I T'ought I Taw a Cherry Gall

[FSM...@aol.com]

Happy Mother's Day!

 

I stayed local this weekend, working the Norwottuck Rail Trail and environs. I am happy to report that the mid-spring butterflies have finally emerged...

 

6    Juvenal's duskywing

4    dreamy duskywing

4    clouded sulphur

8    cabbage white

4    azure sp

1    cherry gall azure [see brief discussion below]

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/fsmodel/2484461440/

1    black swallowtail [female, ovipositing]

2    American copper

1    pearl crescent [maybe not - just a flyby]

5    eastern tailed blue

1    eastern comma

6    eastern pine elfin

 

Also...

 

1    grapevine epimenis moth

8    beaverpond baskettail [at last!]

1    partridge in a pear tree [in honor of scoring exactly 12 species]

 

Regarding the cherry gall, my call is based on the fact that it was very fresh and very white and it is May 11. If a corroborator [or a dissenter] would put in a word on this, it would be appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Frank

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[pavu...@aol.com]

Frank, all:

Dat's a Cherry Gall Azure (Celastrina serotina).  If anyone is interested in learning more, check out the Connecticut Butterfly Atlas book. 

By the way, I just received my copy of 'A Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada' by Jonathan Pelham.  This is a MAJOR milestone work, based upon 110 pages of bibliographic reference, and corroborated/reviewed/edited by the top experts (the "scientists") in the butterfly world.  Anyone with a serious interest in butterfly names, and in a comprehensive U.S./Canada checklist of ALL described subspecies names, should seriously consider purchasing a copy.  It is available from Bioquip.  I forget the price, but this massive 658-page phone book-sized work is well worth the money.  I recommend it for authors and website managers wishing to use the latest and most accurate information.  For anyone interested in a preview of the names used in the catalog, check out the new www.butterfliesofamerica.com website.  If you haven't seen that website yet, you really aren't using the internet to it's fullest.

My personal interest is in the Azures.  For those interested, here is the current arrangement of North American Azures (common names are mine):

Celastrina lucia (Northern Azure)
     C. lucia lucia
     C. lucia lumarco
Celastrina echo (Echo Azure)
     C. echo echo
     C. echo nigrescens
     C. echo sidara
     C. echo cinerea
C. ladon (Spring Azure)
C. idella (Holly Azure)
C. serotina (Cherry Gall Azure)
C. neglecta (Summer Azure)
C. humulus (Hops Azure)
C. neglectamajor (Appalachian Azure)
C. nigra (Dusky Azure)

Didn't think there were that many species and subspecies?  This is the now widely-accepted arrangement of Azures by lepidopterists, many authors (i.e. Kenn Kaufmann's 'Butterflies of North America'), and by the Nature Conservancy. 

Harry Pavulaan

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[Alex Grkovich]

Harry, Frank et al,

 

Jonathan Pelham's Catalog (a massive and very impressive work) costs, I believe, $35 from BioQuip, but is well worth the money...

 

Alex

n...@aol.com wrote:

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[Jason Forbes]

Frank's post is well-timed as I was just about to ask about a couple
that I was able to photograph on the Met State property on the Waltham/
Lexington/Belmont line today. One I'm quite confident as a Cherry Gall
(as most of them appeared to be today), but is noteworthy as it was
basking with wings open. The other one seems a bit dirtier, so I'm
wondering if it may just be a late Spring Azure. The wing does appear
a bit damaged and wrinkled, so it may just be an issue when it emerged.

Photos can be seen at:
http://www.brewsterslinnet.com/nature/insects/2008/05/11/may-azures.html

Other things flying there today included my first American Lady and
Clouded Sulphurs of the year and a good number of Juvenal's Duskywings.

And I second Harry's recommendation of the Connecticut atlas and third
the recommendation on the Pelham catalogue.

Jason

--
Jason Forbes
Waltham, MA
ja...@brewsterslinnet.com
www.brewsterslinnet.com