However, my friend, Floridagirl, commented that this species might be the native resident skipper, Urbanus Proteus. Knowing very well that FG is, for all intents and purposes, a native encyclopedia, I thought I should double-check my research. Afterall, she pretty much knows about the Florida flora and fauna, without question. Here's an internet photo of the Urbanus Proteus.
Upperside
courtesy of www.nearctica.com
Underside
Courtesy of www.nearctica.com
Here's a photo of the Esmaralda Longtail.
Upperside
Courtesy of www.nearctica.com
Underside
Courtesy of www.nearctica.com
Here's my garden guest.
Upperside
Underside
Let's see the internet photos side-by-side:
SERIOUSLY?!?!
There's not much of a difference. They're both Urbanus but their ranges are quite different.
This is the range for the Urbanus Proteus, including Florida.
And here's the range for the Esmaralda, clear across the Gulf from Florida.
Geez! This is similar to my attempts at identifying the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers.
Courtesy of Wikipedia.com
Courtesy of Wikipedia.com
But that's a subject for another day!!! I digress.
I'll leave you with two final internet images to ponder...
Courtesy of www.duke.edu/jspippen/butterflies
Urbanus Proteus
Courtesy of Scarlet Eyes Photostream at Flickr
Esmaralda Longtail
Is anyone else confused?!
15 comments:
My vote goes for the Urbanus proteus, because the the antennae seem to be a bit shorter. Truly, though, they do look like the same butterfly!
They sure look the same to my untrained eye. I would say it is probably the native one but only because that is the most likely, not because I can tell the difference. I've never seen either of those skippers before. It is really pretty.
Dear Kimberly, Confused! Not at all. Reason? I am so myopic I can barely see the page let alone identify distinctions on the wings of the bats you so beautifully illustrate......
LOL...EdithHope's comment has me reeling. They do look like identical twins, don't they? It's a wonder how they name these things, especially as they strangely appear to have overlapping ranges.
I won't pretend that I can tell the difference because they do look identical to me! LOL Whatever they are, they are pretty, and they are welcome to visit my garden!
They look the same to me, except they made one larger then the other. I mean really, a little help for us easily confused people would be nice.
I'm not even going to try and choose myself since Floridagirl is always right in these matters of entomology. What would we do without her?
I'm glad you have a Floridagirl nearby! They look almost exactly the same to me. I run into the same problem all the time.
Totally confused but that is why I leave the identifications to the experts-not me that's for sure. Whatever it is it's very neat.
Kimberly, Seriously I tried to identify the differences. I tried several times. I give up!!! Utterly confused now. Seeing stars ******
I have the same problem identifying some butterflies and birds. Randy over at http://rlephoto.blogspot.com/ could help I am certain. He is so knowledgeable with regard to butterflies. Great post! ;>)
I'm not confused I just call them butterfly or bird. *laughs* Thanks for the research work that you did - it makes work easier for my brain.
Hi Kimberly,
Don't you wish nature would make it easier to tell the difference between plants, insects, animals....?
Whatever type of butterfly you have, it is so beautiful :-)
they certainly both look beautiful..over here in england i believe your butterflies would be the same size as our bats....
Kimberly - "I was told there would be no test!?!" YIKES! I'm just learning native plant names and now you are throwing out entomology questions?!!!
(Way cool photos!)
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