Butterfly or Moth? / myLot

Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

July 27, 2016 8:26am CST

I'm not really sure since I've never seen one like this before and am not a bug expert. Saw it and grabbed a photo while on my morning walk today.

3 people like this

3 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl?

@owlwings (43915)

• Cambridge, England

27 Jul 16

I can say with 99% certainty that it's a butterfly. Moths have feathery antennae and butterflies have clubbed antennae, which is what your photo shows. It's hard to tell whether your photo is of the upper surface of the wings or the underside but either way, the patterning is beautiful. A good butterfly book for your area will probably allow you to identify it easily enough by the shape of the wings and by the markings.

1 person likes this

Just an Ordinary Owl?

@owlwings (43915)

• Cambridge, England

27 Jul 16

Actually, it looks most like the Black Swallowtail (especially the last photo on the page) shown here:

Black Swallowtail — wisconsinbutterflies.org

wisconsinbutterflies.org

Wisconsin Butterflies Search species Papilio polyxenes The Black Swallowtail is a common butterfly in Wisconsin. It commonly feeds on many different members of the Parsley family, including parsley, carrots, dill, and parsnip. It may also feed on Common Ru

Steve Helmer

@srhelmer (7029)

• Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

27 Jul 16

@owlwings That's possible. I haven't actually seen one before. But, I only very recently started spending more time in the marsh areas and there's a lot of birds, insects, etc that aren't in town.

1 person likes this

LegTech

@rina110383 (24495)

•

28 Jul 16

Looks like a butterfly to me. Excellent shot!

1 person likes this

John Roberts

@JohnRoberts (109857)

• Los Angeles, California

27 Jul 16

I would say butterfly as its wings are similar to a monarch.

1 person likes this