Subgenital plate looks intermediate to me between Ruby and White-faced (likely due to lack of experience). Any thoughts are welcomed.
Planted in water garden in park--The flowers look like milkweed but I'm uncertain of id.
99% sure this is C. odontorhiza and not C. maculata but I suppose I’ll have to return in a week or so to ensure this is the correct ID.
edit soooo, I returned the next day to re-examine the plant and while gently touching the stem, the lowermost flower fell off in my hand… so I decided to manually open the already nearly opened flower and found the three-lobed lip of the Spotted Coralroot (C. maculata maculata). My last non-state-listed lifer orchid for MD! Will return to observe opened flowers attached to stem.
Dun or Northern Broken-Dash?
Seems to have all the field marks for Northern. Checked with two other experienced folks and they concur. Also, I was told no PCs flying recently in Garrett. Welcome input!
Orange retuculations on ventral HW highly suggestive of Northern - as per Cech and Tudor. Plus the butterfly was pretty large for a Phyciodes and had the characteristic lazy flight.
Hosting on Black Cohosh. Don’t know whether C. neglectamajor loses its red coloration in later instars.
A large concentration of vernal pools are in the vicinity. This species was observed with some regularity.
This looks more like a Northern Crescent than a Pearl Crescent to me, but of course the latter would be more likely. It was noticeably bigger than a nearby (unambiguous) Pearl Crescent.
First state record I believe?
First instar larvae in leaf shelters on Thicket Bean. Even at this early instar the greenish-yellow color of this species’ caterpillar body is rather evident (compare to the more overall warm yellow of Silver-spotted Skipper)
Another Canadian Tiger candidate. This one with 1) broad black on the inner dorsal HW, 2) nearly continuous yellow on the ventral FW margin, 3) obviously rectangular spots on the ventral HW, and 4) straight black border between yellow and blue fields of the ventral HW. This individual was slightly larger than the others I’ve captured that gave CTS vibes but I think is still within size variability for the species (I think I’ll start carrying a ruler with me so I can take measurements). The blue field on the ventral HW also looks a bit off to me from my experience with Eastern Tigers and I’m not entirely sure if it’s something I might’ve never really noticed handling ETS or if this is indeed some variation on that blue field that is distinct in this particular brood/flight/species(?) of tiger swallowtail.
Interesting butterfly. First thing I noticed was very small size. When I captured it, the colors seemed off. It has some attributes that are Canadian-type 1) very small size, 2) more blue on the black field of the dorsal HW (at least I’m not used to seeing ETS with much blue here), 3) straighter division between yellow and blue fields of ventral HW, 4?) the blue field here looks REALLY weird to me… There are also signs that this seems to have some Eastern-type genetics as well 1) black border on the inner margin of dorsal HW is not particularly broad (I’ll admit I did not take close note of this while in hand and I’m going mostly off the photo which honestly has that bit of the wing slightly bowed away (not flat) so this might not necessarily reflect how this individual actually was), 2) the yellow border on the ventral FW margin is intermediate with nearly continuous yellow with some very narrow black along the veins but then breaking into spots nearer the anal angle, and 3) the spots on the ventral HW are much more crescent-shaped than rectangular. All told, this seems like a decent Canadian Tiger candidate but it also seems to have some Eastern Tiger heritage.
From Harry Pavulaan: “Well, not to confuse you, but this looks like the C. neglecta biotype that flies with both lucia and serotina up on the Allegheny Plateau. It has very reduced patterns beneath like the neglecta summer form and note the bluish tint at the base of the HW.
Three species in the same area. Great find. I find this combination up around Spruce Knob, Blackwater Falls and Swallow Falls. Still being studied.”
Pretty sure this is C. neglecta but open to suggestions.
Continuing with SNPLs. Found by Simon Thornhill on 9/17. Photos to be added.
First county record for Harford MD!!
butterfliesofamerica.com/L/panoquina_evadnes.htm
Observed oviposition on Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
fairly common in the area
observation posted to illustrate range of ventral markings for the species, and to show closeups of middle leg tibia
Seen on Vice-President Mike Pence's head during the vice-presidential debate. Appears to be a housefly.