Moon Moth Larva A lot of time is given to the gorgeous adult moths of the Actias genus, in that the adult Saturnidae moths are usually universally gorgeous.   In the Luna group, many are a lime green, or pastel green, with huge tails on each wing.  Some of the Actias sp. can even hybridize with other species.  Medium to large...

Wild Indigo Dusky Wing Wild Indigo Dusky Wing A lot of brown butterflies go unnoticed when one is about in the field, not only because they are brown and maybe not as striking in color, but also because a lot of brown butterflies are FAST.  Among the butterflies families, many times a small brown butterfly that flits past you...

Copper Butterfly on Centaurea I’ve mentioned before that a lot of the images I captured during the warm seasons, I never get to really see till I go through several disks later when I’m about to brumate.  This is a favorite, even though the Americ an Copper (also called Common Copper), Lycaena phlaeas, which I’m...

Karners on Butterfly Weed In this Video, I again highlight the Karner Blue Butterfly, a Federal and NY State Endangered Species-  probably the most famous our  NY rare creatures Upstate.  A lot of restoration of dune habitat within our rare inland barrens, has included lupine planting, locust removal, and other nectar plant-...

Ailianthus Web Worm Moth The Alianthus Webworm Moth, (an Ermine moth), Atteva aurea ,pictured here, is a member of a complex of moths that range into the tropics.  Although fairly common in the N.E. U.S., personally I haven’t seen one in about 3 years.  My friend Matthew Harris photographed this bugger at his house in...

Apantesis sp. Tiger Moth Parthenice Tiger Moth Flat out, these are probably one of the most attractive groups of moths to see during the summer.  This year was a banner year for them in my area, and they were readily coming to lights at my home.  In the moth family Erebidae, Tiger moths are also one of the most difficult...

Osa Inchworm The video here, filmed on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, shows what most likely is a larvae of the Geometridae family of moths.  They get this name because they appear to measure their substrate as they move by pulling in the hind part of the body (they lack the normal central false legs of some caterpillars).  ...

Those Funky Pheromones, Tropical Butterflies Working on getting the I.D. for both these amazing butterflies, recently spied at a butterfly exhibit, I caught them in a wonderful display of attempted bliss mediated by pheromones.  So its a great oppurtunity to talk a bit about pheromones!   A female butterfly here is releasing...

Karner Blue Buttefly At least locally, in the Capitol district of New York, the Karner blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis, is a famous buttefly.  It is protected by the State and Federal government as Endangered.  The Karner, earned this distinction because of its survival as a relict, in the inland sand barrens,...

On my way to getting this ID’d, I stated that the “The Checkerspots and Crescent butterflies make up a confusing bunch.”  Well, they can- but I should have noticed the give-away for this pretty butterfly, even with its wide variation in color.  With wings closed, check out the little crescent shaped white...