Butterfly Transit, June 20 and 21,2015...More new sightings for me

Ruth and Jim were selling plants at the Brukner Nature Center's Native Plants Sale on Saturday so the three of us didn't start our walk around the transit until late afternoon.

I was glad I came because I saw Wild Indigo Duskywing chrysalises. I've never seen them before. Ruth counted ten.  There may have been more.Below are three  photos of them.

Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae)  Wingspan: 1.3-1.7 inches (3.3-4.3 cm)  This photo was taken on a butterfly transit walk earlier this year.

The second new sighting for me was this Spicebush swallowtail larva on the spicebush in Brukner's Butterfly Garden.  I hope we get to see an adult later this summer.

While Ruth was selling plants she took time out to capture this Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus) Wingspan: 1.00-1.25 inches (2.5-3.2 cm).  It couldn't be counted as part of the transit sightings because she wasn't walking the transit when she caught it.

Ruth and Jim saw so many butterflies while they were selling Native Plants on Saturday, they decided to walk the transit again on Sunday.  They saw most of what we saw on Saturday plus six additional species.

I think this is the first Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) Wingspan: 2.00-2.75 inches (5.1-7.0 cm) we have seen this year.  Jim took a photo of it with its wings spread and also one with its wings closed.  This is not an easy task when the day is warm because the butterflies don't stop for long.

After Jim captured a photo of the underside of the Tawny Emperor he compared it with a photo of the underside of a Hackberry Emperor.  The two photos made a good comparison composite photo.

Below is a Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis)  Wingspan: 2.25-3.0 inches (5.7-7.6 cm) is hard to tell from the other Anglewing, Eastern Comma, Wingspan: 2.0-2.4 inches (5.1-6.1 cm)  unless the butterfly folds its wings long enough for the viewer to see whether the silver marking on the underside of the hind wing is a curved "comma" or a two part "question mark".

The colors and details of the Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) Wingspan: 3.0-4.0 inches (7.6-10.2 cm) show up beautifully in this photo.

Either there are more skippers showing up on our butterfly transit this year or we are better at finding them.  

Below is the Delaware Skipper (Anatrytone logan) Wingspan: 1.0-1.4 inches (2.5-3.6 cm) one of the more colorful skippers.