Thursday, June 27, 2013

Great Spangled Fritillary

Hi, Here is a butterfly that is one of our mainstay species in early summer onward. It can be confused, by the average casual observer, for a Monarch. Both are orange-ish in coloration, but that is where the similarity ends. Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies always seem to show up in large numbers and congregate at nectar sources. I usually find either Common Milkweed or Canada Thistle their favorite as a rule. Now that summer is in full swing more species will show up as July usually our month to have the most species. Here are some pix of the Great Spangled. Have a great day! Denis

                                          Below 2 photos are Butterfly Bush or Buddleia



                                                      Below photo is on Common Milkweed



                                                     Below photo is on Canada Thistle

                                                           Below photo is on Bull Thistle

Friday, June 7, 2013

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Hi again, Here is a more or less dull or plain looking brownish butterfly in the Hesperidae Family. These are mostly brownish with spots or chain-like markings on mainly fore-wings. These can be quite challenging to correctly ID, for me especially. Some of this family fly early in April but not later, so this helps in either eliminating or corroborating a particular species by date seen. I hope these are not too mundane, however these are also missed by most folks thinking 'moth'. Best to you, Denis