sricher's Favorites

for @pdsmith, before it gets lost in my 'to photograph' stash...
Not sure on the id but think its be best fit. was fresh enough to still be hinged when I picked it up but it broke apart after I washed and dried it out.

I think Pearl Crescent by the black lines across the orange area on the upper side of the hind wing, but I’m confused by the ROM field guide to butterflies of Ontario that says Northern Crescents tend to have orange antennae clubs and Pearl Crescent tend to have black tipped antennae, but the photos they include of the species show the pearl having orange-ish tips to its antennae…?

Larva found crawling on road, faster than one would expect; was placed on leaf to photograph, but understandably it was really not cooperative and intent on motoring away; no spot to pull over on the road and traffic behind me so this photo session was a quickie

Found on the ground crossing an access road, so there is no host plant information. There is a doppelganger for this specimen here http://bugguide.net/node/view/437425, which was found in Lake Superior Provincial Park, which is identified as Hemaris thetis by David Wagner (caterpillar guru); I am aware H. thetis is considered restricted to the west, but now that fellow's image (#437425) is not the only one that looks H. thetis-y in Ontario... I contacted an entomologist at Cornell who stated the colour of the caudal horn on my specimen looks good for Hemaris gracilis, but that H. gracilis should have pink in the ridge circling the head, and mine doesn't fit H. thysbe either, and is definitely not H. diffinis...Help/theories are welcome!