24 June 2020

A beautiful day to meet a Tawny Emperor


Blue skies and 70 degrees = mandatory walk-at-the-Arboretum day.


The lilacs were post-bloom, as were the fruit trees, but the shade trees were fully leafed out to show their magnificent form and colors, especially in the maple section.  The turkeys stayed socially-distanced from me.



When I got to the boardwalk over the wetland, I was greeted by a local resident who flew onto my pantleg...


The Tawny Emperor (and the very similar Hackberry Emperor) are well-known for their willingness to interact with humans, so when I saw it down there I moistened my fingertip with saliva, and he/she eagerly hopped on...


Butterflies live in an environment that has abundant potassium, but proportionally less available sodium, so saliva or sweat from humans is a real treat.  Before I left, she posed on the handrail of the boardwalk for this portrait (photo enlarges to gigantic with a click):


After reporting the sighting at the Wisconsin Butterflies website, I discovered that this butterfly is seldom seen so far away from the Mississippi River Valley western border of Wisconsin.

Addendum:  I returned to the Arboretum the next day to try to get a photo of the tops of the wings of this uncommon butterfly.  Temperatures had risen from the pleasant mid-70s to humid mid-80s, but it turns out that hot, sweaty days are the best for getting extreme closeups of human-friendly butterflies.  An hour and about 60 photos later, here are two extreme closeups of the Tawny Emperor (Asterocampo clyton).  Click the photos for fullscreen.


6 comments:

  1. You are the "Butterfly Whisperer."

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  2. in the hierarchy of butterflies (monarchs, viceroys, admirals, ladies, etc.), where does this one fall in?

    I-)


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    1. Beautiful photos and fascinating butterfly story from wetlands boardwalk! I'm amazed how they can interact so closely with humans.

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  3. beautiful addendum! and thanks for the tip on visitation hours and protocols.

    I-)

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  4. a bit of a topic drift - about finding caterpillars in store produce, and keeping them. https://twitter.com/samd_official/status/1271093419268624385

    makes you wonder what they are?

    I-)

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    Replies
    1. Very few butterfly larvae are serious pests for farm produce, but Cabbage Whites are one of them -

      https://wisconsinbutterflies.org/butterfly/species/12-cabbage-white

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