Butterfly & Moth

 Identify a Butterfly, Moth, or Caterpillar in NA (I have an account) 

 ID Request of insects -   <1>  

 British Moths  

 identify day flying moth (If you can't identify a moth using this guide, try www.ukmoths.org.uk. Alternatively the Concise Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, by Martin Townsend & Paul Waring, published by British Wildlife Publishing, will help you to identify any larger moths.)


brush-footed butterflies (蛺蝶)

The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies. Many species are brightly colored and include popular species such as the emperor, admirals, tortoiseshells and fritillaries. However, the underwings are in contrast often dull and in some species look remarkably like dead leaves, or are much paler, producing a cryptic effect that helps the butterfly disappear into its surroundings.

蛺蝶是蛺蝶科昆蟲的總稱，全世界約有5000個物種，屬於中大型的蝴蝶。其中的許多個物種都有著亮麗的顏色，並包含如赤蛺蝶、黃褐蛺蝶和豹斑蝶等受歡迎的物種。但其翅膀腹面暗淡，且有些物種看起來會像是枯葉一般，或者更為蒼白，以產生一種可以幫助蝴蝶從環境中消失的避敵（crypsis）效用。

http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/%E8%9B%BA%E8%9D%B6%E7%A7%91
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphalidae

Lot of pictures of butterflies by Jeffrey S. Pippen  

Green Darner or Common Green Darner (Anax junius): http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/Green_Darner

Book : Butterflies of North America by Jeffrey Glassberg (2002); newer edition (2011) is coming soon.

About Moth - Chinese: <1> ; English: <1>   <2>

Why butterfly is called butterfly?  <1>   <2>

Why Do Diurnal Moths Have Ears?

The plight of the eastern monarch butterfly:

According to a recent study published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity the overwintering population of eastern monarch butterflies reached an all-time low in 2009-2010.  This followed a 15 year trend of decline in monarch abundance, since records were established in 1994-1995.

The authors of the monarch study point to several reasons for the decline: (1) loss of critical overwintering habitat in Mexico through extensive illegal logging; (2) widespread reduction in the monarch’s principal food plant in the U.S., common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, by herbicides and habitat modification; and the recent extreme weather conditions affecting both overwintering sites and in the southern U.S.

http://citybugs.tamu.edu/2011/06/worry-about-monarchs/