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Post by trehopr1 on Aug 24, 2018 5:30:49 GMT
"It has been quite a while since I had anything to say about my "personal favorite" native swallowtail. So, here goes... On July 24th of this year I paid a visit to a large field about 25 minutes away and just inside the zone; where suburbia ends and rural country goes on and on... The sun shown brightly, the skies were clear and mostly blue, and the weather was a sumptuous 76 degrees. Picturesque day ! The Verdant field was alive with life and wildflowers of all kinds showed their smiling faces toward the sun.
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Post by trehopr1 on Aug 24, 2018 6:45:54 GMT
In all of this serenity bees soldiered on "to and fro" flower to flower coaxing the sweet nectar whilst various flies attempted to get their share from time to time. Butterflies abounded in this harmonious setting which by my count numbered 13 for the day. Monarchs patrolled above the fields as the reigning masters of their domain. Various Pierids such as the Common sulphur (Colias philodice), Orange sulphur (Colias eurytheme), Cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae), and the diminutive Little yellow (Pyrisitia lisa) all harvested natures sweets with reckless abandon and un-hurried pace. Nymphalids of several species such as Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Viceroy (Limenitis archippus), Red-spotted purple (Limenitis astyanax), and Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) all jockeyed for key perches on bushes and small trees or chased off any would be intruders. Even the Pearl crescent (Phyciodes tharos) was busy flying low to the ground trying to imbibe salts at any moist patch of open ground available. Nearly,stepped on several different individuals. Despite, all these pleasant guests at the party my favorite -- swallowtails were largely absent. Oh, I did spy 3 Black swallowtail (Papilio asterius) males who were "on the wing" and strangely just passed thru (as if late for a date); and a Tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) male made an ever so brief apperance also and was then gone. Parts unknown. As I rounded a turn on the narrow trail I had found; to my astonishment there SHE was... in all her best finery fluttering low near the purple clover flowers up ahead. For a moment, my heart seemed to "skip a beat" as my adrenaline skyrocketed. I cringed at the thought of missing her but, I knew I may only get one shot at such an elusive and exclusive fair lady. With steady focus, a sharp eye, a quick "flick of the wrist" -- net in hand and she was mine.... Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) light-phase female. In all my many years of collecting exploits few butterflies excite me as does a gorgeous light-phase female Tiger swallowtail in very near perfect condition. I have only personally collected about 10 of these in this condition over the years; so each and every one was earned the hard way (not bred). Have probably seen double that number of damaged ones but, left those alone to return me a "gift" like her.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Aug 24, 2018 17:22:51 GMT
So, where is the "large field about 25 minutes away" in terms of approximate location? Presumably it's somewhere in Eastern USA.
Adam.
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Post by jshuey on Aug 24, 2018 20:04:46 GMT
The sun shown brightly, the skies were clear and mostly blue, and the weather was a sumptuous 76 degrees. Picturesque day ! The Verdant field was alive with life and wildflowers of all kinds showed their smiling faces toward the sun. You field is either a native or planted prairie. I see compass plant, rosin weed, rattlesnake master, grey cone-flower, monarda, stiff goldenrod and so on in there amoung the warm-season grasses. These sites are almost always loaded with butterflies - thanks to all the flowers. It's a great shot! j
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Post by trehopr1 on Aug 25, 2018 5:26:46 GMT
Adam, I live in Northern Illinois about 60 miles west of Chicago. The sprawling urban setting of homes and yards which we here call "suburbia" reaches it's farthest point right about where I live ! Of coarse, as we all know "nothing stays the same" and even now suburbia still continues it's un-abated march west of me. However, for the moment a short 15-20 min. drive lands me right in the middle of big skies and green fields (albeit largely cultivated...). Here and there un-touched or relatively un-touched fields (like the one pictured) exist still; laden with native wildflowers. I have found at least 2 fairly sizable and vast fields along with maybe 3 other field "fragments". It's just about the only place I have left to go locally which harbors butterflies in number. I imagine that in about 10 years time (if I still live here); I'll probably have to spend a 45 min. drive just to get to the country (farm and field).
John, you are correct about the status of this field. I myself don't know how to tell apart either field. It's great for butterflies however, those tall grasses grow quickly and make it very hard to move along with any speed. I really enjoy the serenity (above all) which this setting offers on a nice spring or summer day. One's cares just melt away and all is right with the world !
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Post by trehopr1 on Aug 19, 2019 7:41:36 GMT
About a month ago on July 14th I really hit upon a spot of luck. While on a 2 day trip to my favorite collecting haunt (Southern tip of Illinois) I spied a huge field of un-mowed purple clover/alfalfa. It was truly a "ray of hope" in an otherwise uneventful deflating visit. My night collecting efforts were fruitless. Too much wind at night and sporadic brief showers. Nothing much came to light... After a fair amount of searching both days during the daytime and finding nothing in terms of "good" fields to collect in; I was ready to throw in the towel and consider the trip a wash. However, I had one more afternoon left (my 3rd) which is always my going home day as it takes me 6 or so hours to get home ! Well, low and behold after another 40 minutes driving around more un-named roads I saw this scene pictured below. I got out of the car with the net and my bag of kill bottles. At first, I had to let my eyes fully survey the scene and adjust for anomalies. Then, slowly one by one those subtle movements became bolder. As in "big" butterflies... Papilio's. There were not a real lot but, there were enough. I could see they were either exiting the field (after feeding) to fly into the nearby wood or they were entering the field to refuel. I spied 4 species on the wing. This banquet invited our native Tiger, Zebra, Spicebush, and Pipevine Swallowtails respectively. The Tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) were the most numerous with all the others being much fewer and far between. The hunt began in earnest. It was 90 degrees out that day and humid (as it had rained on and off the night before). I ended up spending about 2 hours in the field before I had to call it quits. My net total keepers amounted to 17 Papilio's for the effort. I have to say, at this point that I still find Papilio glaucus the most intriguing species of the lot. Because this locale is so southern in the state most of the females encountered are of the "dark phase" or form. From the collector standpoint, you literally have to investigate EVERY big black butterfly you see because you can never be certain of how much variation may be present. Below, my field photograph I have posted 2 fairly distinct dark females with considerable variation between them. The second female in fact, shows a fair amount of yellow scaling present within the blue areas of the hind wings. And of coarse, there are those 2 yellow stripes present on the forewings ! My final photograph shows you the "fairest" lady of them all that I captured that afternoon. She is one of the few "light phase" females which I encountered and the only one worth keeping as all the others I met were too damaged to bother with. A personal observation I made was that most of the dark females were in surprisingly good condition. However, the light females seemed to either have chunks of wing missing or tails (missing or absent). Maybe their bolder, brighter appearance just brings them undo attention by birds... Hope you enjoy my story and photographs.
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Post by Paul K on Aug 19, 2019 15:35:40 GMT
We don’t have dark form females in Southern Ontario. Do you have them where you live in Northern Illinois ?
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Post by deliasfanatic on Aug 19, 2019 15:40:53 GMT
Here in N. Indiana, dark females are at least as common as light. We don't have any B. philenor in the area (to my knowledge), although there is a colony an hour or two away from here.
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 17, 2019 6:12:27 GMT
Judging from the number of posts on this thread put forth by me I suppose its obvious I have a passion for this very diverse species. I am able to collect 5 other Swallowtail species here in my state (Illinois); yet the Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is hands down the most complex of the lot. While we all know the species offers up 2 color form females; there remains an incredible gene pool present in the species as well as a host of environmental conditions which can play a part in altering somewhat the species appearance. Between the two "basic" color form females there are "transitional" females (sometimes called intermediates); which exhibit characteristics of BOTH forms. These transitional specimens can have quite a wide "radiance" of possibilities. Some will offer just a "hint" of something funny going on genetically but, you can see its there. Others can be much more pronounced in their blending of the two forms. The apex of transitional specimens occurs in the very rarely collected "smokies" or smoke forms of P. glaucus females. Although, I have read these rare "smoky" forms are really a result of an alignment of just the right environmental conditions to produce them in a very localized population. Here in the Northern part of my state P. glaucus has 2 generations; a spring and a summer. The spring generation is noticeably smaller than the fairly larger summer one. Adults can usually be sighted around the 15th of May and are of coarse only around 2-3 weeks before they disappear. However, some years their cycle gets "thrown off" due to an inclement round of bad spring weather. In which case, the adults emerge much later; sometimes not UNTIL the 2nd or even 3rd week of June! So, what I offer up now for your viewing pleasure is a "first" for me. What you see below in the photograph is a "spring form/dark phase" female transitional collected by an enthusiast in southern Wisconsin in mid-June 1989. What I found unusual comes in 2 parts. Firstly, I have never seen a dark phase/spring gen. female in ALL my years up north here (only yellow form/spring gen.) females; and of coarse secondly an incredible blending of the 2 forms with the extensive yellow scaling very much present and "blending" with the blue of the hindwings. The collector remarked it was the only one he ever encountered with all others being typical yellow females of the spring generation. I must say I did admire this fair lady for a bit but, finally secured her release in a "sported" trade exercise. I got her a dozen years back now and she remains a treasured bauble within the collection.
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 17, 2019 6:56:31 GMT
Here is a photograph of a true "Smoky" Tiger Swallowtail. Specimens such as this are very rarely encountered in the field and have never been produced via "cold shock" or anything else to the best of my knowledge... A good friend personally collected this particularly stunning specimen. Rare as hen's teeth...
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 17, 2019 7:33:22 GMT
Here, is the finest selection of "wild caught" transitional specimens which I have ever encountered in a personal collection (and all self caught); none traded or bought ! Of the 4 specimens present the two on the left show significant genetic "blending" of the two female color forms (bold stripes in forewing cell/yellow scaling overlaying black) The specimen on the top right shows just a "hint" of such blending taking place; but, being present as evidenced by the faint yellow stripes in the largest cell of the forewings. The bottom right specimen is simply a one-of-a-kind "Marvel" one cannot even put a price on !! It clearly shows the dark tiger stripes of the (light form females) boldly thru the black coloration of the typical dark form females. Tiger stripes are NEVER seen on dark form females so this extreme case (phenomena) is surely astronomical in terms of its occurrence. Mind you, these were all "wild" caught by the same diligent collector in Central Illinois... I did post these pictures on the previous page of this thread but, they look much better now using Imgur !
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