Comments on: Cryptopod: Serpentine Butterflies

By: Lithified Detritus

Lithified Detritus — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:11:48 +0000

In reply to Trebuchet. My first thought was moth, too, but a little Googling put me on track.

By: Trebuchet

Trebuchet — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 16:31:12 +0000

In reply to Trebuchet. Ah, and I see Duskywings are part of the Pyrginae, or Spread-winged skippers. According to Wikipedia,

Spread-winged skippers bask with their wings held wide open. The wings are held closed when they are at rest.

By: Trebuchet

Trebuchet — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 16:25:38 +0000

My first thought, based on wing position and general appearance was “moth”. But the antennae are clubbed, not feathery, which says “butterfly”. I’ll go along with LD.

By: rq

rq — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 11:58:12 +0000

Here’s an easy way to differentiate between moths and butterflies: what is the position of the wings at rest? Butterflies will fold them up vertically (or do that annoying open-close bit that makes it difficult to get a good shot of the wingspread), while moths will lay them out flat.
And yes, butterflies can be pretty drab, and in this case, the curled-up proboscis (awesome shot in IV!) is a give-away for ‘butterfly’.
Google Images spat out a more southerly duskywing that looks awfully similar, so I’m going to go with Lithified Detritus‘ ID of the Propertius Duskywing.

By: Lithified Detritus

Lithified Detritus — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 11:47:43 +0000

Looks like a type of Skipper, maybe Propertius Duskywing, Erynnis propertius. These puzzles are much more fun than reading the news over breakfast.