Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Poanes zabulon’

Zabulon Skipper butterfly (?)

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2025| 2 Comments »

It is tough to get a proper exposure during the harsh midday sunlight—all too often the image will be overexposed. I sometimes will deliberately compensate by underexposing the subject, which has the effect of significantly darkening the background of the image. This doesn’t always work, but I like the dramatic result that I got when I photographed this little skipper butterfly during a visit earlier this week to Huntley Meadows Park.

As I have noted in multiple post over the years, skipper butterflies are really tough to identify. I looked over lots of images on-line and have concluded that this might be a Zabulon Skipper butterfly (Poanes zabulon) or possibly a Peck’s Skipper butterfly (Polites peckius).

Why did I go with “Zabulon” in the title of this post rather than “Peck’s?” The answer is quite simple is not a scientific determination—I think the name “Zabulon” is a lot cooler than “Peck’s.”

Zabulon Skipper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

Read Full Post »

Skipper in September

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, plants, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2024| 2 Comments »

Recently I have featured numerous large, beautiful butterflies feeding on blooming plants, especially thistles. Today, I decided to turn the spotlight to the smaller, more nondescript butterflies, commonly referred to as skippers, that have been equally active and visible in recent weeks.

According to Wikipedia, there are more than 3500 species of skipper butterflies in the world and many of the species are visually similar in appearance. For that reason, I am especially cautious in trying to identify one of these small butterflies. Sometimes I will request assistance in identifying specimens in one of many Facebook groups to which I belong. I have learned the “secret” to getting a response—if I make a misidentification, some experts who might not help me with an identification will feel compelled to correct me.

I spotted the little beauty in the photo below last week while I was exploring a patch of flowers at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. It might be a Peck’s Skipper (Polites peckius), but to me it looks a bit more like a Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon). Whatever the case, I like the way that I was able to capture the butterfly in action, sipping nectar with its proboscis fully extended.

Peck's Skipper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

Read Full Post »

Zabulon Skipper butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on May 27, 2023| 5 Comments »

There are lots of different species of skipper butterflies in my area and it is hard for me to tell them apart. I spotted this beautiful little butterfly last Wednesday at Green Spring Gardens, just a few miles from where I live. I think that it is a Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon), although it might possibly be the similar-looking Peck’s butterfly. I’d like to say that there is a scientific reason why I chose Zabulon over Peck’s, but it really is because I think that Zabulon is the cooler name of the two—I love the exotic sound of the word “Zabulon.”

I tried to get down to eye-level with the butterfly when I photographed it so that the background would fall away into a pleasant green blur and was largely successful. I like too that I was able to capture some of the green striations in the leaf on which the butterfly is perched and those little lines help to lead the viewer’s eyes to the butterfly.

Zabulon Skipper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Zabulon Skipper

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 10, 2019| 1 Comment »

Earlier this week I spotted this male Zabulon Skipper butterfly (Poanes zabulon) while I was exploring Occoquan Regional Park. I am not one hundred percent sure of my identification, given that there are hundreds of different species of skipper butterflies, but I am hoping that I am correct for the simple reason that I find the name “Zabulon” to be exceptionally cool. As some of you may know from the URL for my site, my middle initial is Q, which stands for Quentin, and I am irresistibly drawn to names that begin with infrequently used letters like Q, X, and Z.

In terms of the image itself, I really like the way that the warm orange tones of the butterfly stand out amidst the cooler shades of green in the foreground and in the background.

Zabulon Skipper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

Read Full Post »

Skipper butterfly and flower

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 16, 2018| 7 Comments »

I can’t identify this flower and I am not certain what kind of skipper butterfly this is, but the two of them sure did combine well in this image that I captured this past weekend at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. (I’m leaning towards this being a Peck’s Skipper (Polites peckius), but there are so many different kinds of skippers that it’s hard to be sure.)

In many ways this is the kind of image that I aspire to capture. The subject is active, engaged in probing the flower with its extended proboscis, rather than in a static pose. Of equal importance, the image has an artistic feel, a kind of beauty in its composition and colors. There are so many uncontrollable elements in nature that there is no way to guarantee results like this, but it is sure is nice when it happens.

UPDATE: Helpful folks on Facebook and readers of this blog have helped to identify the butterfly as a Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon) and the flower as an Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana). Thanks, Drew and Molly.

skipper and flower

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

Read Full Post »