Thanks everybody for the info.

Very nice. I was admiring some of those in a friend's collection just yesterday.

Now that Bioquip is closed, I don't know where to get plastazote pinning bottoms for Cornell drawers. I prefer to order from a U.S. supplier. Any suggestions?

It's a moth. Don't know the species.

This was published in late May of this year. It seems to be targeted at kids. I hope it gets them interested in bugs as an alternative to video games.

Mantis couple

One of the best-looking Limenitis!

Spectacular species! Thanks for sharing.

Here is the right-side-up version of the upside-down picture:

EdTomologist, you mentioned stuffing the abdomen. How do you do that without damaging the specimen? What do you stuff it with? Can it be done on specimens smaller than birdwings?

A. midea numbers have been down here in E. TX for the past few years, but it is still fairly common. It's usually the first butterfly I notice every Spring, probably because it flies slowly and is easy to spot. We have had some unusually cold winters recently.

Wow, great species! I have never collected or even seen a live one.

Thanks, Trehopr. They are not particularly rare, but very localized.

Thanks for the clarification, MikeH. I suspected the "dusky" form might be the female, but I've seen so many more "bright" forms that it didn't make sense to me that there were so few females. We also get E. mexicana, but it's a 4-hour drive from my house.

Lasaia sula, or Blue Metalmark, is most likely to be found near Brownsville, at the southern tip of TX. These are males. The females are mottled gray and much duller in appearance. When in flight they resemble skippers but they spread their wings when they land, revealing the metallic blue coloration.

There are two forms of this butterfly, the "bright" form and the "dusky" form. Here is a side-by side comparison. These specimens are not top quality, but the species is fairly common in my area.

I agree with evra. I've been to the rest areas and gotten a few good bugs, but setting up MV lights at the well-known collecting spots gives far better results in terms of both quantity and variety of species.

Wallastoni, I prefer the hindwings closer to the forewings, the way Entomologist does it. Lowering the hindwings makes the specimen look "droopy" to me. Each collector has his own preference. As far as I know, there's no "correct" way to mount the specimens. I would be interested...