The extremely long-tongued Neotropical butterfly Eurybia lycisca (Riodinidae): Proboscis morphology and flower handling

*Drools* It's so pweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Someone needs to slap me right now. This looks like my "Mystery Satyrid" only with more eye spots that are towards the edges of the hindwings and they're tan colored.

Holy shit.

But that's not the only reason I'm blogging these nooooo. These butterflies have extremely long proboscis (as you can see in the photo if you look hard enough). I found out about these by accident researching various other Riodinidae.

I love them. They're fascinating beings. There's a wealth of info here about them and their insanely long proboscis and how they handle flowers. I will say no more as I don't want to spoil anything. ^_~



Ohhhhhh yes these are definitely going on my faves list. Ohhhh Cyren have you heard of these?!

Mystery Dream Satyrid

Is very much aware of how childish this is. ^^;; I'm out of practice. I remember doing a rather nice "outline" of a Pieris rapae but I have no clue on where I put that. *Sigh*

Lepidopteran epicness has ensued once again.......in the form of dreams. Very vivid life like dreams. I had dreamt of observing the most beautiful Satyrid somewhere sitting on a leaf and somehow coming up with a name for it and that it began with a 'D' (Scientific or Common).

My dreams are extremely vivid, especially when it comes to my little friends. And when it comes to Lepidoptera........sometimes (this time and one other) I have to wonder if I'm just dreaming or is it something more? So with this beautiful specimen in mind all day I went to go see if I could find anything that resembled my "Mystery Satyrid".

The closest so far I have come to is Chloreuptychia arnaca



Not exact as it's missing eyespots that I just realized I forgot to draw in and the one in my dream the color was more tan-brown like sand. And the wings were rounded like in your "typical ringlet butterfly".

Does anything like this exists? I get the really strong feeling that it kinda does but I have yet to find anything complete resembling it.

I'll draw more pictures. *^^* Lord knows I need the practice and it's relaxing to do so. =)

Homopteran Dreams

Dreamt of these bad boys in their adult form. I forget what this one is. Sorries^^;; Must do research again.

The mind is a curious thing........I had dreamt of these in their adult form with their wings and everything. They didn't look any different from the nymphs.....funny thing is I don't know what the adults of this particular leafhopper (whose name is eluding me) even look like!

Will be researching these. Photo I obtained from Wikipedia at some point last year. Remember the family name beginning with a 'T' possibly.....Such mind boggling beautiful creatures no?

Ohhhh my sweet sweet little friends what am I to do with you? ^^♥

Mystery Pyralid Moth

*Speechless*

Um does anyone know what this one is? I know that Pyralid moths are difficult to identify but this one seems very distinctive to me.....unless they're others that are similar?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Must do research!

Teinopalpus imperialis

Female Teinopalpus imperialis gillesi (Turlin 1991) Most stunning......*Speechless*

I have always wanted to see live photos of these magnificent butterflies. I had finally come across some during research of various Papilionidae I think I don't really remember and I grabbed some.

IMHO photos of pinned specimens aren't doing these butterflies (or any butterfly) justice at all. It takes away from their beauty a little bit. At least with faded specimens.

Anyway enough of this depressing talk! Something interesting I remember reading about these butterflies is that they're so rare that if one very lucky villager were to catch one he could get enough money to buy a freaking motorbike for it.

Yup. One minute you don't have anything and you see one of these beauties and manage to catch it you're rich. Something that bothers me though is the value these butterflies have.........what happened to make them so rare?

I'll have to look into that some more.



Teinopalpus imperialis gellesi (Male)

Also to note the photos I got from here. Please note that if said parties (who I thank immensely for having such an epic opportunity to capture these butterflies on film) wish me to take these down I will happily do so as I'm not getting sued for "copyright infringement."

I thank everyone who is responsible for such gorgeous photos existing. Keep up the wonderful work. I know this is much to wish for but I would love to see one of these someday.......

*Sigh* One can dream right?

Going On Strike

Had a long day today but I'm finally posting this at 7:22PM.

If you heard of SOPA and PIPA then you already know why I'm doing this. The Government CAN. NOT. censor the internet. I have never heard of anything as stupid as this in my life. By doing this you're endangering the world. You're taking away freedom of speech and creativity.

You're taking away a form of education. You're depriving kids what they will need to write their essays (books can't tell you everything as wonderful as they are) you're harming millions of business around the world. You're harming yourselves.

This blog of mine which I started back in 2007 is my pride and joy. I have been able to share my love of my multi legged friends with people all over the world, document all of the new species I've learned about and share my experiences with them with you all. Nothing makes me happier. The internet has taught me so much and helped me in so many ways both with my hobbies and my personal affairs.

Taking it away will harm the very lives of every single person on this planet. We use the internet to raise awareness of children in need of food or medical attention, to rally attention to stop bullying (why aren't you, The Government using this energy to stop this? Bullying needs to be put a stop to more then copyright infringement as copyright infringement doesn't leave people dead), for news, emails and chats with friends, a venting place for when you need to pour you heart out when sometimes talking isn't enough.

A place to relax and find some nice humor sites or educational videos. But most importantly freedom of speech. We should be allowed to say, post, vlog, upload, edit, email, IM whatever we want so long as it's not HARMING another person (a.k.a Cyberbullying another thing that should be stopped and yet what is the government doing?).

There are other ways to solve this problem. Censoring the internet IS. NOT. THE. ANSWER. Use you goddamn brains people!! Wake up and realize that there are better ways to solve this problem.

To my Followers:

Regardless of what happens I love you all. Thank you for sticking by me and helping me learn so much more about my little friends. I urge you to sign all petitions you can and CONTACT CONGRESS.

We must fight. We must win. God bless America God bless the internet.

God bless all of you.

DOWN WITH SOPA DOWN WITH PIPA DOWN WITH INJUSTICE AND STUPIDITY!

One of many things you can do to stop this:

http://sopastrike.com/

Chasing Monarchs

Monarch (Danus plexippus) Female 10-06-11

I was supposed to show you these last year but I got sidetracked with other lepidopteran epicness. This gorgeous specimen was observed in my beloved park 2 days before the opening of the butterfly exhibit.....as if it knew.....*Happy sigh*

It also has occurred to me that of all the monarchs I've seen throughout my life time I've never gotten to hold one. 0_0 I came very close to doing so back in 2008 but not exactly. ^^;; I'll have to try and change that this year.



Observations:

It was flying through the baseball field along with Colias philodice (yes I chased them too), Pieris rapae, a very tiny mystery moth, and various feeding dragonflies swarming above. This beauty had come out of nowhere and was too far away at first for me to see what it was but as I got closer it was quite obviously a monarch. *^^*

I then proceeded to try and get pictures of it which at first it was having none of it. Everytime I got close enough to snap a photo or try and pick it up it was off again flying through the fields so graceful yet strong. Eventually I had to stop being "selfish" (I was trying to get it on my hand I think I might've been scaring it a little *^^*) and just try and get at least one picture.

I got 5. ^______^ I figured let me let it calm down and then gently approach it again. I think it was one of the ones that just didn't like being touched?

Idk about anyone else but I'm convinced that butterflies have personalities like we do. Some are shy some are friendly and some like playing tricks on you. ^^ Such delightful creatures. Anyway throughout my chasing this thing through the fields I observed bundles of epicness. Dragonflies, Sulphers, Cabbage whites, and a mystery moth that was very tiny and the color of the sand. *^^*



I wonder what it was doing in that field? For some odd reason after I took the 5th picture my leg had seized up and sorta went numb....dunno why. I've chased plenty of butterflies before and this never happened. So to not risk falling and busting my ass I sat down and took a well needed rest and just watched the dragonflies and all the Pierids flying throughout the field. I felt so peaceful.

By this time the monarch had went on it's merry way. I hope it had a successful journey and laid lots of healthy eggs.



Ohhhhhh I forgot there's this one I observed on 09-12-11:



This one was flying around this cute little Butterfly bush. I must find a way to zoom in on this one so you can see it better. ^^

I've ramble enough. Toodles!

Cattlehearts (Parides sp.)

Parides gundalachianus



Parides ascanius

Been doing research and I found these. Holy shit they're gorgeous!! Parides is very quickly becoming one of my favorite genera within the Papilionidae. Upon my research of these I have also think I figured out at least one of the Parides species at the exhibit.

I think it might be Parides arcus I'll have to confirm this later.

Mystery Butterfly #2 Mechanitis sp.

Ithomiinae

Mechanitis sp.

But which one? My friend Ben had guessed it was Mechanitis menapis. The closest I could come to in that regard was Mechanitis menapis occasiva which is very very similar if not for a few differences in the patterns.

When I sent the photo to Kim Garwood (the women is legend) she told me something very interesting (in general) about ID'ing butterflies in exhibits. She told me that it was hard to do so because in the butterfly farms where these come from they often experiment (for lack of better wording) and get weird hybrids.

So now I'm wondering if this butterfly could also be a hybrid between 2 somethings (Mechanitis sp. definitely)? My other question is are Mechanitis sexually dimorphic? During research on these I have wondered greatly on this.......



Little fuzzy but the underside of this bad boy. *^^*

Is there anyway to know for sure exactly what this is? Both photos taken at NHM Butterfly Exhibit 10-08-11

Reserved

Reserved

Rant

Something I've noticed.......

The Lepidoptera have pretty much taken over this blog. Hehehehehe ^^;; I've been brainwashed by them completely. And I didn't think it was possible but I definitely know for sure now that I've fallen in love with them again.

Has anyone else noticed this magnetic pull that they seem to have? I love all my creepy crawly friends for various reasons. The Hymenoptera have such fascinating rich lives it's like a drama and I think I'll be looking into them in more depth this year definitely.

The Cicadas.........you already know how I feel about them. They were epic last year. BEST concert put on by them yet. I'm hoping to see one this year. *Crosses fingers*

The rest of the Homoptera and Hemiptera I adore and wish there were more books on them so I could learn more about them. The Coleoptera are intriguing and there have been lots of new ones popping up lately that I've never seen before. Loving it. Keep it up!

Diptera are fascinating, beautiful, and some I don't mess with (Deerflies/Horseflies pack a WHOLLOP sp?) their life histories are also fascinating and slightly disgusting. ^^;; But they produce some very interesting individuals.

And the Spiders whose presence in my house has not only been EPIC (still don't know where they're all coming from) but beneficial as they've popped up when I needed a little cheering up (see what I mean when I say they somehow know? Thank you God) and I also think might've had a hand in Cimex "disappearing". Will get more into that later.

The Odonata.........*Happy sigh* Beautiful creatures. Love love them and they too have been epic and I look forward to properly spending time with them this year hopefully IDing even more with the help of epic field guides *^^*

And the Othoptera they're adorable and their songs are delightful and I enjoy listening to them immensely. I hope to see more of Microcentrum rhombifolium and other species that might be hiding. I want diversity!!

And all the rest......can't list them all there's too many. ^^

But the Lepidoptera........they have something that's unique about them and extra special to me. Idk what it is but I'm thankful for it because they make me feel peaceful, happy, nostalgically warm and fuzzy and they're fascinating as hell and just as "drama" like as the Hymenopterans with their lives. They just do it gracefully. It's like you can't get mad at Notocrypta curvifasciata for devouring said Hymenopterans.......in it's adult form!!!

They're amazing.......Idk how else to describe it. And they have their own Anthem too that's a part of my childhood and oozes warm happy memories for me with raising Painted Ladies and catching Tiger Swallowtails at camp........*happy sigh*

I'll post said anthem later it's from A Bug's Life soundtrack. *^^* Once again I've rambled enough. But does anyone know what I'm talking about when I say there's something about Lepidoptera that just sucks you in? (Pun intended get it? ^^)

God bless my little insecty arachnidy friends. I wuv u ♥

(Buggy) Resolutions

Personal:

1. Complete all personal "affairs".
2. Keep my mouth shut. *^^*
3. Try and relax more
4. Put OCD in its place (corresponds to No.3)

Buggy:

1. Kill all Cimex lectularius. All Mothers & Children, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents & Cousins must be slaughtered and removed from this vicinity.

↑ I haven't seen too many in a looooong time. It's like they vanished! They're still here but very few? What's going on? Major cleaning is in order to help the mysterious force(s) killing them.

2. ACTIAS LUNAAAAAAAAA!
3. As many more visits to that blessed exhibit as possible. RESEARCH LIBRARY
4. My "Birthday present" That MAGNUM OPUS of a book on my Hymenopteran friends. Save save save $$$$$
5. Bug catching equipment (need new nets!)
6. National Moth Week!!

↑ I really want to try and do this. Don't know how but I'll be recording and ID'ing all the moths I come across this year to the best of my ability.

I'll be doing this with every insect I see actually. I'm gonna try experimenting with them this year to see what's out at different times and hopefully different places. *^^*

Happy New Year *Rant*

It's that time of year again. To start planning for epicness and to also get some very important personal affairs over and done with. And then to hopefully relax properly.

I only managed to somewhat achieve that in "half" last year (Thank you Lepidoptera). I must try harder this year. I hope to be successful.....out with the stress in with the rest!! ^________^ Aaaany waaay...^^;; I'm half way done with achieving my lunas!!

$57.00 more dollars and they're mine!! Why so much you ask? Cause I'm ordering them from Carolina science and I have also buy an enclosure to keep them in to make sure they eclose properly.......then I'll have them flying around my house.

Then there's the shipping and state tax soooo ^^;; It's all worth it though. And there's also nets too. I have to get one before they emerge.......how else will I'll put them back when play time is over? :P

Must go start looking. I'll rant more on my plans later. Toodles!