A Blast

This butterfly is celebrating the great day I had which just happens to be the end of the month.

A really beautiful butterfly#2

This is another pic of a another butterfly I found some time ago last year. I think it's beautiful! It dosen't have a common name as far as I know but it's sooooooo pretty! I'll look into this one as well. Known as Batesia hypoochlora.

Edit: I found a really nice link with a picture of a male showing the underside and the upper side of the wings along with some info.

www.buginabox.com/bathypchrysm.html

Sorry I couldn't link it. This is due to the site not acceptinh html links. I don't know why because I could've sworn I posted a link here with 'html' in it. Oh well looks like you're just going to have to type it in. Really sorry about this.

OMG!

You won't believe what I just found just a few minutes ago while doing research for my blog. It's a site with pics of some of the different species of Swallowtail butterflies! It's in Japanese but the scientific names are in English letters. And they are beautiful! They're are 700 different species of Swallowtail butterflies and this site has some of them!

I'm soooooooooooooooo happy that I found this site because that means I do Google searches on the species that the site list and find as much as I can about them plus increase my knowledge of them. Ok so I better stop ranting on about how great this is for me and just post the link:

Here it is!

Now this is what I call a JACK POT!! =)

Teinopalpus Pictures!

I found some pics of the butterflies I told you about yesterday along with another one. Here are some of the links:

Teinopalpus imperialis

Note: The above link also contains images of T. aureus.

T. aureus

This one has alot of pictures as well as some info.

Enjoy them and tomorrow I'll post some pics of the other ones along with links if I can find some really good ones.

Papilio Species That I've Never Heard Of

Here is a list of swallotail butterflies I jus found out about while doing some research:

Swallow Tail Butterflies ( Papilionidae ):


Malabar Banded Peacock - Papilio buddha

Royal Swallowtail - Teinopalpus imperialis

Note: This is one of the species that does have Papilio in their latin name.

This is what the site had to say about Teinopalpus imperialis:

This magnificent butterfly ranges from Nepal - Sikkim and Assam
through the Naga and Chin hills into Burma and on into Central China.
The female is much larger and rarer then the male- the latter being some what
brighter coloured with a large yellow area on the upper and undersides of the hind wings.
The flight is fast and powerful and the butterfly inhabits forest areas between 5000- and 10,000 feet. Wing span approx 3 ( male ) and 4 ( female ) inches.

Now I find that very interesting. Don't you?

A really beautiful butterfly

I just found out about this butterfly today. Apparently there are different species because I came across another species after the first one. The one pictured here is Rhetus arcius. Then after doing a Google Search on that particular butterfly I found another one with the same genius, which is shown here along with the common name. At first I thought it was a swallowtail but when I looked at the one in the link above I saw that it had the body of a skipper butterfly.

So it's a skipper butterfly and not a swallowtail. The site I got the photo from shown here said the latin name and said it was a swallowtail butterfly when it wasn't. And I know why ( one of the MAJOR reasons is written above ):

1. As I said before the butterfly has the body of a skipper butterfly and the anntena are that of a skipper's.

2. Swallowtails usualy have the "word" Papilio as the genius in most species. But I think I may have come across a few which don't have it.

And that's my theory which I know is correct because I've seen alot of different skippers to last a life time to know the body shape and I'm only 14! Just goes to show what my love of insects can do to you! :P

A Random insect

This is just a post with a pic of a random insect or arachnid. I'll be posting more post like this in the future. The one pictured here is an Emerald Swallowtail butterfly. And I love these to death! Don't know too much about them, so you know what that means! RESEARCH! =) Expect and update.

UPDATE: I found this site which has the basic info along with other species of swallowtails under the name Papilio.

Here is the link that I found:

http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/P/Papilio_palinurus.asp

A Cute Nymph

This is one of the most cutetist nymphs of a planthopper/leafhopper I've ever seen so far. I don't know what species it is or if it's a leaf or plant hopper nymph. If any one knows please tell me as I would like to know more about these little cuties! =) Oh and does any one know why some nymphs ( of all the species that have them ) have hairs coming out of their abdomens? And do they have a purpose and if it does what is it? Thanks I really appreciate it!

Leaf hoppers #3

Just 2 of some really cool looking leafhoppers and nymphs of different species.

Leaf hoppers #2

YAY! I'm sooo happy that I did my research. I found out what the cute little leafhoppers that I posted yesterday. They're called Citrus Planthoppers ( Metcalfa pruinosa ). I found pics on bugguide which is one of the best sites on insect and spider identification that I know of. There is another one that I know of too which is just as good.

Any way that's what I found out today. I'm going to check out the pages about the planthoppers and the leafhoppers and see what else I can find.

Leaf hoppers

I've seen these at camp. I forgot the name though but when I remember I'll let you know of course. So in the mean time ( while I do some research ) you can just look at how cute they are or go and learn about them! =) Oh and they're not as big in real live as they are in the photo! :P My day was ok.

Another Swallowtail Butterfly!

I found a picture of a swallowtail butterfly that I never heard of before. It's called an Hispaniola Swallowtail. Pretty right. It looks like a black and yellow version of the tiger swallowtail butterfly. Just thought I'd show you.

Ricaniidae Plant hoppers

This is a pic of a ricaniidae plant hopper. I found a bunch of pics yesterday but not too much info on them. At least you get to see what they look like and how cute they are! Again I'll keep looking for anything on them that's worth putting on this wonderful blog of mine. This is a Passion Vine Plant hopper ( Scolypopa australis ). Don't know much about these either soooooooo RESEARCH! =)

Plant Hoppers!

These are some of my favorite insects of all time and they're so cute and colorful. My favorite family of these cuties is Ricaniidae. In this family they look like minature moths with out the feathery antennae. They resemble moth flies in size and shape ( more into those later ). Over all they are really pretty, cute, colorful, and ADORABLE! =)

Here are some links to photos of different species and info.

This one is in Chinese although they have the Chinese name next to the scientific one so it shouldn't be too hard:

http://www.hkinsect.net/wiki/index.php/Ricaniidae

I also looked on Bugguide and it only had one thing on it. Now I'm going to look for some more. When I looked one Google for photos they didn't have that many linking to sites only about this particular family. Maybe yahoo?

Well Yahoo didn't come to my rescue eather. Perhaps when I get the book that I told you about it will have more info on this particular family? I hope so. I'll keep looking.

*Hmmmmmmmm....*

Well as I said I would I did some research for pics of some of the Halysidota species and I didn't find much. Apparently there's not much on them. I don't know if all of them are found in N. America but I do know that H. tessalaris and H. harrisii are from N. America because both of them are on Bugguide. And the site only ID's insects and spiders from N. America and Canada so that one is settled.

So maybe we should move on to something else? I think so. I have alot of insect pics that got from different sites a majority are from Bugguide. So sometime tomorrow I should come up with something to share with you. It will include links of course! =)

H. davisii

This is H. davisii and notice the fact that one of it's anntennae is missing. Also the pattern on this one is very different from the other species and it has less yellow stripes. Again I don't know that much about this or the other Halysidota species that I've recently come across but I'm trying to find out as much as I can for my sake and for any one else's. Any way enjoy this pic while I go and do some research! =)

H. Tessaralis

Here is a pic of the wonderful H. tessalaris which I don't know too much about at the moment. What I have noticed though is that all the adult moths of this species look very similar to eachother. And I think I know why but I have to make sure my theory is 100% correct before I share it with you. So tomorrow I'm going to do some major major MAJOR research on these moths and I'll also see if I can find pics of the larvæ of all the species that I listed in yesterday's post. Wish me luck!

Halysidota Species

Remeber the Sycamore tussock moth and the Banded tussock moth? Well I found more species of Halysidota! Here is the list:

*Halysidota schausi

*H. davisii

*H. oslari

*H. cinctipes

All of the species that are named above are the new ones that I just found out about. I'm going to go search for pics now.

Spiders And Drugs

This is really funny. It's a video I heard about on You Yube from a friend of mine and it's about spiders and how they react to certain drugs. But it's really funny. Here is the link to the most funniest video I've seen this month!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv-eYzSHeV4 Tell me what you think of it please! =)

Banded Tussock Moths

Here is a link to a whole bunch of pictures of the adult moth and larvæ:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/1100 Apparently the caterpillars of this species are variable too! =)

Syacamore Tussock Moth Adult

Well as I had said I would post any images that I found of the adult moth on here. I only found 2 images of the adult. The one posted is the best one. Any way what you should know is that they sort of look like the Banded Tussock moth ( Halysidota tessellaris ). Even the caterpillars of both species look something alike! The caterpillars of H. tessellaris are gray and have black and white tuffs of hair instead orange and white. More pics tomorrow! =)

The Variable But Cute Sycamore Tussock Caterpillar

This photo showing 3 of the colors these cute non-stinging caterpillars can have is living proof that they are variable. I don't know if the moths are as well because I could only find one picture of the adult moth ( which will be posted tomorrow ). They also come in white. The adult moths sort of look like the banded tussock moth. I never knew that they also come in the color gray! I love them either way. Too bad they can be pest feeding on the leave of the London Plain Trees ( also known as sycamore trees. Not to be confused with the sycamore maple ). Notice that in all 3 colors all of them have the same orange and white tuffs of hair. The key to knowing what they are and what they aren't. =)

Isa Textula Caterpillar

Isa textula is another one of the stinging caterpillars that I was talking about. Isn't it cute? If only it wasn't a stinging caterpillar then I could where they live and pick one up and let it crawl on my hand.......*sighs* you can't everything in life. Oh yeah and as far as I know this caterpillar doesn't have a common name. I don't even know what it turns into! I have no idea if it's a caterpillar from a butterfly or a moth! Any way it belongs to the same order Lepidoptera. *Goes to find out more about this really cute caterpillar* EDIT: I just found out that this caterpillar turns into a moth. It belongs to the family Limacodidae.

Going Out With Kerry Tomorrow!

And to celebrate this wonderful event I leave you with a picture of a Monarch butterfly comming out of it's pupa.

The Adult

This is the adult butterfly of the Two Tailed Pasha butterfly ( Charaxes jasius ). Isn't it pretty? They live in Europe and it's the largest butterfly in Europe. They are many different species and sub-species of this butterfly. It's one of my favorites. I love the caterpillars of these butterflies. They look soooooooooooooooo cute. I hope to see one ( both larvæ and adult ) in person someday. Owl butterfly caterpillars look like the Charaxes species of caterpillars but they have 2 "horns" instead of 4 and they're smaller if I'm not mistaken. I found some other Charaxes species today while doing a Google search for pictures of both the adults and larvae. I also found a bunch of sub species of C. smaragdalis too. Here are the 3 species that I found out about today:

Charaxes jasius

Charaxes smaragdalis

Charaxes latona

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Cute Caterpillar

I've seen these before at insect exibits and on one of my insect videos but I didn't know what kind it was until sometime ago where I came across a sit saying that it was a 2 tailed Pasha caterpillar. Cute isn't it? I wanna kiss it sooooooooooooooo bad! And no this caterpillar does NOT have irritating hairs or properties. If it did I wouldn't kiss it! :P

Caterpillars ( Fuzzy Wuzzies )#2

Ok so here is the big suprise! Not all of the hairy and fuzzy caterpillars have irritating properties. So how can you tell which one has irritating properties and which one doesn't? Well you would have to know some of the species of butterflies and moths that have caterpillars that don't have the irritating properties in their hairs and the ones that do. You have to know what they look like. If you're not sure if the one you're looking at is fuzzy or has spines that's crawling on a leaf have irritating properties you should look it up in a field guide or even better don't touch it! :D

Here is a little list of some of the stingers and the non stinger caterpillars:

The Stingers ( bom bom BOM! LOL! ):

Puss Moth Caterpillar - Megalopyge opercularis

Saddle Back Caterpillar - Sibine stimulea

Buck Moth Caterpillar - Hemileuca maia

White Flannel Moth Caterpillar - Norape ovina

*Stinging Rose Caterpillar - Parasa indetermina

Hag Moth Caterpillar - Phobetron pithecium

Note the ones with the * next to them are the most obvious =)


The non-stingers ( I'm innocent! LOL! ):


Syacamore Tussock Caterpillar - Halysidota harrisii

*These are variable in color.

Imperial Moth Caterpillar - Eacles imperialis

Hickory Devil - Citheronia regalis

Cecropia Moth Caterpillar - Hyalophora cecropia

*This is the largest North American moth.

Caterpillars ( Fuzzy Wuzzies )

Look at this cutie! Makes you want to cuddle up with him doesn't it? Well if you did you'll be very sorry! Why because the little fella has irritant properties in those hairs on it's body. And the colors say "Stay away! I'm poisonous!" And by poisonous I mean this: If you were to pick this cutie up you would suffer rashes, blisters, and your skin peeling off. Some of the other "stingers" as they're nicknamed have even worse symptoms! There is one where the caterpillar and they adult have irritating hairs. It's called the Flannel moth. If you brush up against one of these ( caterpillars and adults ) you will receive unbearable pain and your hands or any other part of your body that had touched them will swell. I remember one of my friends on a insect forum I'm a member of telling me his experience with them. It was horrible. He accidentally brushed up against 3 of them that were on a leaf of an apple or orange tree where he was working and his hands got swollen really bad. He told me the pain was unbearable.

It got so bad ( the swelling of his hand ) he couldn't move his fingers! So watch out for the little devils! Tomorrow a really big surprise about some of the other "stingers" How could it get any worse? You'll have to see if it does or doesn't tomorrow.

P.S. I'm not sure of the species of the caterpillar in the photo. There's a tussock moth caterpillar that looks just like it only the colors are different. And it has different colors all over it's body. I'm sure it's some type of tussock caterpillar. But I'm not sure on the species.

Caterpillars

I've come across alot of cool looking caterpillars in my life time. And I'm only 14! I remember coming across a caterpillar that looked like the one in the picture. But I'm not sure what kind it was. But it was fuzzy and cute. The one in the picture is Lophocampa maculata. I'm not sure if the one I saw outside my apartment was the same as this one. But it looked like it. The only difference was that it was a darker color and I don't think it had the white hairs around the body. Yesterday I got 2 books on insects from my mom that I was supposed to have gotten for xmas but she forgot where she hid them! So I got them yesterday. I'm also getting another one for my b-day that I really really want. I'm looking forward to getting it in my hands. They have the book www.amazon.com You'll be shocked at how many pages it has. And it's as big as your average Encyclopedia!

Intro

I've made another blog! This is going to be about insects and any thing else I can think of. But it's mainly a bug blog. I love insects to death and I have alot of books on them and I have alot of sites about them in my favorites/bookmarks. I have a blog on insects on My Space but it is rarely updated because I have alot going on now. I'll see if I can post some of the post onto here some time later this year.

And speaking about this year Happy New Year! I hop you enjoy your stay here and I hope you learn alot from this blog. Finally a blog that people can learn things from! ^^