Silver-spotted Skipper

Its eyes are satisfyingly smooth~

This is a silver-spotted skipper, or Epargyreus clarus. Looking at the linked page, there are some images of the caterpillar stage (image 1, image 2), which is a vivid bright green, but I’m more interested in what’s going on with that giant reddish bulb of a head. And where do the black eyes come from in that head?

Photo taken: Aug. 1, 2021

Question Mark

To be clear, it’s a butterfly, not a punctuation mark. The comma also exists.

This is a question mark, or Polygonia interrogationis. Why it could’ve have been named “question mark butterfly” (at the very least) is a mystery to me, but regardless, the name comes from two white markings on the underside of its wings that kinda-sorta look like a question mark. In my opinion, though, they look more like a semicolon.

Photo taken: Jul. 31, 2021

Small White

*slurp*
I wonder what nectar tastes like… Probably just liquidy honey?

This is Pieris rapae, better known by different names depending on what continent you live on. For Europe, it’s “small white.” For North America, it’s “cabbage white” or “cabbage butterfly.” Some combine those two for “small cabbage white.” For New Zealand, it’s “white butterfly.”

Photo taken: Sept. 6, 2020

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Apparently, butterflies have fluffy bodies too~

This is an eastern tiger swallowtail, or Papilio glaucus. Interestingly, there are two morphs a female butterfly of this species can take: a brightly-colored one or the dark one shown above. Males, however, can only take a brightly-colored form.

Photo taken: Sept. 6, 2020