First butterfly sightings of 2015

                                                         above, an Eastern Comma Butterfly

                                                       above a Mourning Cloak Butterfly


Yesterday May 4th.  I was walking along an old, wet, muddy woods road and I spied several Eastern Commas.  they were so colourful and beautiful!  What a wonderful first sighting for this spring.  Later on during the afternoon I saw a handsome Mourning Cloak. My camera beautifully picked up the blue dots edging its wings!

Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar

 I  have been looking for monarch butterflies or their caterpillars all summer long, of which I have not seen one.  I have been spending a lot of time in a milkweed patch.  Milkweed is the only plant that a monarch butterfly caterpillar will feed on , so that is where monarch butterflies lay their eggs.  Last summer I collected six caterpillars from milkweed plants and brought them home and raised them until they turned into butterflies and then we released them.
Yesterday we had quite an exciting moment when we found three caterpillars on a milkweed plant that we initially thought that they might be monarch caterpillars!  but we were wrong.:-(  The colour pattern seemed almost right, but the texture and make up of the creatures was wrong.  It seemed to be made of segments or even scraps of yarn, and it seemed composed of tufts of hair. I have seen several tufted caterpillars before  which belonged to the tussock family of caterpillars so that gave me a clue as to its identity. I have a very helpful caterpillar guide book and was able to learn that the caterpillars we found and brought home were 
 Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars. I had planned to feed the creatures every day until they went through the pupa stage and then turned into moths or butterflies.  
I  have learned that the milkweed tussock will overwinter in their pupa stage, so I don't think I will invest the time and I will return the caterpillars to the milkweed patch today where I had found them and continue my search for evidence of Monarchs having been there,  We thought we might have seen a couple of monarchs one day earlier this week but we did not get a good view of them and they could have been Viceroys which look very similar to Monarchs.  That sighting is enough encouragement for me to continue my quest in the milkweed patch.  Milkweed is host to a variety of bugs and insects and flying or jumping things, such as grasshoppers things so I never know what I will find there! Have a good Sunday everyone. Much of my day will be spent in the milkweed patch.  Is'nt nature fascinating!

Yellow Underwing Moth

I found this yellowunderwing moth on thesidewalk just outside of my home this morning. I love the beautiful under-wing fold as it looks so very colourful and delicate!  Apparently this moth is European in origin but now can be found all across North America.  A>K>A Noctua Pronuba

A white-spotted sable moth for mellow yellow Monday

the yellow feature on this tiny moth is found on both sides of the moth's head. This is a white-spotted sable moth.  I rescued it from it being all in a tangle in a spider web in my garden. When my husband came to help the little moth ended up being on his thumb when I took its picture.

Got pictures with yellow in them? Why not share them with others on Mellow Yellow Monday at: http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/

An Unknown Caterpillar

Rather small.  I would estimate it was about one and a half inches long clutching to a blade of grass.  its world seemed isolated and lonely on a hillside in the middle of no where..

a Hyalophora Columbia Moth

Also known as a Glover's silkmoth.  found in my neighbour's backyard on May 29, 2012.  a handsome moth!!!!

Red Admiral Butterfly for Ruby Tuesday 2

Wow, My first butterfly photo of the 2012 season.  I took it this morning!  now lets get the butterfly season underway!

 Ruby Tuesday 2 meme features photos with red of any subject. To contribute to this meme please go to;http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.com/

Viceroy at three Tree Creek

This morning a Viceroy AT Three Tree Creek

White Admiral on Yellow Coneflowers

Finally a butterfly sighting! A White Admiral feeding on yellow Cone flowers in my yard.! As of yet my pink coneflowers have not served their purpose of my planting them, they have not attracted any butterflies yet this season that I have seen. They used to be the focus of many fritilaries. Where are they this summer? My husband, David drew my attention to this butterfly feeding yesterday. Thank you, David!
What a beautiful richness of colour these images of the butterfly and flower created!
I thought this was an interesting angle with the admiral settled on the cone in the center of the coneflower.
This White Admiral was not alone on the coneflowers. This green grasshopper seen below stayed stationay on the petals while I was taking these pictures. Its pretty grand and intricate isn't it?!

An Arctic Skipper

I experienced that memory thing again when I had seen this skipper. I knew I had seen it before but what was its name? I knew the name had something to do with the north. Yes!, when I looked it up, I discovered it was an Arctic Skipper. so that was the north connection in its name! Delightful!

Aa White Admiral

What a wonderful find! My first White Admiral sighting this year!

A pretty yellow,A Xanthotype moth

I found this pretty yellow moth in a nearby meadow last week. It was fascinating as it reminded me of a delicate paper cutting. It looked as if the black areas had been crisply cut away from the yellow. That effect does not show up in the photo. Memory is a funny thing sometimes. When I went home I told my husband I had seen a geometer moth!. a year or so ago I had found a very similar looking moth which I identified as a false crocus geometer moth and that memory had stayed recessed in my mind. ( As I get older I am very aware of carrying genes from two grandmothers who both suffered from memory loss and dementria in their later years. so I am always pleased when my memory unlocks some identification puzzle for me.)
This moth even had yellow legs! as seen in this upside down view above
To be sure of my identification I sent a copy of my photo to Bug Guide:http://www.bugguide.net in hopes that they would id it for me. They did!!!! What a wonderful free service this is. They reported back to me that it was a Xanthotype moth. Another common name for this moth is the false crocus geometer moth! wow! I had been right when I had first seen it.

Viceroy butterfly

I chanced upon this injured Viceroy lying on the road. I can only assume it might have been hit by a car. This is the first viceroy I have seen this year and I don't think I saw any last year.