actual image.

>21 MarthaJeanne: I'm glad you managed to do it, because it's really lovely.

Now that my husband is home and I can get my book - yes, it is a European Peacock, Inachis io.

BTW, I'm finding it fascinating how many of the butterflies we see in the garden have caterpillars that prefer nettles. Guess I should let it stay.

I saw another Cabbage White today, but it was too fast and too distant for a photo.

>26 MarthaJeanne: Nettles are a favorite food for many caterpillars here, too: red admirals, Milbert's tortoiseshells, question marks, and yes, the occasional generic green. In fact, many people don't realize that weeds are often used by caterpillars as food. I encourage Queen Anne's lace for the black swallowtails, lambs quarters for dusky skippers, and of course milkweed for monarchs. I don't worry about the nettles because they grow all along the roadside.

>28 CassieBash: I never pulled the carrots last Fall, so they are growing back, and have large tops...just waiting for caterpillars!

>28 CassieBash: But it makes a very good excuse not to pull them as long as they stay in their corner.

>30 MarthaJeanne: True. And today I saw a red admiral on the outside of one of the library's windows. It's not supposed to be either too warm or very sunny, so I hope he can wait out the gloom. My guess is that he's in a spot with an overhang that will protect him from rain.

>31 CassieBash: A Red Admiral?? Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!

>32 fuzzi: Yes, though I think it jumped the gun a bit. The nettle aren't up very high here, so even if (s)he finds a mate, I'm not sure that they'll find a suitable place for eggs.

I saw a skipper, of some sort! I could not get a good look to even attempt to ID it. It seems early for a skipper, but it certainly wasn't a moth, and it acted like a skipper. Its wings had a dark outline, with lighter orange on the center. It's possible it was a Fiery skipper, showing its inner wings.

This Brimstone let me take its picture.

>35 MarthaJeanne: lovely!

First sighting of a skipper in 2017!!!

This one is a Silver-spotted skipper.

I am trying to delete post no. 38 and I can't sorry aaaaaarrrgggggghhhhhhh!
Actually that worked!

Click on More. If you wrote the message one of the choices is delete.

I saw three butterflies today, but was unable to photograph or positively ID them. I think one was a Tiger swallowtail (yellow and black), one might have been a female swallowtail (black with blue spots), and the third was perhaps a Palamedes, black with yellow spots.

Once I have annuals blooming, the butterflies tend to visit long enough for me to get a photograph or so.

I bought more carrot seeds, and have left last year's carrots in the ground to entice Black swallowtails.

Lots of butterflies over the weekend, but they did not cooperate much:


American Lady


Common Sootywing


Comma butterfly (probably)

I also saw several of the Silver-spotted skippers, and some Tiger swallowtails.

My milkweed plants have flower buds!

>41 fuzzi: Your comma could also be a question mark; I always have to see the silver markings to tell them apart.

>42 CassieBash: it was the only shot I could get, the little "comma" would not stay long enough for me to zoom in.

I've seen a Question mark butterfly here, I think it was a couple years ago, and very exciting.

While plant shopping at a local nursery, I saw a flutter, and color, and caught a Palamedes swallowtail butterfly amongst the coleus plants!

>44 fuzzi: Oh my goodness, what a beautiful picture that is! The butterfly nearly puts the coleus to shame. Thank you for this lovely gift. :-}

>45 Lyndatrue: he/she sure is a pretty sight. I make sure to take my camera with me when I go shopping for bedding plants, as I often see butterflies.

>44 fuzzi: Lovely; that's a species we don't seem to have this far north; what is the caterpillar host plant?

Commas are less common than question marks here; I wonder why, since both eat the same hosts. I was super excited the year I found a comma caterpillar and raised it successfully, so I understand your excitement.

Does anyone else go into a plant-buying experience specifically looking for caterpillars and eggs and buying the plants that have them? Or is that just me? :)

>47 CassieBash: Wikipedia says Palamedes host plants are:
Redbay, Persea borbonia
Swampbay, Persea palustris
White sassafras, Sassafras albidum

They stay near the coast in the southeastern US.

I don't go looking for eggs when I shop for plants, but if I saw them, I might buy the plant!

Almost two months without a photo? Say it ain't so!

From May 20th:

Eastern tailed-blue

From June 3rd:

Fiery skipper on an Evening primrose

From yesterday

and

American Lady

Still no Monarchs... :sniff:

>49 fuzzi: Ooohhh, pretty! Sorry about the monarch thing; you're in the boat I was in last year. I wonder if weather patterns have anything to do with the northern monarch migration routes. I blamed the flooding in Texas last year for the lack of monarchs in our area; thought maybe the floods killed milkweed along whatever route they take up to Indiana. Maybe something similar has disrupted their migration towards the east coast?

We saw quite a few fritillaries on our walk this afternoon. No idea which kind, but there were several of them around a heap of dirt.

There was also a lovely black butterfly with yellow dots parallel to the edges of the wings. Possibly dark red dots between the yellow and the edge. Nothing at all similar in my book. But pretty.

Worked taking down a tree today and stopped to admire a white marked tussock moth caterpillar. There seems to be much variation, but mine looked like this:

>52 2wonderY: Someone needs to make a brooch out of that. What a beautiful insect it is! A little citrine, a little garnet, and some black enamel, and you'd be well on your way to taking my money away from me.

>52 2wonderY: A nice photo! My tussock hatched; it has no wings so I know it was a female. I'll be posting a picture later today on my new thread.

A hawk moth on the lavender this morning, but it disappeared at the word 'camera'. These act like tiny hummingbirds.

>52 2wonderY: gorgeous!
>53 Lyndatrue: agreed.
>54 CassieBash: we have Sycamore tussock caterpillars on the mailbox, but they move too fast for a decent photo!
>55 MarthaJeanne: they do appear to be camera-shy, whereas dragonflies seem to "mug" for the photographer.

Testing, testing:


Horace's Duskywing

Can y'all see it?

>57 fuzzi: Yes--he's cute!

>58 CassieBash: excellent!

I've linked to a photo I uploaded to bugguide.net. If I don't abuse the privilege, perhaps I can link more of my butterfly photos that way. :)

>52 2wonderY: My husband came home from his morning walk and showed me a picture on his phone of a caterpillar. A sort of tan blob with perhaps a few short bristles. I said, "I'll show you a caterpillar picture worth looking at."

"That looks dangerous!" Men!!! I like >53 Lyndatrue:'s reaction better.

>60 MarthaJeanne: Actually, some people react badly to certain tussock moth hairs; check out this page listing stinging caterpillars. So in a way, he's right. I don't tend to react badly to handling live tussock moth caterpillars, but because they use their hairs to help make the protective covering around their cocoon, I often get itchy fingers and hands when I handle some of the cocoons (including my beloved milkweed tussock moths). A little itching is worth it, though. I don't seem to have that trouble with the actual caterpillars.

This is the one that I raise that I watch out for and never handle:

Io moth caterpillar

They sting like crazy, with itching and burning that gives stinging nettle a run for its money.

Personally, I think the thick tufts on the backs of these tussock caterpillars, I think it looks like you're looking down on old-fashioned shaving brush bristles. Certainly I don't think "dangerous". But that's just me.

By the way, here's another view of the wingless female tussock moth sitting on her cocoon; this species' doesn't bother my skin, so I was able to put the cocoon and moth on my leg to get a good top-view shot.

Way overdue for photos...my turn, I guess.

It's been a slow year for butterflies in my yard. I've seen skippers, Silver-spotted and Clouded, mainly.

Here are photos of other butterfly varieties that I've seen in the last few weeks:


7/4/17 - Sleepy Orange butterfly, probably the most common yellow butterfly I've seen in my yard.


7/23/17 - Azure butterfly, "summer" variation


8/5/17 - Female Cloudless Sulfur butterfly


8/5/17 - Red-banded Hairstreak amongst the Coreopsis. These butterflies are less than 1" long.

And now, drum roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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8/5/17 - My FIRST Monarch sighting!!!!! While here you see it on a Tithonia, it first spent some time in the milkweed patch, briefly stopping here and there, so I believe it was laying eggs. It certainly wasn't going after the milkweed blooms, as they died and went to seed weeks ago.

>62 fuzzi: Congrats! Hope this monarch is the first of many now!

>64 MarthaJeanne: interesting article, thank you for sharing it!

>63 CassieBash: I'll be watching the milkweed like a hawk, for caterpillars. I won't try what you do, the hand-raising of them, but I might in the future.

>64 MarthaJeanne: England's version of the red admiral or red spotted purple--both of which have...er...unusual dining preferences similar to the purple emperor.

>66 CassieBash: and without those, er, unusual dining preferences we would be up to our necks in unusual dining items, lol.

During the summer I don't have to be as careful when cleaning up after my dog in the yard, as anything I miss is usually gone within a couple days, taken care of by the bug patrol. LOL.

>67 fuzzi: Very true! I remember being excited by seeing the pair of burying beetles at work by the side of the road, where a bird had been killed by a car. They were fast; the bird was so much bigger than they were, but by digging out from underneath it, they soon--much sooner than you'd think--had it completely covered with our sandy soil.

We spent a few days away, and hiked up in the mountains yesterday. We made it up in about the time our booklet gave, but it took almost as long coming back down again (at noon). Mostly because we kept stopping so Jerry could photograph the butterflies. We saw about half a dozen different varieties. I'll post a link once he has uploaded the pictures.

One was the Brimstone. It stood on the flower for a long time, so we could admire the lovely shope of its wings. The other one that really took my breath away was a little blue one. I can't decide which until I have a picture to work with.

At one point I heard a bird call and said that that must be a hawk of some kind. Just after that it flew past us. No pictures, just a lovely memory.

BTW, we walked a total of 5.6 km, with 140 meters climb. Not an enormous hike, but still an accomplishment pushing my walker.

>69 MarthaJeanne: I look forward to your photos!

I like taking walks, but it's too hot and humid right now. Later, when the autumn rolls in, and the heat dissipates, we'll walk more frequently.

That's the advantage of starting at 800 meters. Also of being back down by 13:00. I've done very little walking this summer, even on the flat. Today is above 30 again. Wilt.

>71 MarthaJeanne: the mountains here are about a 4 hour drive from home, so a day trip is not feasible.

This wasn't a day trip. Only 2 1/2 hours each way, but we spent two nights there. We also visited the monastary at Admont. Jerry wanted to see the baroque (1776) library, and I wanted to see some of Brother Benno Haan (1631-1720) 's vestments and paraments. Amazing stuff!

Sounds like it was a good trip!

>69 MarthaJeanne: Jerry has put up the pictures of the hike.

http://www.jerrybarton.eu/Miscellaneous/DailyPicks/i-s2znKrs

The first few are mostly butterflies. Once you get to the 'Little House', the butterflies are over. I think the very dark one was the female of the two black and orange ones. At least two of them were together with her on the path.

>75 MarthaJeanne: Jerry is very talented. I had to look at everything, including the little house and beyond. Some of those butterflies are amazing with their mimicry of the surroundings. Lovely gift, and thank you.

>75 MarthaJeanne: please tell Jerry that I love his pictures. He has a fine eye for composition, and I appreciated how he used dark backgrounds on many of the photos.

Some of your butterflies look like the ones here in the States. The first picture, I believe, is a fly, based upon its eyes. We have many flies here that are pollinators, like bees, butterflies, and moths. One of the butterflies in Jerry's gallery looks like a "Lady" variety, and another looks like a Red Admiral.

The bird shots were breathtaking. What equipment did he use to take those photos?

Thanks again for sharing.

>77 fuzzi: I don't really know the details. He uses a Canon that is several years old - He will probably buy a more up-to-date one for Christmas. Besides the standard lens, he has a wide angle and a telephoto that is still small enough to use in hand.

The first one looked sort of like a bee, but not quite. I am convinced that it is some sort of copycat. There are butterflies that look like bees. I have to get the book out of the car and get names. Admirals are pretty much world wide. Last year we had lots of them in the garden.

As far as the birds go, he throws lots more photos away than he keeps. It's really hard to get the camera focused in time. Did I mention that he wants a new one? I bought binoculars last year because I got tired of him seeing something in the telephoto and calling my attention to some tiny dot. It's been fun, and turns out even more useful for butterflies and dragonflies.

He got another shot of the brimstone that isn't up to his standards, but is just what I want as the basis for an appliqué/embroidery to go on my current quilt project. Funny thing. I swear it was yellow, flying in the sun, and it is everywhere described as yellow, but sitting on the plant under the trees, it looked the same green as the leaves it was on. But I fell in love with the shape of the wings.

>76 Lyndatrue:, >77 fuzzi: Jerry asks me to say that he appreciates your comments.

>79 MarthaJeanne: - lovely pictures!

>77 fuzzi: I agree with fuzzi about the fly; this is a common mimicry in insects. There are other insects that mimic ants, wasps, and moths. But I like looking at all insects, so flies are neat to look at, too. Thanks for sharing the links!

Recent sighting, an Ocola skipper, one of the Panoquin varieties:

I've just been kissed by a butterfly:



This is a Red-spotted Purple butterfly, in the same Brushfoot family as Monarchs, and closely-related Admirals. Even though I could see it was quite worn, I approached it slowly in order to get a good shot.

Instead of flying away, it landed first on my hat brim (which I could not photograph) and then lighted upon my left forefinger! I snapped photo after photo while the butterfly "kissed" me with its proboscis, checking my skin for salt and other minerals I am sure.

I'm in awe...

How wonderful! I've sometimes had dragonflies in my finger, but not butterflies.

>83 fuzzi: checking my skin for salt and other minerals.... A true admiral relative!

>85 CassieBash: they like dung, too, haha!

>84 MarthaJeanne: I've never had a dragonfly land on me, though they tend to follow me around the yard!

Never had one land on me, but I have held freshly-emerged ones, before their wings were dry and before they could fly.

First-time viewing for me, a Common Checkered skipper (male)!



I was walking through the grass on the way to the bus, and noticed movement...and there he was!

>88 fuzzi: Love the hint of blue on it!

>89 CassieBash: me too! I wondered if it was a long-tailed skipper that had lost its tail, as they are blue, but the spotted wings were "wrong".

The males have blue, the females do not.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41528521

>91 MarthaJeanne: oh, that's marvelous! Thank you for sharing that news story. I never knew...

A few from the last couple months that I'd not posted!


8/19/17 - Sulfur type of butterfly


8/21/17 - Monarch caterpillar

From a walk at a local nature park:

10/7/17 - Pearl Crescent

and


10/7/17 - Variegated Fritillary


10/19/17 - American Lady, at work

And from today, only my second sighting this year of a Monarch butterfly:


10/21/17 - Monarch butterfly

Though late in the season, I just received a butterfly guide that I love, a quick reference that will be easy to take with me on trips/hikes:

Butterflies of North Carolina, South Carolina & Georgia: A Guide to Common & Notable Species by Marc C Minno

A fantastic quick reference guide that is easy to carry with you in the field, as it is an accordian-style pamphlet, laminated for protection. Each sheet has eight butterfly photos, with common and Latin name, wingspan, season when you'll find it, and host plants.

>94 fuzzi: I believe I have an Indiana equivalent: Indiana Butterflies & Moths: An Introduction to Familiar Species. Touchstones don't seem to recognize it, but Amazon has it listed here. It's always nice to have a state-specific guide.

Indiana Butterflies & Moths

>96 MarthaJeanne: Thanks!

This is probably a bit off topic, but over a year ago, maybe even two years ago, we dedicated part of our lawn to butterflies and other insects. It had a lot of non-grass in it anyway, and I have added both seeds and bulbs that are supposed to attract butterflies. And we haven't mowed it. I think last year it was included in the last mow of the season, but since I have read that that can kill any pupae.

There are two reasons why I would like to at least remove some of the growth once a year.
1) Some of the big dead plants are kind of ugly.
2) I have also read that when naturalizing lawn it helps to remove growth to make the soil less rich. Since lawns have usually been fertilized. (We haven't done a lot of that, though, and I would guess that previous renters haven't either.)
So my question is, what time of year is best for this? Right now there could be pupae on the plants, but at other times there are going to be eggs, caterpillars, ... Do I just remove the big dead stuff in the early summer, or is there a time when mowing is least harmful? I do now and again go in and dig up some of the dandelions.

>98 MarthaJeanne: It may depend on what part of the world you are in. Sadly, because of the very fact you mention, it's difficult to know about mowing, but here are my suggestions:

Big dead plants with tough stalks that can be cut with garden clippers or loppers can be cut off at any time. The only caterpillars/pupa/adults that are likely to be inside those stalks (think of the dead stalks like those left behind by sunflowers, swamp milkweed, hollyhocks, etc.) are borers, and most gardeners don't want those. You can definitely cut those stalks off without a second thought. The benefit to hand-cutting these is that if you see any chrysalises or moth cocoons (my experience is that it's usually butterfly chrysalises, but fuzzy caterpillars may spin on a stalk), you can either leave the stalk standing or you can cut the stalk and move it to another area of your yard where you think it will be more protected and out of your way.

For mowing advice, set your blade as high as you can for that section at all times. Most mowers have settings and if you're in a colder climate where caterpillars, eggs, and pupae (moth pupae in particular) tend to be close to the ground during the winter months, you're likely not going to do as much damage, unless of course the wheels crush them. But you'll greatly reduce the likelihood of cutting them if you raise the blade. I would attempt mowing this patch during as cold a day as you can stand, when caterpillars would be least likely to be eating up high on plants.

I know you're in a different country, though, so you might find out what pupae may be likely to be in your area and what their preference for overwintering is. Most people mulch their leaves and that's part of what can kill hibernating caterpillars and pupae, so avoid the mulching setting, raise the blade as far up as possible, and you may be fine to mow now, especially if you give the tall stalks a once-over to make sure that any chrysalises are out of the way first. We don't fertilize the lawn or mulch the leaves, either, and let nature take its course with the leaves through the winter, and our yard seems healthy. A little too healthy, perhaps, as we have a mole problem, which means we have lots of mole food--worms, grubs, and other creatures that live where plant roots thrive.

>100 MarthaJeanne: I was curious, and read your link. I'm astonished, and uplifted. I hope others read it as well, and thank you.

I should have said that it is about monarchs and a wing repair.

Wonderful! Perhaps I'll try to some day if the need arises.

>100 MarthaJeanne: lovely story!

I wonder about her childhood at the herb farm. As a teen I lived in Coventry, Connecticut near an herb farm, wonder if it might be the same one?

Addendum: nope, different herb farm, but this makes for an interesting read: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/05/nyregion/adelma-grenier-simmons-93-authority-o...

We lived about a mile away from Caprilands, never went there, never knew the owner Adelma Grenier Simmons was an author!

I was there once. It must have been in 1982, because my oldest was a baby and off colour that day, and neither my husband nor my mother were at all interested in the tour or in letting me enjoy it freely. I have two of her books, but I think I must have also read many articles by her.

>100 MarthaJeanne: - great story!