Rounded Metalmark - Calephelis perditalis

Check out Rawson's Metalmark

I think that's what this is, a rarer species than Fatal. Found it in Butterflies through Binoculars The West, page 128. The Fatal Metalmarks (aka Dusky) I've seen in southern California are more towards shades of dull brown in color, and the shape of the wing tips are more pointy. Watcha think?

Also, check this link:
http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/biodiv/lepidopt/lycaenid/nemesis.htm

… Ron Hemberger, 10 April, 2006 - 7:03pm

Relooking at this one

I'm not sure that it might not even be a male Rounded Metalmark on the same page in Butterflies through Binos the West. The group leaders in the NABA conference identified it as a Fatal, so I just took their word for it.
These are as bad a duskywings.

… tom murray, 11 April, 2006 - 10:34pm

Yeah, I had a hassle with mine, too.

The site I directed you to is operated by a person who's now a friend. Our first contact was over what I thought was Fatal and he said Wright's. It took a field trip for him to change his mind.

Nice shot and nice specimin, at any rate.

… Ron Hemberger, 11 April, 2006 - 11:08pm

Moved

I'm moving this to the Rounded Metalmark page, since it looks like that, and Rawson's is rare.

… tom murray, 11 April, 2006 - 11:35pm

Got to thinking

Here in Orange County, we're fortunate to have a couple good lists of area butterfiles. One is from a local university, and the other is from USGS. Is there a USGS list specific to your area? If so, it may help define which butterfiles can be expected. For instance, we have only three metalmarks here, and the Behr's/Morman version is easy to id, thus simplifying things all around.

I think you have a lot more species there; we have fewer than 70 butterflies and I know the Wichita, KS area has about double that. Texas, I believe, is also blessed.

… Ron Hemberger, 12 April, 2006 - 8:51am

Lots of Texas species

I'm from Massachusetts, and photographed a bunch of butterflies on a trip to southern Texas for the NABA (North American Butterfly Assn.) biennial meeting. So I'm not sure what's available for local lists. I'll use the rule of thumb, when I can't distinguish between a common and a rare species, most of the time I'll be correct choosing the common one.

… tom murray, 12 April, 2006 - 4:13pm

Certainly a good approach

I posted a couple Fatal Metalmark images today. After looking at mine and yours online, I'm surprised at how alike they look at the smaller displayed size. The book has a similar effect. There does seem to be a major difference when the images are on screen and upsized.

My guess is that larger-than-life images may be simpler to i.d. than even the real thing. It still isn't easy, but we have it better than birders, i.e. no juvenile and no seasonal plumage to deal with, plus there's often little difference in overall appearance between male and female.

Keep those butterflies coming!

… Ron Hemberger, 12 April, 2006 - 7:14pm