Observation date: June 26, 2018
Date notes: It was just after midnight, and "late Tuesday night" had turned into early Wednesday morning, when I took our dog for a short walk before retiring.
Submitted by: JG_Duquesnel
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes: I was surprised to find that I was submitting BAMONA's first American Lady observation / image submitted from the Monroe County (Florida), including the mainland portion and the Florida Keys. But sorting through the 92 records for Florida, I found two Florida Keys records were mislabeled - there are no such places as Sugarloaf Key County and Key Largo County. Both are islands / communities in unincorporated Monroe County. I flagged those two, and an "Elliott Key County" specimen, as misidentified (the latter is from Elliott Key in Miami-Dade County). I did not flag other records I noted the same error in because I could not recall what species I had seen them associated with. However, I suggest a search of your records for any " (fill in the blank "... Key County" might reveal these records that should be listed as Monroe County, as well as any of the other Florida Counties that have islands called "Keys." I wonder if a similar error exists with records from some ".... Island" being assigned to "... Island County?"
I saw this butterfly perched on our stucco wall where it had apparently been attracted by a porch light. I happened to have a Panasonic Lumix FZ300 camera just inside the door, so when I returned from walking our dog, I grabbed the camera and snapped a few images. Then I turned off the lights and attempted to capture and move the butterfly into a darker location in our yard, away from the house walls where it was vulnerable to predation by several Tokay Geckos (Gekko gecko), an invasive and somewhat "edificarian" lizard that reaches lengths of at least twelve-inches. Tokay Geckos have taken up residence behind wall-mounted storm shutters throughout the Florida Keys, and residential lighting and street lamps now lure all sorts of insects to night-time perches where they formerly only had Eastern Screech Owls, a few nocturnally active Northern Mockingbirds, and Tree Frogs to deal with after dark. I have observed Hammock Skippers, Fulvous Hairstreaks, Large Oranges Great Southern Whites, and many dragonflies drawn to our lights and then perching, exhausted, on our home's walls when lights are unnecessarily left on.
Status: Resident
Verified by: John Calhoun
Verified date: October 13, 2018
Coordinator notes: None.
