Category Archives: evolution

Butterflies — Made in America

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Rick

A new paper in Nature Ecology and Evolution suggests that butterflies evolved in what is now the Americas, where they originally fed on plants in the legume family. The research team, led by Akito Kawahara at the University of Florida’s … Continue reading →

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In Defense of Plants: Butterflies in a Changing World

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Rick

This week’s drop of a new podcast from In Defense of Plants (a terrific weekly listen if you don’t already know it) features University of Arizona’s Katy Prudic (an eButterfly co-director) as she discusses work she has been doing with … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two (or More) Crescents

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Rick

Oh for the simple days when in the mid-Atlantic region if you saw a crescent you could safely assume it was the common, indeed almost ubiquitous, Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos).  The only doubt to contend with would be if you … Continue reading →

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Urban Life for Leps is Driving Their Evolution

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Rick

Much work has been done on the effects of urbanization, and especially light and sounds, on bird fauna.  In general, the effects have been fairly striking, including more singing at “night” (because there is artificial lighting) and changes to song … Continue reading →

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Butterfly Almanac and Forecast for Week of 2022 May 21

Posted on May 21, 2022 by Rick

New or Notable This Week: Giant Swallowtail, Common Sootywing, Hobomok Skipper, Great Spangled Fritillary, Summer Azure (new brood), Northern Crescent, Appalachian Azure, Least Skipper, Viceroy, Painted Lady The icebox of two weeks ago will become a pizza oven this weekend, with … Continue reading →

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Butterflies Make the Best Botanists

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Rick

The go-to place in Maryland for Gray Comma — normally a butterfly of the Northwoods — is along Big Run in Garrett Co., following Big Run Road from New Germany Road down to Big Run State Park proper. The best … Continue reading →

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“Intermediate” Butterfly Biology: Anatomy and Phylogeny

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Rick

Thanks to the good folks at the Washington (State) Butterfly Association, you can watch Jon Pelham’s fascinating turn as the guest speaker at the February 3rd meeting of the WBA in Seattle. Jon talked extensively about new research on ‘wing … Continue reading →

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More Changes in Skipper Taxonomy

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Rick

While creating a new genus, Burnsius, for some of the Pyrgus checkered skippers, Li et al in the PNAS paper discussed in the previous post also covered some 250 other skippers.  In all, the paper created 24 new taxa: 6 … Continue reading →

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Burnsius, a New Genus of Skipper in the Mid-Atlantic

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Rick

  Given that tomorrow is April 1 (aka April Fools’ Day) I figured I had best post this tonight so as not to be accused of making butterfly AFD jokes. Yes, it’s true — a new genus.  But … not … Continue reading →

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Common Wisdom About Monarch Genetics Likely Wrong

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Rick
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