Common Sootywing
This is an example of one of those, “I have not been able to photograph this darn thing in how many attempts that I finally did and I do not care about the quality” photos because yes, I was happy to finally see a Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) butterfly paused for a moment for the first time this spring. Some of our butterflies do not make it easy… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreCommon Buckeye
It may not be the most picturesque background, but even the jagged pavement cannot take away the look of this beautiful Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) butterfly. I wanted to be sure to get a decent photograph of this individual, my first of the year, and it was not at all interested on landing on anything natural. After watching it for a few minutes I moved on, hoping for many reasons that there will be more of them to come this year. As we go through June many more butterflies will be coming out to see us, and we will share them with you. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach...
Read MoreCabbage White
Here we have the Cabbage White or Small White (Pieris rapae) butterfly feeding on a clover. While they are an introduced species and abundant, sometimes a pest to the crops they are named after, they still do have a beauty on a late spring day among the green and rapidly diversifying colors.
Read MoreNortheastern Skippers
Sean calls them the sparrows of the butterfly world, and those little brown skippers can be quite a difficult group of butterflies to identify. He plans on spending some time this year trying to photograph as many species of skippers as possible for identification keys. It’s also a good exercise for him to sharpen his own ID skills with them. Photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Connecticut and New Jersey for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
Read MoreButterflies Coming
Butterflies like this Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) will be emerging next month! As we near the end of avian migration and enter their breeding season we will be seeing many more of our insect friends taking flight. I have not had a lot of time to spend surveying for them yet, but butterflies I have seen so far this year include Black Swallowtail, Eastern Tailed-blue, Orange Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Cabbage White and Monarch. When June hits our staff will be sure to begin surveying sites from our Natural History Atlas as well as other critical habitats, or locations that...
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