Category: Lepidoptera
Butterflies and Moths
White-Lined Sphinx Moth – Hyles lineata
New Links!
We have a new contributor – Nancy Collins, who is particularly interested in Tree Crickets (Oecanthinae). She contributed several great links – all on BugGuide:
Leafhopper
http://bugguide.net/node/view/196362
Black-horned Tree Cricket
http://bugguide.net/node/view/232878
Plant Bug
http://bugguide.net/node/view/185531
Viceroy
http://bugguide.net/node/view/182659
Red-spotted Purple
http://bugguide.net/node/view/194236
Marcie
Baltimore Checkerspot – Euphydryas phaeton
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell – Aglais milberti
In most years this butterfly is fairly common in our part of Wisconsin, but in some years we see hundreds of caterpillars and butterflies. The caterpillars eat stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), and in peak years the caterpillars can completely decimate the leaves on our nettle plants.
2005 was one of those peak years. In our July 21 butterfly count, we saw 134. We would have counted even more if we had walked the driveway earlier in the day, before the sun got too hot.
Caterpillars feed in groups, on top of nettle leaves.
The chrysalis has a beautiful gold sheen.
Adult butterflies
Nectaring on Common Milkweed
And basking on the driveway – where I most often see them.
Butterflies on the driveway – Milbert’s Tortoiseshells along with Red Admiral and Compton Tortoiseshell
Marcie O’Connor
Buffalo County, Wisconsin
New Life Cycles
I just put in a big group of MJs PDFs. Here are the new ones:
We also have a new contributor: Michael Cook. He raises silk moths and spins their silk.  He contributed two Giant Silkmoth lifecycles:
Marcie