With a little back lighting>
debnes
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 21
Another with wide open wings....
debnes
Ahhh...the more pictures you guys post the more I realize I'm going down in the photo contest! Seriously, I love all the pics here. I think we post better pictures than a lot of the books I've seen. Especially when you consider we post pictures from eggs to caterpillar to chrysalis and butterfly! And host plants, too!
Expect some more pics out of me soon. The weather is finally cooling down although it is supposed to rain this weekend. I live right up the street from a small preserve and I haven't been there in a few months. I drive by it on the way home and I saw the liatris has begun blooming so I'm going to go check out the butterfly action. Plus, there's that lady who lives against the back of the preserve and grows red passion vine on the fence! I feel the need to rescue any cats that might have mistakenly ended up on it. Now that the weather is more tolerable, I'm hoping to get out to some different preserves. Maybe I'll see some new visitors, too!
Oh, here's a pic I took at the USF plant festival. The zebra longwings were out in force and they loved this firebush. I know it's a good butterfly plant, but I have to admit I just don't care for the look of it.
We still have at least one Monarch up here. :^)
Zinnia -- it's a power-packed food source. :^)
The USF folks planted some new bf plants up near their newly constructed bathrooms. So while I was waiting for Mom I watched the Gulf Frits play among the passion vine.
Well, I went hiking a bit today and rounded up a few more Zebra STs. Well, I say a few but I actually found a lot of the little guys. Two of them are big enough they could form their chrysalis soon. Of course, I saw the mommy ZSTs flying around but I didn't get a picture since they wouldn't stop. I did have some more cooperative butterflies. My first sighting was this White Peacock. He's had a pretty tough life judging from the pieces missing from his wings.
This one was a little bit luckier.
While at the first preserve I also saw a Zebra Longwing, Gulf Fritillary, and a big yellow sulphur. Then, I drove to my favorite spot where my Zebra Swallowtails live. I got out of the car and the first guy I spotted - was another White Peacock! The plant on the right side of the pic is the native pawpaw that the Zebra STs use as a host.
I had thought to myself that I hadn't seen many hairstreaks lately so I was happy to see this guy.
I also managed to get a topside view of him which is pretty rare. The wind was blowing hard and it seemed like the bfs had to be careful about moving around.
I was so excited to see this swallowtail visiting my garden today. I just wish it would've sat still so I could get a good view. It was going nuts for this blue salvia.
And here is a view from the bottom.
Then I spotted a Buckeye which meant I had to run around like a fool to get a picture. They're worth it though! I saw several and a couple of them were doing that thing where they fly around in circles around each other.
Ooops....sorry mellie, didn't mean to interrupt your pic posting. Beautiful pictures!
This tiny sulphur was very skittish and kept flying away from me.
No problem, I'm loving your photos too! I was thinking, "Must get more salvia!"
I got one more here - this is a bigger sulphur that was very cooperative and let me take lots of pictures. Anyone know what kind he is?
I still cant tell the difference between them, there are so many. It does look similar to one that I raised that I though there was something wrong with him. I think it was a sleepy sulphur.
Deb had also identified some of mine as the orange sulphur. It was very unexpected because all the cats looked the same to me.
chris
I have seen this butterfly around, but always when I didnt have the camera.
What kind is he?
chris
A strange butterfly from Mobile AB.
Maybe a goatweed butterfly, chris...or one of the other anglewings? A front is blowing through this weekend. Butterflies nectaring a lot...maybe some will fly out with the wind currents. Most of the ZLW cats are already pupated. Only one cat is smaller. And then I found a few possible ZLW eggs yesterday on Incense vines, with one hatched overnight.
Looks like a Question Mark wing shape to me, but I can't make out the identifying mark of the "?" on it's wing.
Did you see the dorsal view? Did it look like this?
It only opened for a second and I didnt get a good look. It did not even want me close so I will keep my eye out for another picture.
I love that "fruit dish", I will look to make a couple of those for spring.
I have my work cut out for me trying to get a picture of that small mark.
I will try to get close enough to find out whether it is a comma or question mark. I cant believe the slight difference.
chris
This message was edited Oct 22, 2007 6:41 AM
Try manipulating the brightness on your photo and see if you can make out the mark.
Also look at the Comma's and etc. for those found in your area.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?s=54&sci=Nymphalinae&com=True%20Brushfoots
This message was edited Oct 22, 2007 6:25 AM
Gardnerkett, great picture of the metalworks bf!
Chris, you've got a sharp eye to find such unusual BF in your garden. I wasn't expecting to see qestion marks or commas around here. Now I'll be on the lookout.
A couple from before the cold wet front hit.
Frit on a tall Cosmos.
Long Tailed Skipper on a tall Cosmos.
Debnes, I'm trying to compare your American Painted Lady photos to one I took earlier this spring that I think is a PL, but I'm not sure. I can't find the PL in my book. Can you verify?
I had Gulf frits and monarchs flying all around my flowers today....the former owners of this house missed out on such wonderful things, by not planting any gardens. In the year we've been here, with the flowers we've planted, we've attracted so many great butterflies and birds!!!! I feel so proud! Can't wait to plant more next year!!!!!
thea--beautiful photos! I'm thinking your pic is an American Lady 'vanessa virginiensis'..my book (Butterflies through Binoculars) says 'remember 'American Ladies have big eyes.' I don't know, does that help? LOL
But what I don't quite get is what is the difference between 'painted ladies', 'american lady' and 'american painted lady'. I have seen references to all three in several official publications...or is it a change in nomenclature thing and difficult for the publishers to keep up to date? Does anyone know...?
trois--I see in your pretty pics that the butterflies like the orange cosmos. I was wondering if it is the orange or the white cosmos that is so attractive to them... thanks...
Thanks, tabasco. They also like the yellow ones.
I believe that the American Lady and American Painted Lady is the same thing
What beautiful pics of the GF and the LTS trois!! Thank you for sharing those!
Chris, So far Linda's suggestion of the Goatweed Leafwing looks closest.. The Sulphur up there in http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4105128 is a Sleepy Orange.
Thea there are 3 of this kind of :Lady" Vanessa butterfly; American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), and West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella). The two I am most familiar with are the AL and PL.
First of all they use completely different larval host plants, and the cats look different. AL are much more difficult to raise, and the host plants are few and fancy. I still haven't gotten my hands on any of them, though I see this butterfly more than the PL. The AL has 2 large and clear eye spots on the lower ventral wing. Here is a pic> http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/3438/ Can you guys see the lady face there?
The Painted Lady uses at least 100 different host plants, some very common such as thistle. Still not so easy to raise. I will be using Plantain (a type of weed like grass some consider invasive, lol) next year. Not sure yet how "hands on" I will be with them. Y'all will be the first to know.
The PL has 4 smaller eye spots on the lower ventral wing as you can see in pford's pic here> (Thanks pford) :-)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/2698/
The West Coast Lady has points on the edges of the upper wings and only 2 small eyespots on lower ventral wings, (more obscure)... and some other physical differences.. They use Mallows as their larval host.
Red Admirals are also a "Vanessa" species, and a couple more.. but these are the most common ones in that group.
Thea, The one you have there is an American Lady.
debnes
This message was edited Oct 22, 2007 10:36 PM
This message was edited Oct 22, 2007 10:37 PM
This message was edited Oct 29, 2007 1:06 PM
Am still waiting for the Goatweed or Question to come back for a photoshoot.
Until then, Am I correct on the id of the following?
Pearl Crescent ?
Buckeye ?
chris_lcf530 - if you are asking about the butterfly in this image: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4107359 then yes, it is a Question Mark.
I borrowed your image and played with the contrast - only to bring out any 'lighter' areas, which of course the question mark is. Hope you don't mind.
Christine
Christine, I dont mind at all, in fact I appreciate the extra work you did you ID him. I am still waiting for him to come back. Thanks.
chris
Thaks for the details on the Vanessa butterflies. So the PL and the APL are the same.
So I did a bit more research and as I understand it the 'American Lady' is the term lepidopterists use for the Vanessa virginiensis (no 'Painted' in the middle).
Here's a nice story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the Vanessa butterflies
http://www2.jsonline.com/news/metro/may01/butter01053101a.asp
I will be planting more pearly everlasting, sunflower and burdock for them, too. Not sure where to put the burdock (sounds a bit like a weed, doesn't it?!)
Ooh, Chris must have chased down a Buckeye, too! They're so pretty, but they're quick. Luckily, it's cooling off down here so I can start chasing them again.
A sleepy orange! Ooh, that's a new one for me. I mean, I think I've seen them before but I never had it confirmed. My second zebra ST eclosed today and Mom got to experience the fun. Check out the pics in my ZST thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/781596/
I'll be posting more soon! The frits are getting bigger and eating too much. Half of my polydamas cats didn't make it past the first instar, but I still have over a dozen left. I think they have some kind of issue with molting. I was trying to look and see if I could find something wrong with them, and I did notice a few of them looked like they had something hanging on their rear (and I don't think it was poo this time). I know molting is a fragile time for them, and I've been leaving them alone to do their thing. I guess they lay so many eggs because so many are doomed from the start.
Oh, and for those tracking the Monarchs, I did see one fly through the yard last week. I was taking Grandma (who was down here visiting) around my garden and one went flying by. The one plant I don't have in the yard is milkweed so for me to get a Monarch is a little unusual.
Melanie
Since the front blew through, I haven't seen any Monarchs or Queens around here. There were GFs, sulfurs, whites, some kinds of skippers, mestras, ZLs, one RA and one Julia today.