More Butterflies

Butterfly specimens are always so hard to find, but luckily for us, they've been cropping up everywhere lately.  Or rather, they've been cropping up in parking lots lately.

We've recently stumbled across quite a number of butterflies, deceased or dying, in store parking lots.  Most are injured (probably hit by a car), but some appear to have just reached their end naturally.

I could never collect and kill (that's just not me, I just couldn't do it) so it's always such a thrill to find a butterfly that is already deceased and in perfect condition.  These recent finds have been making me happy:

One we haven't identified yet.  I'm thinking I might try relaxing this one in order to spread it's wings.  I've never tried doing that before!

A Buckeye.  We only found the wings.  I'm assuming that the ants took off with the rest of it.

A Red Spotted Purple.  They're really quite blue and very beautiful.  But as much as I love the top of them...

...the underside is even more beautiful if you ask me.

And a Spicebush Swallowtail.  I love the colors on this one as well--it looks like someone sprinkled blue glitter all over the wings!

I recently looked at a butterfly checklist for our area and discovered that there are at least 100 different species here.  In looking at our "bug book" photos and our specimen collection--I think the girls and I have "collected" about ten species.  Obviously, we have a long ways to go before we've spotted them all!