Thursday, November 5, 2009

Little Yellow Butterfly

I'm not kidding, that's the real name of this teeny-tiny butterfly. The last couple days have been butterfly central. I had to get a butterfly book from the library and have only managed to identify four (two I already knew): Monarch (easy), Black Swallowtail (had to be reminded), the Little Yellow, and tomorrow's topic. That just scratched the surface, there have been more butterflies than I can even keep track of. The Little Yellow, though, has definitely been the most prominent.
They're 1.25 to 1.75 inches long and a dull light yellow. The top side of the forewing has a black smudge on the tip, but you hardly ever see it because they're flitterers, they don't travel far for any flight, and because they always rest with wings together. The wing tips are edged with a light brown line and there are some small splashes of light brown on the wings too. They have yellow antenna with brown tips.

They can be found anywhere from Mexico to the US south.
As adults they really like the necter of asters, which would explain why they're out all over right now - what with the unidentifiable asters all over the place. Their habitat is open areas like roadsides and fields.

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