Observation date: June 23, 2022
Submitted by: rtsmith
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes:
Tuesday (6/21/22) I made my first posting to BAMONA: an Eastern Comma (https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/1328931). This afternoon (6/23/22), once again looking over our milkweeds for Monarchs, another orange flash caught my eye. At first, I assumed it was another Eastern Comma. But as I got closer, it proved to have a different pattern. Ran inside to grab my camera. Returning, there were now two of the same butterfly species. Given their pattern of interaction, I'm guessing the second was a male, looking to mate with the female (of course I'm just guessing genders here). Too much rapid motion to get any good photos. After about a minute, the male departed and the female returned to one of the common milkweed umbels. It kept turning so that its wings were almost always perpendicular to me. Not good for photos. Finally managed to get one, included here. Wish it was better. So ... I'm guessing Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele).
At the time (1:55 PM) we had mostly cloudy skies with an air temperature of 75°F, dew point 64°F, relative humidity 69%, air pressure holding at 28.59 inches, and the wind was light and variable.
- Tim
Status: Resident
Verified by: davidwright
Verified date: June 24, 2022
Coordinator notes: None.
