Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

When we last left the Adventurer he was marooned on the riverbank waiting for the Ohio River to return.  Until the water reappears his crudely constructed log raft is stuck.  Taking advantage of the downtime, our hero is exploring and seeing what there is to see.  At this place called the Falls of the Ohio there appears to be a good variety of butterflies present.  Following are a few images that were relayed to me by the Adventurer along with a small lesson he gave me about Lepidoptera.  Here’s a sequence of images that our friend wanted me to share with you not only because he found this to be beautiful but interesting too!

How lovely!  This is the first of our “Question Marks”.  In fact, this is the common name of this butterfly that is known in the scientific community as Polygonia interrogationis.  This is a fresh specimen in its fall form with its powder-blue wing edges.  The spring and summer forms sport much darker hindwings on their topsides.  The wingspan is about 3 inches across.

Here is the same butterfly with its wings folded and as you can see it looks very much like a dried leaf.  The Question Mark derives its name from the small, silvery “?” question mark-like design on the ventral side of its hindwing.  This specimen in this image doesn’t show this to its best advantage, however, what the Adventurer wanted to share is that other smaller butterfly entering the picture on the top left corner.  This is something not noticed until the pictures were downloaded from the camera.

Here are the two butterflies sharing a leaf.  The plant is a cocklebur and you can see its ripening seeds in the background.  Soon these burrs will develop their Velcro-like hooks and attach to the clothing of autumn hikers.  I have had dozens attach themselves to my shoe laces!  Now for a close-up of that little butterfly.

This is the second “Question Mark” because neither the Adventurer nor I know what to formally call this one!  I enjoy collecting field guides of all kinds and I like to cross reference material as a way of learning more about the subject on hand.  I know this is a member of the skipper family which are primitive butterflies that share characteristics with moths.  In fact, some scientists don’t consider skippers to be true butterflies at all!  In my guides there seems to be many of these small, golden-colored skippers and identifying them is tricky and best done by experts.  This butterfly was so tiny and perfect and almost…unnoticeable.  In the enlargement it appears to have a forked proboscis for feeding.  I wonder how this design will help it eat and does it go for the usual butterfly fare?  Okay, moving on… let’s look at the Commas.

The Eastern Comma or Polygonia comma is a common butterfly in this environment.  As you can tell it is closely related to the Question Mark butterfly.  It derives its name from the small comma (,) like mark on the underside of its hindwing.  Both of these species are angle-winged butterflies and when their wings are folded up, appear like dried leaves.  These guys can be fairly aggressive as butterflies go and as proof…the Adventurer wanted you to see this specimen photographed against the silvery driftwood of the Falls.

He said this was the most ragged specimen he ever saw that was still alive!  This butterfly seemed to have no issues with flying despite its hindwings being mostly gone.  You can see how alert this one is by the attitude of its antennae.  This Comma is near the end of its seasonal run and its wing condition may be due to aerial combats with other butterflies and insects.  I imagine as Comma butterflies go, this one may have revelled in being a Comma!  This one may have been among the fittest of its kind?  The Adventurer hope you enjoyed this little side track and in closing offers another view of that nice Question Mark butterfly.  Thanks for visiting!