Take a look at the photograph. On the bottom left-hand side, is that a little green butterfly?
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Tag butterfly
Dreamy Duskywing Butterfly
The Dreamy Duskywing Butterfly (Erynnis icelus) is a small insect in the Hesperiidae family of Skipper butterflies. It is also known as the Aspen Dusky Wing.
The Dreamy Duskywing Butterfly is dark-brown and light-brown with silvery-grey. The male and female look similar, but the male tends to be darker. The thick, brushed abdomen is dark-brown to black with grey rings. It has long antennae and long palps.
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What is the difference between male and female butterflies?
It can be difficult to tell the difference between male and female insects, except if they look very different – i.e. when they are dimorphic.
When male and female animals look the same or similar, they are monomorphic.
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CREATURE FEATURE: Small Common Blue Butterfly
The Small Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) is an insect in the Lycaenidae family of blue butterflies.
The Small Common Blue male has iridescent blue wings above with a thin, black-brown border and white fringe. The female is brown above with blue flecks, like dust, and orange spots. Both the male and the female have a row of red or orange spots along the edge of the hindwing (back wing).
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Western European Ringlet Butterfly
The Western European Ringlet Butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus hyperantus) is an insect in the Nymphalidae family of butterflies.
The Western European Ringet Butterfly has chocolate brown to black wings and a dark-brown hairy body. The upper and lower sides of its wings are solid brown with small, yellow-ringed eyespots. The number of eyespots is variable. The juvenile butterfly has a velvety appearance and is almost black with a white fringe (margin) on each wing. It lightens in colour as it ages.
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CREATURE FEATURE: Caucasus Marbled White Butterfly
The Caucasus Marbled White Butterfly (Melanargia galathea donsa) is a medium-sized insect in the Nymphalidae family of butterflies. It is also known as Our Half-Mourner Butterfly and the Marmoris Butterfly.
The Caucasus Marbled White is white with grey-black markings on its upperside. The underside of its hindwings (back wings) has grey eye-spots. The male and female are similar, except that some females have a yellowish underside. Its body is greyish and fluffy. It has long, black, clubbed antennae and large eyes.
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Syrian Rock-Grayling Butterfly
The Syrian Rock-Grayling Butterfly (Hipparchia syriaca) is an insect in the Nympalidae family of brush-footed butterflies.
The Syrian Rock-Grayling is tan, brown, and white, and is well camouflaged on tree bark and rocks. Its upperside is tan with copper, and edged in white, with a few eyespots. Its underside is dark-brown with eyespots. Its body is brown. It is similar to other Graylings, but with a narrower band on its forewing.
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Cardinal Butterfly
The Cardinal Butterfly (Argynnis pandora) is an insect in the Nymphalidae family of butterflies.
The Cardinal Butterfly has brown forewings (front wings) with dark-black markings and bright-green marginated hindwings (back wings) with white irregular lines. Its body is buff-coloured and hairy. Its antennae are segmented.
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Meleager’s Blue Butterfly
The Meleager’s Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus daphnis versicolor) is an insect in the Lycaenidae family of blue butterflies.
The male and female Meleager’s Blue Butterfly look different. The wings of the male are iridescent bright sky-blue on the upperside and grey-bluish on the underside – with blue at the base. The wings of the female are blue bordered with dark-brown on the upperside and pale brown on the underside. The undersides of the wings are dotted with small black spots encircled by white. The hind (back) wings are scalloped, especially in the females. The body is buff-coloured and hairy. Its antennae are segmented and clubbed at the tip.
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What does crenulated mean?
What does crenulated mean?
An animal’s crenulated tooth, fin, wing, or other body part has a scalloped or notched edge or margin.
The scalloped or notched margin is usually narrow.
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Small Tortoiseshell Caterpillar
The Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Aglais urticae) is a medium-sized insect in the Nymphadidae family of Eurasian butterflies.
The Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly is mainly reddish-orange wih black and yellow markings on its forewings (front wings) and a ring of blue spots around the edge of its wings.
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Comma Butterfly
The Comma Butterfly (Polygonia c-album) is an insect in the Nymphalidae family of butterflies. It is also known as the Anglewing, due to its angular wings.
The Comma Butterfly is orange on the upperside of its wings with dark-brown to black markings and light spots on the edge. It has angular notches on the edges of its forewings (front wings). The underside is marbled brown. The hind wings (back wings) have a white spot in the shape of the letter C. It can look like fallen leaves when resting, which confuses its predators. It is a strong flier.
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Spanish Gatekeeper Butterfly
The Spanish Gatekeeper Butterfly (Pyronia bathseba) is an insect in the Nymphalidae family of brush-footed butterflies.
The Spanish Gatekeeper Butterfly is brown and cream with orange on its forewings (front wings). On its forewings, it has a black circle with one or two white spots inside, called an eyespot. The underside of its hind wings (back wings) is brown with four or five orange-rimmed eyespots. The female has four eyespots on the underside hind wing, whereas the male has five. It also has a distinctive creamy bar across its hind wing. Its body is fluffy, thick, and brown. It has club-shaped antennae.
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Common Blue Butterfly
The Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) is an insect in the Lycaenidae family of blue butterflies.
The Common Blue male has iridescent blue wings above with a thin, black-brown border and white fringe. The female is brown above with blue flecks, like dust, and orange spots. Both the male and the female have a row of red or orange spots along the edge of the hindwing (back wing).
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Wall Butterfly
The Wall Butterfly (Lasiommata megera) is an insect in the Nymphalidae family of butterflies. It is also known as the Wall Brown Butterfly.
The Wall Butterfly is brown with reddish-yellow tints on its upperparts with black margins and eye-spots. The male looks more yellow-orange, whereas the female looks more red-yellow-brown. It is browner on its underparts. It has a brown hairy body. It has clubbed antennae.
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Entomology Collection at Drexel University in Philadelphia
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia is America’s oldest natural history museum. Established in 1812, it has a collection of 19 million specimens, with 4 million insect specimens, representing about 100,000 species of insects.
Jon Gelhaus is Curator of Entomology at the ANS, where he has worked since 1990. He looks after the Entomology Collection. Since 2012, he has also been Professor in the Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science department where he teaches courses in Conservation Biology, Entomology, and Plant and Animal Identification. Entomology is the study of insects.
Jon Gelhaus and Jennifer Sontchi, Senior Director of Exhibits and Public Spaces at The Academy of Natural Sciences (ANS), presented a small portion of the collection during a live streaming event on 12 August 2021.
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European Mallow Skipper Butterfly
The European Mallow Skipper Butterfly (Carcharodus alceae alceae) is an insect in the Hesperiidae family of skippers.
The European Mallow Skipper has pinkish-brown forewings (front wngs) with brown markings. Its hindwings (back wings) are brown to grey-brown. The male does not have hair tufts on the underside of its forewings. It has a brown body, legs, and antennae.
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Great Mormon Butterfly
The Great Mormon Butterfly (Papilio Memnon agenor) is a large insect in the Papilionidae family of swallowtail butterflies.
The Great Mormon Butterfly male has blue-black upperparts. The female has brownish upperparts, streaked with greyish white. She has red patches on her wings near her body. Both the male and female do not have a tail, even though it is a swallowtail. Its body is black with medium-sized black antennae.
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Lady’s Maid Butterfly
Lady’s Maid Butterfly (Vanessula milca latifasciata) is a small insect in the Nymphalidae family of brush-foooted butterflies. It is also called the Black and Orange Butterfly.
The Lady’s Maid Butterfly is bright orange around a central disc. Its wings are bordered with a brown margin.
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Spot Swordtail Butterfly
The Spot Swordtail Butterfly (Graphium nomius) is an insect in the Papilionidae family of swallowtail butterflies.
The Spot Swordtail Butterfly has a line of distinct white spots along the margin of its wings. One of the hind (back) wings has black markings on the underside. On the upperside, it is black and yellowish-cream, with broad stripes on the edge of its front wings. It has both spots and stripes on its hind wings. It has distinct black swordtails. Its body is black with medium-sized black antennae.
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