Butterflies

On Sunday, I saw a Common Buckeye Junonia coenia on my New England Asters. It co-operated for me by feeding for more than an hour, so that I could watch and photograph (until I could not edit any more images - over 50). My daughter says I saw one in her insect collection 20 years ago but I have not seen one again, until now. It sure is pretty.

All summer I have been taking pictures of butterflies in my garden. The Monarch Danaus plexippus remains a favorite, especially when it poses on my butterfly weed.

At Luddington State Park, couple of weekends ago, I saw a Monarch caterpillar on its favorite food, a milkweed plant.
I took the next picture on the Keweenaw Peninsula, in Upper Michigan last summer. I thought I was taking a picture of a Monarch and it wasn't until I was reviewing my photos, that I recognized that it was not a Monarch at all! It was a Viceroy Limenitis archippus which mimics the Monarch. I have never before seen a Viceroy in the field. Notice the black bar across the hind wing on the Viceroy.

I also took some pictures of the Red-spotted Purple Limenitis arthemtis feeding on my Purple cone flower. Again, I did not know what butterfly this was. While reviewing my pictures, I remembered a similar butterfly that I had seen in Texas this spring. When seen from the side as in these 2 photos, the Red-spotted Purple is similar to the Pipevine Swallowtail Battus philenor. Their ranges overlap only along the Gulf states in southern US, but I don't keep range maps in my head (that's why I own books). Now that I have worked with my photos so much, I hope to remember the differences between these butterflies.


I don't know if you have the same problem as I have: that it doesn't matter how many times I have studied the flower, butterfly, or bird in a book, it is not until I have see it live in the field that I can remember its identification marks and recognize it the next time.

Happy butterflying! (Yes, it will become an accepted verb soon!)

The references and gear I used for this blog are:

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