Top Photo: Male flowers of eastern red cedar or juniper. Pollen Red cedar is in bloom, and the male flowers are sending out pollen for the fertilization of female flowers, and for the rest of us to breathe in and sneeze. The local elm trees are in bloom as well. Elm is another tree, like the cedar, whose pollen is carried by the wind. Butterflies Not strictly an indication of spring, but of warm days throughout the winter and earlyRead more
Posts tagged: #comma
Caterpillars Eating Elm Leaves
Top Photo: Polygonia interrogationis on Ulmus. The caterpillars in these photos are question marks (Polygonia interrogationis). They’re butterfly caterpillars. Looking at the photos you may think they’re named for the shape they sometimes assume when disturbed. Not so. They are, in fact, named after the punctuation mark (?) but not because of the way the caterpillars scrunch up when hassled. No, question marks are named for markings on the underside of the adult butterfly’s hindwings which are roughly the shapeRead more
Out and About in mid February
All photos shot on the balmy 18th of February. Read more
A Question Mark, a Comma, and a Question of Origin
Over the past few weeks I’ve seen several species of butterfly winging through the outdoor exhibits. Two of those species are very similar in appearance and both, if you’re hearing them for the first time, have rather odd names, Question Mark and Eastern Comma. Even their Latin names reflect the strangeness of the common names, Polygonia interrogationis and Polygonia comma respectively. How did these butterflies get the names Question Mark and Comma? The underside of the hindwing tells the story.Read more