It is mid-October, but there are still butterfly species nectaring about at Prairie Pond Woods, and a few individuals that have come back to the deck flowers for the past few days...one Red-spotted Purple, three Great Spangled Fritillaries, and two Eastern Commas. They're not looking so good...a bit haggered...so I'm guessing I won't see them at all by the weekend. And every afternoon between 4:00-5:00 a very beautiful moth flies, quite spastically, over the deck. Too spastically so far for me to get a good photo. Maybe tomorrow.
By now you've probably seen the Eastern Comma in the photo.
But can you see why it is called a Comma?
In the lower portion of it's ventral wing is a small, silver "comma."
Its cousin, the Question Mark, looks similar but has a dot at the bottom of the comma making it look like one. Two species easy enough to identify!
I'm always amazed at how these seemingly delicate creatures can hang on through cold nights and frosty mornings...but they do. And it is a great thing when folks plant late-blooming flowers, such as asters and golden rods in their gardens to help these late-blooming Lepidoptera.
So, what's flyin' around outside your place?
2 comments:
I've got apostrophes and exclamation marks! ~Karen
The pictures are beautiful! The remind me how amazed I was at all the butterflies around your deck when I got to visit in the summertime. I also remember your butterfly story and wonder how it's coming along. (poke poke)
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