Congrats John, that's a beauty for sure. You could sit in your chair for many summers and not see one like that. And to think you have come across 3 thus far, truly amazing, it doesn't get any better than that.

As to the cause, I have read a few articles on cold shock of a newly formed chrysalis ...

Absolutely beautiful!!!

I seem to remember reading that males of O. priamus poseidon are orange immediately on emergence from the pupa, and turn green as the wings dry. Can anyone confirm this?

Adam.


I think you may be right Adam, in some cases. When I raised Cairn's birdwings, I do remember one having a reddish ...

It will be interesting to hear your thoughts a few months after all is gone. I do not look forward to the day I no longer feel I can maintain my beloved collection, hoping that day is still a decade or two off. A friend (Ken Thorne) recently donated his entire collection to the Royal Ontario Museum ...

I have found that my catocala bait works well on antiopa, comma, interrogations, vanessa atalanta. Beer, brown sugar, over-ripe bananas and molasses.The space on the pictured trap between the bait tray and net looks way to much. I would think most would not end up flying that far up to get into the ...

I blame Tennent, who told me Ornithoptera were (I forgot, either "stupid" or "rubbish", probably the latter) and common. He suggested Lycaenidae. While I did not go that route, he forever ruined Ornithoptera for me.

I have to agree with Tennent. Ornitho are big common lowland species… easy to ...

I saw a number of them on Kauai in January of 2023.

I had a good laugh from both of these, thanks for posting.

Appreciate the feedback. A relief to know it's a fairly common practice and not something that should devalue the specimens. And I checked the underside, it is there as well. They actually did a very good job, it blends in so well I didn't notice it for 10 years.

A few years ago I purchased a few birdwings via eBay, and oddly enough, I just recently realized a couple of the larger ones have what appears to be black glue on the sides of the thorax where the wings attach (dorsal side). As I said, I just recently noticed this, so it is not very noticeable, you ...

That's a beauty Paul, a once in a lifetime catch. Can you post a pic of the ventral side?
You likely got a lot of new interesting stuff in Alberta.

Hey Bill, very nice selection of C. cerogama. The two with much lighter color just above the 2 "ruperti" are from "aurella" according to Sargents "Legion of Night". I have seen very few of those over the years while I have been fortunate to encounter 7 "ruperti" out of the hundreds of cerogama that ...

In some cities there are local associations, I am a member of the Toronto Entomologists Association, joined in my relative youth back in the mid 1980's. Left for a couple of decades while raising a family, and rejoined about 15 years ago. It was never the same. Back in the 80's I met fellow ...

Field work, of course, has further benefits of the joy of being outdoors and exercise. I far prefer being outdoors to sitting at a desk comparing specimens. I don't care to hike for the sake of hiking, but field work forces me to hike, which is good for me both mentally and physically. That's part ...

An interesting observation of "bunkeri" that I have caught in Ontario, is that many of them have a very thin hindwing stripe. Compared the three on the right (thin stripe) to the three on the left (normal stripe). Also, I have not seen this "thin" stripe on the typical cerogama form in my area. 0-1 ...

Yes, all four are melanic. The one at the bottom left is notably darker, more black than brown. It's from this year and the only one I have seen more black than brown on the forewing. Cerogama are pretty easy to identify as the hindwing yellow stripe does not look like any other catocala. There is a ...

I live in an area (Southern Ontario) where Catocala cerogama is quite common. Every once in a while I will come across the melanic form called "ruperti". Not sure how uncommon this form is, I don't see them every year, maybe see one every 2 or 3 years in my area of baiting. Just wondering how often ...

A few summer captures ready to come off the boards. Nothing rare here, but some local varieties. I like to remove the glassine strips after a few days so I can get a better look, once I am confident the wings are fully dried. But then I will leave them on the boards like this for a few more days to ...

I am planning a vacation to Palm Springs in the spring (late Feb - March) and wish to know about any restrictions on collecting. I expect national parks are off limits and I have no interest in collecting the possibly protected monarchs. Are there any restrictions otherwise re butterflies/moths?
I ...

I am no expert, and have had the same dilemma separating these two similar species. But if I had to guess, I would say all 8 of yours are mira. The way I attempt to differentiate these two species is that the am and pm lines on the forewings meet at the inner margin in blandula, while there is some ...