It was a beautiful day for a walk. It was cooler than it has been, only about eighty degrees, Fahrenheit, the humidity was low, the sun was shining.
Shortly after I turned off the main trail I saw butterflies dancing everywhere. I assumed they were Pearl Crescents since they are a common species. But when I looked at my photos I discovered most of them were Silvery Checkerspots, a butterfly I had never heard of until Ruth Bowell told me about it when I was walking with the butterfly Transect group at Brukner Nature Center.
After enlarging this on the computer I am fairly sure this is a female Pearl Crescent. (Phyciodes tharo) Wingspan: 1.25 -1.60 inches (3.2-4.1 cm)
I assumed this was a male Pearl Crescent. However, back home, I looked through my butterfly field guides and I decided it is a Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) Wingspan: 1.4-2.0 inches (3.6-5.1 cm It has the two white spots in the row of black spots on the hind wings.
Soon I came across a cluster of butterflies clearly enjoying whatever they had encountered on the ground. I didn't look too closely at their treasure because they might have been enjoying poop of one kind or another and I wasn't in the mood for poop. I was still assuming that I was seeing Pearl Crescents. When I enlarged this on the computer, I discovered that although I had assumed they were Pearl Crescents, most of them were Silvery Checkerspots.
In this still photo taken at the butterfly gathering spot, I have pointed out another distinguishing characteristic of Silvery Checkerspots.
According to the field guide, Butterflies of Ohio, a field guide by Jaret C. Daniels, Silvery Checkerspots fluctuate in population from year to year in Ohio, locally common sometimes and other times nearly absent. This is why I automatically assumed I was seeing Pearl Crescents. I was amazed when I looked at this video on the computer and discovered these were mostly Silvery Checkerspots. Daniels further commented that the "males often gather at damp soil or animal dung".
Now I am not sure whether this is a Pearl Crescent female but I am still tending to think it is.
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Of course, at the time I was just enjoying the dancing butterflies, the sunshine and the flowers.
On my return walk through the area a Hackberry Emperor stopped close enough on the path for me to get this photo.
Some of them were enjoying the same "treasure spot" as the Silvery Checkerspots.
Out on the prairie , a Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) Wingspan: 1.75-2.4 inches (4.4-6.1 cm) took its time nectaring from a teasel.
The other butterflies flitted by too fast for me to photograph...Cabbage Whites, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, a dark swallowtail with lots of yellow dots on its body, several Red-spotted Purples, and a Monarch. Plus lots more of those little orange and brown/black spots...Pearl Crescents and Silvery Checkerspots.
Looking back on this walk I decided I had chosen the perfect day and the perfect hour.
Butterflies are hard to identify! You did great! :)
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