Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)Last updated 14 April 2006
Photos on this page taken in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas.
Left
and right: A Regal Fritillary photographed at Pawnee Prairie Park in mid
August, 2003. I have generally seen at least one Regal flying in the fall
in this Wichita Park every year for several years now. This is the first
time I managed to follw one out into the tall grass and get its photo taken.
Left:
A Texan Crescent butterfly- we have seen these in Texas, but had never seen them
in Kansas. Noticed the first ones in our garden in mid-June of this year
(2004). They were present through mid-August. I talked with Elsie
Neumann, one of the gardeners at Botanica, and she had also seen the species
this year. Although the photo at the top of this page of the Giant Swallowtail was taken a few years ago. they have been fairly common in our garden this year. Saw several of them laying eggs on some Rue in the garden the last week of August, 2004.
Right:
Texas Crescent's were back again in 2005. A photo from our garden in mid
September.
Left:
A new butterfly for our life, yard, and Sedgwick County lists: a
Harvester. This is a rare lep and we are at the western edge of its
range. Photo taken Sep. 14, 2005 in the alley behind our house. The
butterfly was basking in the afternoon sun and stayed on the ground, either on
the gravel or on a dead leaf in the grass.
Left:
Another new butterfly for our yard, a Bordered Patch. I have heard of
these having been seen in Harvey County this fall, but this is the first I saw
in our garden. Photographed on asters 17 October. A southwestern
species that has been recorded over the years as far northeast in Kansas as
Pottawatomie and Leavenworth counties.Right: A new hairstreak for our yard list, a Red-banded Hairstreak. Photo taken 14 Oct. 2005. Another lep that appeared on our asters along with lots of other species including Clouded, Orange and Dainty Sulphurs and Little Yellows, Pearl Crescents, Common Checkered Skippers, Gray Hairstreaks, Eastern Tailed Blues, Dusted Skippers, Sachem Skippers, and Fiery Skippers, among others.
Photos by Roy J. Beckemeyer.
