A big pretty yellow and black butterfly that I followed around for 10 or 15 minutes in order to get several nice shots.
Side view of the butterfly as it was sucking up moisture from some mud.
The butterfly in flight.
Identified by Mary as a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
The butterfly flying above its own shadow.
A smaller white and black moth.
A very small orange moth that I managed to get a nice close picture of before a hen ate it.
A red and black bug that apparently eats flower petals. I wouldn't mind if the hens ate him, but they didn't.
A medium sized orange butterfly (moth?) that a chicken attacked before I could get a closer shot. Fortunately, the butterfly got away.
Identified by Mary as possibly a Checkered Skipper
A leaf brown moth that was very cooperative and allowed me to get several good shots, including an extreme closeup.
A small blue dragonfly
And a pair of black and white polka-dot moths mating. At least I assume that is what they are doing.
Identified by Mary as Giant Leopard Moths (Hypercompe scribonia)
I hope you enjoy the pictures, and if you know what any of these insects are properly called, please tell me.
Well, the last two moths are pretty easy to identify! They are Giant Leopard Moths (Hypercompe scribonia). The black and yellow butterfly flying over its shadow is a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes). The one blurry butterfly shot is maybe some sort of Checkered Skipper? It's hard to tell really, but it looks like it with the blue body and checkered wings.
ReplyDeleteA lot of great finds! I especially love the shots of the brown moth--beautiful! What kind of camera are you using?
Hi Mary,
ReplyDeleteThanks for identifying some of the moths. The camera I use is a Canon Eos Rebel XT.