jhyatt
Aurelian
Posts: 224
Country: U.S.A.
|
Post by jhyatt on Nov 27, 2015 15:02:37 GMT
Anyone interested in talking about or showing their best "backyard" butterfly? By this I mean that one special species which flies reasonably close to your home. The attached photo shows me with a drawer of my own backyard favorite. Speyeria diana I have only once found literally in our back year, but there is dependable habitat with in half-hour's drive from home. They must be sought in the southern Appalachians within sound of running water and within sight of stands of rhododendron, nectaring on Asclepias. The best spots are usually in a narrow valley near the north slope of a mountain.
|
|
|
Post by nomad on Nov 27, 2015 17:01:31 GMT
That must be one of Americas most special dimorphic butterflies. Only common species in my British backyard but some are our most Beautiful. I guess the nearest special butterflies would be the Lycaenids Lysandra coridon and L. bellargus, which occur on an Iron Age Hill Fort 5 miles away. The rarer Euphydryas aurina also occurred in that locality but it has not been seen in the past few seasons.
|
|
jhyatt
Aurelian
Posts: 224
Country: U.S.A.
|
Post by jhyatt on Nov 28, 2015 0:05:19 GMT
Nomad, I think L. coridon would be a very special backyard bug indeed. A British collector-friend once took me to visit Russwurm at his New Forest area home. Russwurm's abode was called "Coridon House" as I recall, and of course his collection of variations and aberrations was fantastic. Russwurm was quite old and very deaf when I was there, but meeting the old fellow and seeing his collection was a rare treat! He was a wonderful artist, and my friend showed me several of his hand-drawn and colored Christmas cards, all of rare artistry.
|
|
|
Post by nomad on Nov 28, 2015 9:00:37 GMT
jhyatt what a rare treat indeed to visit that master artist and collector Russwurm in his New Forest home.
|
|
|
Post by wollastoni on Nov 28, 2015 10:59:07 GMT
I love Speyeria diana ! Splendid lep ! jhyatt, it seems you have a very large collection ! We would be very happy to see more !
|
|
|
Post by Adam Cotton on Nov 28, 2015 18:24:12 GMT
Here's a list of what I have recorded in my 'backyard', SW of Chiang Mai town, N Thailand:
Papilionidae Troides helena cerberus Troides aeacus aeacus Atrophaneura varuna zaleucus Pachliopta aristolochiae goniopeltis Papilio demoleus malayanus Papilio helenus helenus Papilio polytes romulus Papilio memnon agenor Papilio clytia clytia Graphium nomius swinhoei Graphium antiphates pompilius Graphium sarpedon sarpedon Graphium doson axionides Graphium agamemnon agamemnon
Pieridae Delias pasithoe pasithoe Delias descombesi descombesi Delias hyparete indica Leptosia nina nina Cepora nerissa dapha Appias lyncida eleonora Appias (libythea) olferna Appias albina darada Ixias pyrene verna Hebomoia glaucippe glaucippe Catopsilia pyranthe pyranthe Catopsilia pomona pomona Catopsilia scylla cornelia Eurema sp.
Nymphalidae Danainae Danaus chrysippus chrysippus Danaus genutia genutia Tirumala septentrionis septentrionis Tirumala limniace limniace Parantica aglea melanoides Euploea core godartii Euploea mulciber mulciber Euploea klugii erichsonii
Satyrinae Melanitis leda leda Elymnias hypermnestra tinctoria Elymnias malelas malelas Lethe spp. (unidentified) Mycalesis spp. Ypthima spp.
Amathusiinae Discophora sondaica zal
Acraeinae Acraea violae
Heliconiinae Cethosia cyane euanthes Phalanta phalantha phalantha Cupha erymanthis erymanthis
Nymphalinae Junonia iphita iphita Junonia almana almana Junonia lemonias lemonias Junonia hierta hierta Herona marathus marathus Hypolimnas bolina bolina Kallima inachus siamensis Ariadne ariadne ariadne Neptis hylas kamarupa Neptis spp. Tanaecia julii odilina Euthalia aconthea garuda Lexias pardalis jadeitina
Libytheidae Libythea sp. (unidentified)
Riodinidae Zemeros flegyas allica
Lycaenidae Miletus sp. (unidentified) Curetis sp. (unidentified) Arhopala sp. (unidentified) Flos sp. (unidentified) Yasoda sp. (unidentified) Cheritra freja evansi + other unidentified spp.
Hesperiidae several unidentified spp.
|
|
|
Post by cabintom on Nov 28, 2015 20:08:22 GMT
Here's a list of what I have recorded in my 'backyard', SW of Chiang Mai town, N Thailand I find it amazing that despite being almost 8000km apart, our backyards share at least 4 of the same species.
|
|
|
Post by mygos on Nov 29, 2015 9:19:27 GMT
Here's a list of what I have recorded in my 'backyard', SW of Chiang Mai town, N Thailand I find it amazing that despite being almost 8000km apart, our backyards share at least 4 of the same species. I am trying to find out which 4 species ? I guess P. demoleus, D. chrysippus, J. hierta and I have no idea for the last one ? A+, Michel
|
|
|
Post by Paul K on Nov 29, 2015 13:33:03 GMT
Hm, I don't know where is my backyard ...
|
|
|
Post by cabintom on Nov 29, 2015 19:47:25 GMT
Not Papilio demoleus as that's replaced by Papilio demodocus in Africa, and not Hypolimnas bolina, though Hypolimnas misippus is similar (particularly the males).
Junonia hierta, Phalanta phalantha, Danaus chrysippus, and Melanitis leda (had a few in my traps this morning), would be correct.
I didn't think to include Eurema sp. since I don't know which ones would be found in Adam's backyard, but I believe the possibilities would be Eurema brigitta and Eurema hecabe.
|
|
|
Post by cabintom on Nov 30, 2015 4:49:20 GMT
Tom, you are almost right about me being wrong about H. bolina To be honest, I thought H. bolina was quite widespread in Africa, but in fact it is nearly absent from Africa! ... please refer to this Metamorphosis publication (opens in PDF!) on the Genus Hypolimnas in Africa, page 10 and 11. Maybe this is a species extending its range? Jan While, I wasn't aware that H. bolina is found in the Afrotropical zone, I'd still be incredibly excited if I were to find it in my backyard here in D.R. Congo. I wonder what would be preventing it from becoming more widely established in Africa? Also, those pdfs by Mark Williams are my first "go-to"s when looking up information on an African species. It's nice to see that they, and everything else published through LepSoc of Africa, are now freely available. Tom
|
|
wolf
Aurelian
Posts: 132
Country: Norway
|
Post by wolf on Nov 30, 2015 12:06:41 GMT
Here's a list of the butterflies i have encountered in my parents backyard. Some of them i have only seen once or twice and are by no means regular visitors! If you go up into the forest only 5-10min walk away all of these species are pretty common with the exception of T.betulae and P.machaon.
Pieris brassicae/rapae/napi (common) Vanessa atalanta (common) Aglais urticae (common) Aglais io (common) Gonepteryx rhamni (common) Polygonia c-album (from time to time) Vanessa cardui (from time to time) Nymphalis antiopa (from time to time) Argynnis paphia/adippe (from time to time) Aphantopus hyperantus (from time to time) Anthocharis cardamines (a handfull times) Polyommatus icarus (a handfull times) Lycaena phlaeas (a handfull times) Lasiommata maera (twice) Thecla betulae (twice) Lycaena virgaureae (once) Papilio machaon (once)
|
|
|
Post by mothman27 on Sept 15, 2016 0:06:18 GMT
I have collected 32 species of butterflies, not including skippers, in my yard.
|
|
|
Post by Paul K on Sept 15, 2016 4:05:58 GMT
I have collected 32 species of butterflies, not including skippers, in my yard. Wow, that is fantastic , sounds like a tropics .
|
|
|
Post by mcheki on Feb 14, 2017 19:53:38 GMT
Not Papilio demoleus as that's replaced by Papilio demodocus in Africa, and not Hypolimnas bolina, though Hypolimnas misippus is similar (particularly the males). Tom, you are almost right about me being wrong about H. bolina To be honest, I thought H. bolina was quite widespread in Africa, but in fact it is nearly absent from Africa! However, it is historically known from the southern Arabian peninsula, in Yemen, Oman and Socotra island as H. bolina jacintha. These three places in the Arabian peninsula is considered part of the Afrotropical ecozone. Curiously, there seem to be faunistic affinities between this region and Madagascar! H. bolina supposedly also occur in Madagascar and Torben Larsen even recorded it from Ethiopia, which would then be a truly continental location. Other records are from Kenya, Djibouti, Mauritius and in 2009 Alphonse island, Seychelles. Obviously some of these records must be strays or very (temporary?) localized populations, maybe carried by human trade and/or tropical storms, but please refer to this Metamorphosis publication (opens in PDF!) on the Genus Hypolimnas in Africa, page 10 and 11. Maybe this is a species extending its range? I have been fortunate to obtain some specimens of Hypolimnas bolina that came from Madagascar. The data for all three reads “Antananarivo, Madagascar. July 2016.” I have never seen these offered before despite them occurring in Madagascar. I understand that the subspecies found on this large island is H bolina jacintha (Drury, 1773). There were only these three females available so I am unable to show the male. I am also unaware if the female is polymorphic within this breeding population on Madagascar.
|
|