Butterflies - Crescents

On our Texas trip, every time I saw an orange and black butterfly, I tried to photograph it. I was sure that they were mostly duplicates. To my surprise, I had 5 new species. They sure looked alike in the field but when I studied them carefully, the patterns of orange and black and white were different.

These butterflies are all in the Brush-footed family, Nymphalidae. I just learned that all butterflies in this family have one distinctive characteristic. The forelegs of the adult butterfly are greatly reduced in size, covered with short hairs, and useless for walking. They appear to have only 4 legs. In the male butterfly, the forelegs are so small that they are like hairy stumps which suggest a tiny bottle brush. Hence, the family name.

The Monarch belongs to this family, so next time you see a Monarch butterfly, see if you can only count 4 legs because it is very difficult to see the stumps in the field.

Theona Checkerspot - Chlosyne theona

Bordered Patch - Chlosyne lacinia

Texan Crescent - Phyciodes texana

Phaon Crescent - Phyciodes phaon

Painted Crescent - Phyciodes picta

Pearl Crescent - Phyciodes tharos

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Kaufman Focus Guides - Butterflies
Butterflies through Binoculars The East
Butterflies through Binoculars The West
Butterflies of the Great Lakes
Caterpillars of Eastern North America
Caterpilliars in the Field and Garden

All images © MSCI

Butterflies - Swallowtails

There are 6 families of butterflies. Aside from the Monarch butterfly, the ones easiest to recognize are the swallowtails. The family name is because most of the species have tails. I don't understand the "swallow" part though, because of all the swallows, only the barn swallow has a long forked tail.

These large butterflies are pretty hard to photograph because they dart in all directions and, so far, I have only captured 4 of 20 or so species in North America. I have seen several other species both on the travels and at home. But where is the camera when the butterfly is sitting still? And where is the butterfly when I am chasing it?

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - Papilio glaucus

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (female) - Papilio glaucus

Giant Swallowtail - Papilio cresphontes

Giant Swallowtail - Papilio cresphontes

Pipevine Swallowtail - Battus philenor

Pipevine Swallowtail (male) - Battus philenor

Spicebush Swallowtail - Papilio troilus

Spicebush Swallowtail - Papilio troilus

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America
Kaufman Focus Guides - Butterflies
Butterflies through Binoculars The East
Butterflies through Binoculars The West
Butterflies of the Great Lakes
Caterpillars of Eastern North America
Caterpilliars in the Field and Garden

All images © MSCI

Texas Damselflies or Odonata

Damselflies are generally smaller than dragonflies. They have more slender bodies than dragonflies and differ in wing size and shape. The damselfly forewings and hindwings are the same size and shape and they hold their wings together over the back, except for the family of spreadwings. You can quickly see whether it is a dragonfly or a damselfly.

The first damselfly that caught my eye this spring in Texas, was the rubyspot. I could not believe it was so red. I also find it fascinating that male and female damselflies can have such different colors like in the Rambur's Forktail where the immature female is a bright orange that changes to an olive green in maturity.

American Rubyspot (Male) - Hetaerina americana

Smoky Rubyspot (Male) - Hetaerina titia

Blue-ringed Dancer (Male) - Agria sedula

Blue-fronted Dancer (Male) - Agria apicalis

Blue-fronted Dancer (Female) - Agria apicalis

Rambur's Forktail (Male) - Ischnura ramburii

Rambur's Forktail (Immature Female) - Ischnura ramburii

Fragile Forktail (Male) - Ischnura posita

Powdered Dancer (Male) - Agria moesta

Powdered Dancer (Female) - Agria moesta

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Damselflies of Texas, A Field Guide
Damselflies of the North Woods
Dragonflies of the North Woods
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States
Dragonflies through Binoculars North America
Dragonflies of Indiana
North American Odonata Website
Odonata Central Website

All images © MSCI