Sugarbush Leps
July 24th, 2015
Some butterflies and moths from an early-July stroll at Sugarbush Trail.
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I assumed by the jagged wing edges that this was an Eastern Comma / Question Mark (a pair of common lookalike butterflies), but couldn't get over how big and beautiful it was. Neither of those had ever struck me that way. When I studied my photos back home, the fine details gave it away as a Compton Tortoiseshell--a new one for me!
A Banded Hairstreak. My first sighting of a hairstreak butterfly (years ago) was surreal. My eyes couldn't make sense of it. It seemed that somehow a bland butterfly had been superimposed over a colorful one, and the bland facade was peeling away at the corner.
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A Crescent butterfly, probably Northern Crescent.
I don't know what moth this is--Google suggests perhaps a Maple-Basswood Leafroller Moth--but I'd swear it's trying to mimic a fallen white flower petal. Even the head looks like a plant part! Whatever it is, it's abundant in the Gatineau in summer. Those bits of white debris on the trail might not be debris.
Note the discarded chrysalis in the second picture. I didn't notice it myself when taking the picture.
July 24th, 2015
Some butterflies and moths from an early-July stroll at Sugarbush Trail.
1680x1050 wallpaper
I assumed by the jagged wing edges that this was an Eastern Comma / Question Mark (a pair of common lookalike butterflies), but couldn't get over how big and beautiful it was. Neither of those had ever struck me that way. When I studied my photos back home, the fine details gave it away as a Compton Tortoiseshell--a new one for me!
A Banded Hairstreak. My first sighting of a hairstreak butterfly (years ago) was surreal. My eyes couldn't make sense of it. It seemed that somehow a bland butterfly had been superimposed over a colorful one, and the bland facade was peeling away at the corner.
1680x1050 wallpaper
A Crescent butterfly, probably Northern Crescent.
I don't know what moth this is--Google suggests perhaps a Maple-Basswood Leafroller Moth--but I'd swear it's trying to mimic a fallen white flower petal. Even the head looks like a plant part! Whatever it is, it's abundant in the Gatineau in summer. Those bits of white debris on the trail might not be debris.
Note the discarded chrysalis in the second picture. I didn't notice it myself when taking the picture.
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Mike
July 25th, 2015 at 9:17 am
Nice shots, as ever!
It's neat that the eyes and antennae of the Hairstreak mirror the bright patch.
I was wondering what that thing behind the Leafroller was! And yes, it does seem to be designed to look like a petal... even the antennae are camouflaged.