Wow, I did not know that, good to know, thanks, awesome photos by the way.

Nice pictures - I'd like to see you do that with other butterflies that look similar. Skippers can be very hard to identify.

Absolutely splendid pictures Bob!! A terrific idea too! My sister just asked me yesterday about differentiating between these two butterflies. I told her about the eyespots and the white dots.~~Angie

Beautiful pictures, Bob, and instructional!

Sherry

Bob has certainly shown here why he was well-suited to author the Camera Settings...topic in our FAQ.

Great pics .
Angie

Thank you for posting this! Very helpful!

You've added two more beautiful photos to your collection. Thanks for sharing these pics; I struggled with these for a long time. Participating in butterfly counts is a good way to get familiar with the similar BFs.

Your kind words are very important to me!

Bob

Thanks Bob- what a great help!

Very informative. I've struggled c IDing these two butterflies since my introduction to them.

VERY helpful Bob! I always tried to tell by the thickness of their forewing black markings...the PL's are thicker.

I think the white dot will be especially helpful in IDing going forward. Thank you for sharing, Tony

Bob, those are gorgeous photographs!! Many thanks for the information!! My butterfly bush was visited several days ago by what I thought were Painted Ladies, but now I'll have to check my pics to yours! I'll post some photos (one at a time-haven't figured out to post multiple pics in one post) I took the other day, but these pics pale next to yours Bob. Can anyone tell if this is painted Lady or American Lady? Maybe my pics don't show enough detail? I thought it was a large moth at first as seen in this photo, then was amazed to see the colors!

Four dots on hindwing, must be a Painted Lady?

Not good detail, but I loved her smile! I took these pics at the same time, but of several different ones who flew in together and were a group. One male wanted to fly with a Monarch, and they did briefly. It was fascinating to see them flying together for several seconds. Looked like a small guy trying to date a tall or big lady! This one looks different then the other as far as the dots on the wing. I don't know which it is, AL or PL?

another one

with a bee

This girl wanted badly to get out, I didn't know, and I think that's what attracted the PL's in the first place that day. That's the day I saw a PL trying to fly with a Monarch two times, I think they were influenced by the Monarch 'in distress' in the enclosure. The top of the enclosure is the same aluminum screening as the sides and is see-through like the sides.
I let her out after taking photos.

I put this enclosure together quickly after my first pupae was killed by a wasp in mid-pupation. I DON'T recommend putting the metal stakes on the inside of the screening as I did. I'll put the stakes on the outside of the mesh next year. The caterpillars like to hang from the metal stakes for some reason, and I had to keep shade over the rails all during the hot summer or they would have fried from the heat of the hot metal.

another picture

Last picture

This post was edited by Monarch-Ma-so.cal on Thu, Nov 7, 13 at 1:37