Tag: butterfly

Nature: Butterflies and Moths

Pearly Eye 珍珠眼蝴蝶 (Family Satyridae, Wood Nymphs)

CariLeave a comment

In the woods and woods edges of eastern North America from Quebec to Manitoba and south to Florida and Texas roams the Pearly Eye. Yet it is found in queer little colonies, sometimes miles apart, with none others in between. In such places each jealous male chooses a tree trunk he considers his own alone and chases all other males, and often other insects too, away. Sometimes two males will fight each other for a minute or more, flying up against each other like fighting roosters, the one who is knocked down most often finally flying away. This is called the “territorial instinct,” common also among birds and some animals.

Continue reading “Pearly Eye 珍珠眼蝴蝶 (Family Satyridae, Wood Nymphs)” →

Nature: Butterflies and Moths

Buckeye 七叶树蝴蝶 (Family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies)

CariLeave a comment

Whoever watches the Buckeye, especially the light-colored dry-season forms, sees a fighter, and sometimes, sadly, a cocky little bully. Buckeyes have been known to attack almost every thing they see in flight, from dragonflies to hummingbirds and to supposedly dangerous wasps. They have been known to bully the large black and white winged Carolina Locusts until these poor grasshoppers almost give up trying to fly at all! Probably the Buckeye’s rapid, wary and nervous flight, combined with a high ability at dodging, gives it the feeling it can get away with its bullying attacks without any chance of being hit back. This also makes it hard to catch with a butterfly net except for the fact that it loves to visit flowers and mud puddles where it may become so absorbed in drinking that it is easily caught.

Continue reading “Buckeye 七叶树蝴蝶 (Family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies)” →

Nature: Butterflies and Moths

Chalcedon Checkerspot (Family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies)

CariLeave a comment

It is almost impossible to take a hike in the brushy parts of California in the spring without encountering this butterfly or its caterpillar or both in large numbers. Every roadway seems to be flocking with the adults, while almost every bush monkey flower, or other plants of the figwort family, seem to be crawling with the very spiny dark caterpillars. The bright reddish-brown and white and black marked butterflies gather in myriads at wet places on the road and rise in clouds when you come near. Being neither strong nor intelligent fliers, they are easily caught. Certainly they do not have the dodging ability of a swallowtail or buckeye, nor the hiding ability of a little blue or a wood nymph.

Continue reading “Chalcedon Checkerspot (Family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies)” →

Nature: Butterflies and Moths

Dog-Face Butterfly 狗脸蝴蝶 (Family Pieridae, the Whites and Sulphurs)

CariLeave a comment

Throughout the southern states, but sometimes as far north as Illinois, out wet through New Mexico and Arizona and on to California, the Dog-face butterflies are lovers of the golden sunlight. You will gasp with delight when you see the male of the Californian Dog-face, because the fore-wings of this fancy gentleman shine with a splendid purple irridescence that scintillates in the light like a pair of crown jewels. The plane yellow female looks like a drab mate indeed beside her handsome husband, because she lacks completely the strange light area of the forewing, shaped like the head of a dog. But, if you look closely, you will know right away she too belongs to the Dog-face butterflies because of the distinctive sharp point to the forewing.

Continue reading “Dog-Face Butterfly 狗脸蝴蝶 (Family Pieridae, the Whites and Sulphurs)” →