Do you know this lovely?

mystery butterfly


I’ll be posting more photos and information tomorrow, but I thought I’d just lead with this teaser. For those who know their butterflies and are up for the challenge, I’ll give you a few hints… 1) the larval host plants are gooseberry (Ribes spp.) and 2) it has something in common with both a penny and a police officer. *GRIN*

This butterfly was photographed nectaring at buckwheat (Eriogonum sp.). I love that you can just see the tips of its antennae poking out at the bottom of the flower cluster!

Harsi / July 8, 2011 / arthropods, flowers

Comments

  1. ro - July 9, 2011 @ 7:07 am

    It looks like the pretty side of a Copper. I LOVE this shot, did you take it with your little cannon, it’s just perfect and the buckwheat looks like wedding flowers.

    Reply
  2. Lisa - July 9, 2011 @ 8:29 am

    Okay. Cool. I’m going to try to learn what this is so I can impress you! This photo is AMAZING. I adore it :). xxxooo

    Reply
  3. Lisa - July 9, 2011 @ 2:09 pm

    Okay, here goes….I was thinking copper….copper…. Is it the Tailed Copper [Lycaena (Tharsalea) arota]??? That’s my guess. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Harsi - July 9, 2011 @ 9:24 pm

    Oh, but you are both just such SMART and LOVELY ladies!! Thank you, thank you for playing along and I hope that you enjoy the post I just put up. xo ~ Ro ~ Yup, I took this one with the Canon point-and-shoot that I usually carry. I’ve found that if you approach very slowly at first than this species can actually be quite accommodating in sitting still and letting you get close to take several shots. Re: wedding flowers — I totally see what you mean! And what bride wouldn’t want a butterfly adorning her bouquet?!! ~ Lisa ~ Silly! I am ALWAYS impressed by you… but it made me intensely happy that you went to the effort of figuring this one out, especially because I’m guessing you’ve never actually seen one for yourself.

    Reply

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