Last Clouded Sulphur Sighting

This is perhaps my last Clouded Sulphur sighting of the year. This morning I took a walk around our flower gardens. At the back of our side lawn I saw this Clouded Sulphur clinging to the tall grasses at its edge. At first the butterfly was difficult to see as it blended in so well with the grasses . I pulled some of the grass in front of it to get a better focus and then having put my camera on macro placed the lens almost on top of it. I assumed it was dead as it had exhibited no movement at all. I picked the blade of grass it was on and thought I would place it on our patio table so I could study it leisurely for seldom do I get such an opportunity; but as I transferred the blade of grass to my other hand the butterfly flew away.

Chain-dotted Geometer Moth

A mottled leaf, flying in the breeze, caught upon a Juniper shrub at the edge of our sun deck. Later, this Chain-dotted Geometer Moth landed upon it.

Maple Spanworm Moth

This moth, the Maple Spanworm Moth, with its unevenly, scalloped wings and brownish-yellowish colour was found on the windowsill of a gas station yesterday when we had stopped to gas up. I have seen this species of moth before and it has always been at this time of year. It reminds me of an ageing, small autumn leaf with its dark speckled appearance.

Viceroy

White Admiral

A White Admiral butterfly in my garden this early evening.

Cabbage White Butterfly

To the left is a Cabbage White male and to the right is the Cabbage White female Butterfly.

A Beautiful Monarch in My Garden

Painted Lady Butterfly [Vanessa cardul]

This Painted Lady butterfly was found in my flower garden this morning; photographed while resting on a Pink Cone Flower.

Moth At Rest: Black-rimmed Prominent

I found this Black-rimmed Prominent moth at rest upon my back porch window. The photo to the left shows the underside of the moth clinging to the window. Going inside I was able to get a profile view of it in a closed wing position shown on the right.

Milbert's Tortoiseshell Butterfly

The underside wings of this Milbert's Tortiseshell Butterfly were of a very rich dark brown colour having a lighter brown sub-marginal band. When it began to open its wings slightly I got a glimpse of the rich orange and yellow hues of its outer wings. This butterfly was feeding on Yellow Cone Flowers in my flower garden today.

Leconte's and Confused Hapola Moths

I almost quit trying to get a photo of this Leconte's Hapola Moth(left) for I had to keep following it around my lawn and flower beds for what seemed to me an enormous amount of time before I finally got its picture. I was quite sure I hadn't seen this particular moth before but it did look vaguely familiar. Checking through my photo archives I found a photo of a Confused Haploa (right) which I had taken last year, in July '06. The two moths look very similar but, although the brown colouring is the same, the patterning is different. The Leconte's Haploa has a dark brown line extending down the margin of the forward wing with a couple of short spurs extending inward from it.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar

Although I have seen hundreds and hundreds of Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies , for they seem to be everywhere in the early summer, I had never seen an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar until this week. We had been walking along the edge of a river admiring the beautiful Water Lilies and the reflection of blue Pickerel Weed growing there. Upon returning to our car my sister-in-law remarked, "Oh, I see we have a visitor!" Perched upon the receiving end of my seat belt was a fascinating, intriguing looking, smooth, green caterpillar with black, blue and yellow eyespots and a black eyebrow! I don't know how it got there but I suspect it may have been caught upon my clothing or camera and I carried it back to the car with us . We considered ourselves very lucky to have seen it for from what I have read, they are often located nearer the tops of trees, rather than in lower locations. As we studied it we could see that it retracted its head within its body but when it walked its head would protude out of a front opening. Before we left we carefully placed the caterpillar on the leaves of a nearby tree.

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar

I found ten or more of these Monarch Caterpillars earlier this week feeding on Milkweed plants. I have gone to this location several times in the past few weeks and have not seen any Monarchs around this Milkweed Patch this season; although I had found two or three Monarchs there last summer.

Monarch Butterfly

This is my second sighting of a Monarch Butterfly this summer.
This is a female Monarch.

Clouded Sulphur Butterfly

The markings of the Clouded Sulphur are quite similar to those of an Orange Sulphur, however, there is no orange on this butterfly and its yellow colouring is very light and almost faded looking. As well, the post median markings on the hind wing do not seem as prominent as those of a Orange Sulphur. At first I thought perhaps this might be a Pink-edged Sulphur as the pink edging and head on this butterfly is very strong but the central spot on the hind wing is double whereas the spot on the hind wing of the Pink-edged is a single one. Also the Pink-edged sulphur has no hind wing post median spots.

Scallop Shell Moth

Male Monarch Butterfly

My search for Monarch Butterflies was rewarded yesterday when I visited a Milkweed Patch where I had seen this species last summer. I saw two Monarchs when I arrived and was able to get a photo of the male which is pictured here. I do not know if the second Monarch was male or female but plan on checking out this location further another day.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

The first I encountered a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth it was resting on a Tomato plant in my garden a few years ago. The one pictured here is feeding on Milkweed blossoms. My earliest sightings of this species this year was when our Lilac bushes were in bloom and these moths were found there.

Primrose Moth [Schinia florida]

The first time I had seen a Primrose Moth I thought I had discovered a new wildflower; a beautiful yellow one with a pink center! On closer examination though I found a pink Primrose Moth in its center. Ever since then, I often check out Primrose to see if there is a small moth nestled there.

Striped Hairstreak

While standing in my yard taking pictures of baby Tree Swallows in their birdhouse above I caught a glimpse of a small dark butterfly in the bushes beside me. A first sighting ever of a Striped Hairstreak.

Spotted Tussock Moth

Last week I had found a Rosy Maple Moth at a gas station near by. This week I found a Spotted Tussock Moth there. This very pretty yellow

moth also has an attractive looking caterpillar within its life cycle. I found a picture of a Spotted Tussock Moth Caterpillar in my picture archives which I had taken in August 2001.

Fritillaries, American Copper, Pearly-eye and Red Admiral

Great Spangled Fritillary

Red Admiral

Northern Pearly-eye

Aphrodite Fritillary

American Copper

Virginian Tiger Moth Laying Eggs

This is the third Virginian Tiger Moth I have seen recently. When I took this picture it seemed like there was some sort of white smudging underneath the moth. After downloading the photos I could see that there were actually a whole lot of eggs there. I enlarged a portion of the picture to show the light green ball shaped egg. If you double-click on the photo you will get a larger view of it. The eggs which are successfully hatched will develop into Yellow Bear Caterpillars.

Northern Pearly-eye

At first I had thought this was an Eyed Brown but after researching I have decided that it is a Northern Pearly-eye. The Pearly-eye has a continous white line surrounding the submarginal eye spots whereas the Eyed Brown does not. I first saw this butterfly flitting about my back deck and then, luckily for me, it few into my back porch and landed on the window there. After taking its picture I picked it up and released it outdoors.

Rosy Maple Moth [Dryocampa rubicunda]

I had only seen this moth species once before and that was in the early 2000's. Yesterday we had stopped at a gas station and there were several Rosy Maple Moths on the outside wall of the building. A welcomed sighting of a very colourful moth.

Virginia Tiger Moth [Spilosoma virginica]

Smith's Dart [Xestia smithii]

False Crocus Geometer Moth [Xanthotype urticaria]

I glimpsed this attractive yellow moth flying in the early evening with sunlight shining through it wings. I followed it over the grass until it finally settled in one stationary spot on my lawn; then hoping it would stay in that location I ran to get my camera and it was still there when I got back. One of the foods this False Crocus Geometer Moth feeds on is Ground Ivy and we have a plentiful supply of that small wildflower in our yard.

Butterflies Seen - June 22

Silver-bordered Fritillary
Little Wood-Satyr
White Admiral

Northern Cloudywing

Common Ringlet