Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD has a small butterfly conservatory that is open between May and September. Most of the butteflies are from Central and South America. I have tried to identify some of them but have fallen short. Any butterfly experts out there ? The conservatory does provide an opportunity for a photographer to capture some nice close-up shots.
The first photo is 'Malachite'.
'Buckeye'
'Crimson-Patched Erato Longwing'
'Black Swallowtail'
'Giant Swallowtail'
'Queen'
'Banded Orange Heliconian (Longwing)'
This message was edited Jan 29, 2005 7:41 PM
'Cracker' Hamadryas sp.
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
This message was edited Jan 29, 2005 7:44 PM
#9 - 'Blue Morpho'
Edited via identification by konkreteblond ....
This message was edited Jan 29, 2005 7:37 PM
'Gulf Fritillary'
Those are wonderful shots. Thanks for sharing
Great shots. They are just beautiful.
Oh my goodness, those are all just fabulous shots. It's amazing how well some of them blend into or match colors of their chosen flowers. I don't think I've ever seen more than 2-3 of those even in photos, so it was a real treat for me to look at yours! Thanks so much for sharing the pics here :-)
-Julie
#11 - 'Doris Longwing'
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
This message was edited Jan 29, 2005 7:46 PM
They are beautiful! I love going to the exhibits. #9 is a Common Blue Morpho. They are gorgeous!! #8 I'm pretty sure is a "Cracker". . #7 is surely named something "Tiger" lol It's got to be in the same family as the Julia Longwing and Zebra Longwing since it looks just like them. I'll search for my pics and the brochure from an exhibit.
konkreteblond, I appreciate your assistance. The Conservatory had a brochure showing 30 different butterflies but a lot of them were not on the brochure. I have been trying to post a few others photos but for some reason they are not posting. I'll keep trying . . .
Julie, you are absolutely correct. It is amazing how some of them select the foilage that will camouflage them from predators (like humans). If only we knew ???
With cold weather and little color outside, I was compelled to resort to my library of summer photos. At the same time, I can get a little education with the help of others. Never too old to learn !!!
Thanks to all ....
#12 - 'Checkered Swallowtail'
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
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#13 - 'Blue Wave' - Female, most likely.
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
This message was edited Jan 30, 2005 7:47 PM
#14 - 'White Peacock'
#15 - 'Monarch'
#16 - 'Janais Patch'
#17 - 'Spicebush Swallowtail'
#18 - 'Tiger Swallowtail'
#19 - 'Question Mark' That is it's name !!! Photo is slightly blurred ....
Here is what I've come up with:
#3 I've also seen called a Postman.
#7 is a Banded Orange Heliconian (Longwing) Dryadula phaetusa. (and they've been seen in my area!)
# 11 is a Doris Longwing.
# 12 is a Checkered Swallowtail.
#13 I think is a female Japanese Emperor. The male has purple but the female is brown. I've not been able to find a good pic of this one. I can't find any other that is brown and white with spots and stripes. My book says that the Emperor is "a very variable butterfly with several subnamed species".
...and they're all beautiful!
Wow!!! these are just beautiful...Thanks so much for sharing...and hopefully all the DG's out there can help you come up with the names.
Deb
#20 - 'Red Cracker'
Thanks, again konkreteblond for your assistance in identifying some of my unknowns........... I have edited the ones identified thus far.
#21 - 'Zebra Longwing'
#22 - 'Julia Longwing'
#23 - 'Blue Wave'
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
'
This message was edited Jan 30, 2005 7:48 PM
#24 - 'Doris Butterfly' (Heliconius doris). They have 3 major color forms: orange, blue or green.
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
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#25 - 'Zebra Swallowtail'
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
This message was edited Jan 30, 2005 7:45 PM
I hope you don't mind! I love researching them. It's the first time I've really put my Smithsonian Handbook (Butterflies and Moths) to use.
I found what the mystery # 13 and 23 are! In picture 23 I could see very definite "cut outs" in it's wings, which was not like a Japanese Emperor. I found that it is called "Blue Wave" Myscelia cyaniris. #13 is more brown so it is more than likely the female. http://www.hmns.org/see_do/butterfly_center/butterflies.asp
#24 is also a Doris Butterfly (Heliconius doris) They have 3 major color forms: orange, blue or green.
#25 is a Zebra Swallowtail.
konkreteblond, certainly I don't mind. In fact, I'm glad that you jumped right in. I am not a Lepidoptera expert.
It probably would be nice to have a Butterfly database including photos of the respective chrysalis somewhere on Dave's Garden. In two visits to Brookside Gardens I have taken hundreds of pictures. It can be tough to sort out accurate identification. But each shot provides a slightly different photo especially with lots of different flowers and plants in the Conservatory.
I have three more photos and then, that it !!! Hope you all have enjoyed them. At least I have been able to catalogue this group.
#26 - 'Painted Lady'
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
This message was edited Jan 31, 2005 8:40 PM
#27 - male Great Egg-Fly (Hypolimnas bolina)
Edited via identification by konkreteblond.
This message was edited Jan 31, 2005 8:38 PM
#28 - 'Owl'
I am no expert either but have been learning and researching for the past couple of years. Most of my knowledge comes from other people that have learned the same way. A database would be wonderful. It can be very hard to find pics of caterpillars to match a butterfly unless they are common.
#26 appears to be a Painted Lady rather than an American Painted Lady. One difference that makes it easy to distinguish is there is a white spot in the orange color of the top wing of an APL. The Painted Lady has no white spot in the orange area.
#27 per my book is a male Great Egg-Fly (Hypolimnas bolina) Not a very pretty name! lol I also found a link with pics of it's stages. The female looks quite different. http://linus.socs.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/nymp/bolina.html
I love the Owl Butterflies! It's sad that most of the butterflies in the exhibits always have such torn wings. I know it happens naturally in time, but these do try so hard to escape their enclosure that it speeds the process up.
beautiful shots. Helped me ID a few I got at Butterfly World at Christmas
Beautiful photos...wish we could show them as a slide show, it would be spectacular!
Beautiful Butterflies
Outstanding Photograpy
Your use of background as well as sharp focus make them especially wonderful. Thank you for these. ~Blooms
