Two days ago, while out in the garden with the dogs, this lovely butterfly landed on a stone and bathed itself in the warmth of the sun.
I had to run into the house to grab my camera, and to my delight, it remained in the same position for quite some time. I could easily have mistaken it for one of the thousands of leaves falling from the trees and landing all over the place. Fortunately, its delicate fluttering caught my attention before it settled down to catch the rays.
Oh, but I should have gone right to the 'source' before making a guess...my astute friend Randy Emmitt is an expert on butterfly ID's...even has a fantastic website, Butterflies of the Carolinas and Virginias: www.rlephoto.com...and he left a comment on my Facebook post (in fact, a series of very informational comments) ID'ing it as an Eastern Comma, not a Questionmark. Well, actually, that's not exactly what happened, because Randy first went along with my ID as a Questionmark...LOL!! Even he had to go and check his own reference page! He started commenting because I was wondering if the butterfly would die with the colder weather we were about to get:
- Jan Huston Doble Will it die in the colder weather, Randy? Tomorrow the temps are really supposed to drop. Fantastic about seeing those 2 today!!
It was really an interesting series of Facebook comments because then, Kylee Baumlee, of Our Little Acre, chimed in that she had a photo of two of them dancing on a tree and wondered if it was one kind or two different ones. She posted about one of them on her blog, here...but she posted a really nice photo of the two varieties on Randy's FB page:
Randy Emmitt please do Kylee Baumle
Kylee Baumle That was going to be my next question - if they travel together. They were definitely dancing around each other, then they took a rest on the tree.
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| *photo used with permission |
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| Eastern Comma |
So just remember: The comma marking is a very small white comma (same with questionmark) on the back side of the wing, can only be seen when wing is closed. The other method of ID is from the black spots on upper forewing. Comma has three black spots; Questionmark has four. And when in doubt, just call them Anglewings!
Also remember, Facebook is Really good for a lot of things besides worthless chatter. Karin, of Southern Meadows, also commented on the Facebook post but since I didn't ask permission to show her comments on my blog I've left those off...along with 11 other commenters! If you still aren't on Facebook and you are a garden blogger, you should seriously reconsider. It can 'sometimes' be a time-waster, but for the most part, it's a great tool!
What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,
Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/
Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.
I thought it was a great exchange Jan, and like you I find FB to be very informative when it comes to gardening and nature topics. You are welcome to use my comments. They are on FB and as far as I am concerned it is as public as one can get. I had to throw in my 2 cents on their privacy policies :) I haven't seen any butterflies since our arctic weather arrived but I hope they are surviving somewhere in the leaf litter. Temperatures will be up this weekend so we'll see if they survived. I love your photos of the angelwings!
ReplyDeleteThat was a great conversation that night! I love how Facebook provides the medium for exchanges like this. For me, the good far outweighs the bad. Your photos are beautiful, Jan. Thanks for sharing all this information and bringing us together over a common interest!
ReplyDeleteOK, so I will call them Anglewings--if I can tell them apart from all the other orange butterflies. ;-) Excellent post! I love the way you tied the experts thoughts and the Facebook conversation into your post. Yay, Jan!
ReplyDeleteJan ... I'm not a fan of Facebook - but you to totally make it fun. Sometimes I can't wait to click on the home feed just to see what's being shared from the garden world. Thank you for sharing about the Anglewings - I had NO IDEA!
ReplyDeleteGreat IDs...it does look just like a leaf..how lucky to see these beauties now.
ReplyDeleteNice find Jan! We have a rock wall in our yard that butterflies especially the comma like to warm up on in the late afternoon. They get quite tame in the late summer even landing on my dog's back. :)
ReplyDeleteRandy, Karin, Kylee and Facbook to the rescue! Enjoyed this a lot.
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