Category Archives: Nature Photos

Intergrade

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Jenny sent these photos to me some time ago.  Taken in July 2006, they show yet another visitor to her backyard garden.  You might remember the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) seen here and here.  Suffice it to say Jenny has gone to great lengths to make her garden attractive to butterflies, and this represents yet another example of her success in that regard.

What you see below is called an intergrade species.  Essentially, it’s a hybrid between the red-spotted purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) and white admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis or Limenitis arthemis rubrofasciata) butterflies.  The species designation is simply Limenitis arthemis to show it is not one of the specific subspecies.

Thanks to Abe’s comment, I now know this is the black form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).  After looking at photos of this species along with several others, it made my head hurt because they all look so much alike.  Thankfully there are those who know a great deal more about them than I do and can offer informed direction—which I greatly appreciate.

Papilio glaucus

A Limenitis arthemis intergrade butterfly (2006-07-29 013)
A Limenitis arthemis intergrade butterfly (2006-07-29 012)

The unrecognizables

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Remember the unidentifiable ducks from last December?  They are not alone in perplexing my growing skills in identifying nature’s many faces.

Just ten days ago I faced another challenge in the waterfowl arena, and again it took the form of ducks.

Two unidentified male ducks (194_9404)
Two unidentified male ducks (194_9405)

Both are males, as you can see from the curled tail feathers.

Looking at these images, I remembered a walk in April that offered me another opportunity to see at least one of these faces.

An unidentified male duck sleeping in the early morning sunlight (186_8601)

In the early morning sunlight falling on grass wet with heavy dew, one of these strangers lay sleeping as I slipped past him doing my best to be both silent and invisible.  It worked to a degree, for he only awoke after my steps carried me well beyond him and further away from the lake.

Yet then and more recently, I’ve been left wondering what species—or what combination of species—they might be.  And I still don’t know.

Luna moths

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I wish these photos had turned out better.  Unfortunately, the early morning light and thick clouds made it quite difficult because of shadowy contrasts and dim illumination.  The moths also were near the top of a large light pole, so I was looking up at their position on the dark wood framed with lit clouds.  Overall, I didn’t have much luck capturing respectable images of this pair.

Still, you can see what I saw the morning of March 18 when I arrived at the family farm.  Both the male (at top) and female (at bottom) luna moths (Actias luna) undoubtedly had consummated their lives in the only thing they can do as adults: mate.  With no ability to eat, they live only about one week, during which their only focus is to propagate the species.

As with the plebeian sphinx moth (Paratrea plebeja), blinded sphinx moth (Paonias excaecatus), and Polyphemus moths (Antheraea polyphemus), lunas are yet another species of giant moth that live in great numbers within the woodlands of East Texas.  And like the others I’ve shown, they seem to treat the central light pole at the family farm as a place to congregate en masse, copulate, lay eggs, and die.

In fact, at the height of their season the pole can be covered from top to bottom with these moths.  The sight of it is breathtaking.  Fluttering wings in vast numbers make the tall wood post appear alive in some way, a writhing and active giant, an elongated macro cell mobilized by green flagella.  To be awestruck is to understate how captivating a vision they create under those circumstances.

Two luna moths (Actias luna) in dim morning light (177_7755)
Two luna moths (Actias luna) in dim morning light (177_7753)

Time to eat

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During a walk on March 15 of this year, I stumbled upon a recently offered selection of food proffered to the local wildlife at the lake.  Morning sun painted the world in bright hues as I decided to sit and watch a diverse selection of fowl enjoy some breakfast.  Each came and went at their leisure while grabbing a little of this and a little of that—whatever seemed most appealing.  With bread and various kinds of seed and grain having been tossed about by human visitors, there seemed to be a wide selection from which to choose.

Various birds grabbing a bite to eat (176_7626)
Various birds grabbing a bite to eat (176_7630)
Various birds grabbing a bite to eat (176_7633)
Various birds grabbing a bite to eat (176_7634)
Various birds grabbing a bite to eat (176_7635)
Various birds grabbing a bite to eat (176_7644)

[photos include a brown Chinese goose (a.k.a. swan goose, Anser cygnoides), great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus), wood ducks (Aix sponsa), American coots (Fulica americana), ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) and rock doves (Columba livia)]