May 21, 2013
June 30, 2012
Six-spotted Forester
Six-spotted Forester, Alypia langtoni
(Found in the Reservation Divide roadless area in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains of western Montana)
May 7, 2012
Large Marble. Talk about names that don’t fit!
Today I noticed some small white flowers starting to bloom on the hillside just above our driveway and so this evening I went up there to get a photo or two. Completely un-noticed until I knelt down to get a close shot of one of the flowers was this beautiful little creature. Although not rare, it is new to me and I’m very pleased that I got the chance to see it!
Large Marble, Euchloe ausonides, in the Pieridae family
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Euchloe-ausonides
February 12, 2012
Late night visitor
Last night as I sat at the computer I noticed a slight motion just to my left. A tiny moth (measuring about a quarter of an inch from wingtip to wingtip) had landed on the desk beside me. It had a rather pleasing silverish look to its wings, which also seemed to have an unusual configuration. It stayed around long enough for a photo. I had never noticed anything with that kind of wing before. Today, it took me over an hour to identify it: (my skills at identifying insects are sadly under par). After looking at 235 pages of insect photos, on the very last page, the very last photo, was a picture of Alucita montana, a Six-plume moth.
August 16, 2011
Swallowtail
After a period of disappointment because there didn’t seem to be any Swallowtails visiting this year, today there were several visiting our flower garden and this one patiently posed for a few photos. They hadn’t disappeared, they were just later than usual. Usually my photos result from a trip I have made: it was nice today to have a subject come to me (and thanks to my wife for spotting it and letting me know we had a pretty little visitor).
Western Tiger Swallowtail ~ Papilio rutulus
August 13, 2011
Pine White
Along toward the end of summer these butterflies appear. I always look forward to them!
