November 2015 Sightings

It is always great to see this species and November records are extra special!

A fresh female nectaring on Purple,Yellow,& multi colored Lantanas.

Overcast morning. Warm, but butterflies were tough to come by.

Only 2 Monarchs until the sun came out about 2PM and then they were chasing each other around the yard. 16 Black Swallowtail cats and 14 chrysalises. Also 6 Monarch chrysalises. 1 monarch partially enclosed but wings didn't expand.

While working in the garden, spotted a late instar monarch caterpillar

Butterflies were on zinnias.

Last stop of day at 1:45- 3:00. Missed fiery skipper and Ocola at the Triangle Garden. Only one unidentifiable bfly on dunes. 14 bayshore species in total (all stops) on this lovely day.

Flew quickly through the yard, heading due north.

The swallowtail, a male, was in amazingly great shape.

Moderator's note: JM's spicebush ties the latest-ever report for the species on our log: 11-3-09. The 2009 individual was "a rag basking in an open field" near the entrance of the Cape May Zoo, found by Will Kerling.

Tiger mosquitoes still awful! Saw 5 butterflies fairly high up cruising south along the shore.

all annual flowers gone–hit by frost. Some veg. gardens have hardy crop. 72 degrees at 4 pm.

First stop. 11:00, sunny, calm, upper 60's. Pearl Crescents mating in November!

As predicted lots of butterflies.

Not many blooms, bugs just seem to be sunning.

Not many blooms.

Sunny, temp's high 60's with little wind. Can you find 2 Cloudless Sulphurs on the nasturtium? Had 3 on it at the same time this AM. 7 new Monarch cats found today, plus another 9 Black Swallowtail cats.

Sunny, temp low 70's, very little wind, Very surprised to see Monarchs mating in my yard this afternoon. The sulphur in the two photos was pale in color, so my thought was "white form female," but is it an orange or a clouded sulphur?

Moderator's note: BP's photos show how difficult it can be to identify sulphurs to species. Her open-wing photo of the upper-side FW pattern indicates the individual is a female (as Beth notes) and suggests orange sulphur (bigger light patches breaking up the dark). However, hybridization is common between clouded (C. philodice) and orange (C. eurytheme). At least some experts believe these two sulphurs are far harder to distinguish (and be certain about) than most observers realize. Sulphur sp seems a good call here. (Anyone who sees other tell-tale details or has different analysis, please email me and I will happily paste in here or on the blog. jc)

Of the 15 Buckeyes I saw today only 2 were Rosa form.
I do not know much about Rosa form and it may make for a good Blog topic

Cloudy, drizzly morning, temps high 60's. Monarch eclosed during the morning before 10 AM and was gone when I returned home from work at 7PM

All sachems seen here for the last two weeks have been males; today's was a lively female.

On Butterfly Bush