Scaly wings

When it comes to IDing Lepidoptera I'm in the baby steps phase. Any new butterfly excites me and correct identifications make me happy. During my Jr. Naturalist camp my children helped me find a couple new butterflies for my Green Cay list. This Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon) was fluttering about in the freshly cut grass gully area. This tropical butterfly is found only in the Southeastern part of the U.S.

The Julia Heliconian (Dryas julia) is a much more familiar butterfly for me. We have a small "butterfly garden" on the walkway into Green Cay and the Julias can be seen every day. They are often seen hovering about the garden with the Zebra Heliconian. Both of these brushfoot family butterflies are not only large but easy to idenitify. Sometimes easy is nice. The Julia photographed below is a female. You can tell because she has the black forewing band which the male lacks. This butterfly is restricted to South Florida and Texas.

Another new butterfly for the Green Cay list is this Queen (Danaus gilippus). You can identify a Queen from a Soldier by looking for the spots in the forewing submarginal area. Now that I know this lep I can't help but notice it everywhere. On my jog this week there must have been at least half a dozen in one area of the path. Like the Julia, this butterfly is often seen on the pathway into Green Cay.

I am in debt to the Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America for helping me learn my Lepidoptera. This is an excellent resource and I highly recommend it. I love the range maps, the multiple photos of both male and female and side versus top views, and the depth of information on each species.