Tuesday, September 12, 2006

What are these butterflies?

A good friend gave me Butterflies through Binoculars: The West (Jeffrey Glassberg) for my birthday. We had just been to the Tohono Chul greenhouse and I was marvelling at the tiny little butterflies (she said they were Blues) fluttering around the desert plants. After I perused the book, I realized how much more difficult it was going to be to identify butterflies than to identify birds. So many butterflies look alike.


Last week I photographed some butterflies on our Red Bird of Paradise. The Sulphurs were large and easy to identify, although they didn't stay still for very long.

Cloudless Sulphur - male

Cloudless Sulphur - female

We've had swarms of sulphurs in the neighbourhood lately. We drive very slowly so they don't get crushed on the windshield.

The other butterflies were tiny. Using my Field Guide, I tried to guess what they are, but I wasn't at all sure of any of them.

Palmer's Metalmark
(Apodemia palmeri)

Ceraunus Blue
(Hemiargus ceraunus)

American Snout
(Libytheana carinenta)

Thanks to t. beth of Firefly Forest for the identification of the American Snout: "They can be recognized by their long 'snouts'." and also for confirming my guesses and sending me the reference web pages for the Palmer's Metalmark and the Ceraunus Blue.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Butterflies and bats - how cool is that?! And you are so clever to capture them - it's really all quite wondrous Pam!

T. Beth said...

The bottom butterfly is an American Snout (Libytheana carinenta). They can be recognized by their long "snouts".

Anonymous said...

I only recognize one of these, and you already have that name. Just wanted to say your photos are beautiful!

Pam in Tucson said...

chiefbiscuit - Glad you're enjoying our wildlife. Wish I could come and experience yours.

t.beth - I was hoping you'd drop in and share your expertise. Thank you for the ID of the American Snout. A most appropriate name. Do you think I have the others correct?

sandy - Thank you for visiting. I enjoy my visits to Maine via your beautiful blog. I can garden vicariously and enjoy the water and countryside.

Lené Gary said...

Thanks for including the guide you like with the photos and ID's. I don't know butterflies, at all, so I'm excited to check out the book you're using. Your photograph of the sulphurs is beautiful, Pam. Hope you're having a good weekend!