A slightly larger bug then those in the last post, this one is as big as a thumb nail (and also found in Colliers Mills WMA). It has very distinctive markings (click the image to bigafy). Yet I don't know what it is.
Yeah I know it is a butterfly. And no doubt in the subfamily Polyommatinae, the Blues. And I've narrowed it down to the genus Celastrina, the Azures. But then I run into this:
At one time, all North American azures were regarded as one abundant and variable species. It now appears certain that there are several species, all very similar. ... [Thus] it may be best to just enjoy them all as Azures.*
I suppose I could do that. I mean the reason I photograph them is that they are so pleasing to look at.
But ...
Oooh. Ahhh. That's how it starts. Later there are guidebooks and more guidebooks and picnics in meadows and screaming and running. Some of us become obsessed with butterflies, although I would never include myself in that category. I am interested, yes, but not obsessed. **
Not yet anyway. But I have signed up to report my observations via the South Jersey Butterfly Log.
Now if I could only figure out what this is ...
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* Butterflies of North America by Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman
** An Obsession With Butterflies by Sharman Apt Russel
1 comment:
Love the shot Steve, but in reading on forget it, I can't even get a Bloody Flutter By to sit still for a photo.
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