[TN-Butterflies] Re: Duskywing behavior in Carter County
- From: "Doug Bruce" <s137@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "TN Butterflies" <TN-Butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:40:15 -0400
Okay, I gave up on the books a bit too soon; a little more reading provided the
answer to one of my own questions. From James A. Scott's 1986 book, "The
Butterflies of North America" page 68:
"Some butterflies have unusual methods for feeding on dry substances.
Generally they eject a drop of fluid from the proboscis onto the substrate, and
the fluid dissolves salts, minerals, or organic compounds that are then sucked
up. But some skippers are known to eject a drop from the abdomen onto the
ground or rock, and then suck up the fluid--after it dissolves various surface
substances."
- Doug
----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Bruce
To: TN Butterflies
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2011 4:03 PM
Subject: [TN-Butterflies] Duskywing behavior in Carter County
On Sunday April 10, Harold Howell and I visited Carter County. Along Wilbur
Lake, we photographed a Sleepy(?) Duskywing on a little-used asphalt side road.
Three photos of the same individual here:
http://s972.photobucket.com/albums/ae204/DougLepidoptera/Carter_Co/
This butterfly spent several minutes moving around in one spot, curling its
abdomen forward and reaching back under its body with its proboscis, giving the
appearance of re-ingesting something it was excreting. Two of the above photos
show this behavior.
If this sounds familiar, it's because I described this same behavior with a
Clouded Skipper last October:
//www.freelists.org/post/tn-butterflies/which-duskywing,3
So, here are two questions. (1) What are these butterflies doing? And (2)
Is that duskywing a Sleepy (or a Dreamy)?
Thanks,
Doug Bruce
Oak Ridge
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