View allAll Photos Tagged questionmark
It is a three mile round trip walk between Montrose and Belmont, and yesterday the only butterflies were Cabbage Whites and a Sulpher. Today one stretch had a couple of these guys. Nice and fresh looking they were. Told apart from Commas by the longer tails since we cannot see the underwing.
Good morning everyone and I hope you had a nice weekend. Featured for Butterfly Monday is the Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis). Also sometimes known as an Angelwing butterfly along with its close cousin the Eastern Comma. The easiest way to differentiate between the two is the unique marking on the underside of the hind wing, but another way is the extra wing spot, or bar, on the top side of the forewing, which the Question Mark has, but the Eastern Comma lacks.
Like the Eastern Comma, the Question Mark has two seasonal forms, summer and fall/winter. This is called seasonal dimorphism. The above is a summer form butterfly...it has much darker coloring on the hindwings. The summer form also has generally less developed "swallowtails" than the fall/winter form. I took the liberty to post a pic in the comment section of a fall/winter Question Mark photographed in 2010 so you can see the difference between the two forms.
As for these photos, the above two were taken at the reclaimed strip mine of the butterfly feeding on tree sap. Unfortunately the butterfly isn't the best of specimens, but with butterflies being scarce as they are this year I can't afford to be choosey.
As a reminder, don't forget to click on "view previous comments" if you don't see the individual photos in the comment section. Even better, scroll to them by clicking on the arrow thingy to the right of the above pic. And if you want to view any picture in the comment section large all you have to do is click on it where you'll also find the full text describing this butterfly.
Thank you for stopping by...and I hope you have a truly great day and week.
Lacey
This is a picture of a Question Mark Butterfly on the North Tract of the Patuxent Research Refuge near Fort Meade, Maryland.
Laurel Quad
A Question Mark butterfly, Polygonia interrogationis, in the Leslie Street garden allotments, Toronto.
This is a "deep" exposure of the constellations of Cassiopeia the Queen and Cepheus the King, to pick up the many reddish emission nebulas in the area, some relatively bright, but others very faint and extensive throughout this region of the northern Milky Way. Also in the frame are many open star clusters. The distinctive 5 stars of the W of Cassiopeia are at left.
Included are:
- The Heart and Soul Nebulas, at left, consisting of IC 1848 at left (the Soul) and IC 1805 at right (the Heart).
- Below them is the bright Double Cluster, NGC 869 and NGC 884, in Perseus.
- Above the middle star of the W, Gamma Cassiopeiae, are the wispy reflection nebulas, IC 59 and IC 63, known as the Ghost of Cassiopeia. They are the tip of a larger mass of faint emission nebulas.
- At lower left beside the yellow star Schedir is the bright Pacman Nebula, NGC 281.
- At lower left, beside the 5th star of the W, Caph, is the cluster NGC 7789, aka Caroline's Rose.
- At top centre is the complex of nebulosity known as the Question Mark, consisting of NGC 7822 (at top), Cederblad 214 (middle) and Sharpless 2-170 as the lower dot of the question mark.
- At centre is the cluster Messier 52 amid a mass of faint nebulosity.
- At right is the large circular nebula IC 1396 in Cepheus, popularly called the Elephant Trunk
- The large dark nebula Le Gentil 3 is at far right
- Below it is the Dark Cigar Nebula B168 flanked by the star clusters NGC 7209 and M39.
The field is also rich in dark lanes of dust and faint reflection nebulas.
Technical:
This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered exposures:
- A stack of 72 x 1-minute exposures through an Astronomik dual narrowband UHC clip-in filter, at ISO 1600.
- A stack of 21 x 1-minute exposures through a mild light pollution filter, a 95mm NISI Night, at ISO 800.
- A single exposure through a 95mm Tiffen Black Mist filter contributed some of the star glows on the bright stars.
- All at f/2 with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 35mm, on the red-sensitive Canon Ra, and on the MSM Nomad tracker.
I eliminated the stars from the UHC set so it contributes just the nebulosity (or much of it).
Taken from the very dark skies of the Cypress Hills, Alberta, at the Southern Alberta Star Party, September 23, 2025.
Riddler: What's black and blue and going forwards will tend to be wet all over?
Doctor: I don't have the foggiest notion!
Polygonia interrogationis. Strange name, strange shape for a butterfly. Deep inside a bush beside Polishing Pond, Fulshear TX
Polygonia interrogationis. Strange name, strange shape for a butterfly. Deep inside a bush beside Polishing Pond, Fulshear TX
...being four (4) Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) and one (1) Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) butterfly.
ISO400, aperture f/8, exposure .003 seconds (1/320) focal length 300mm
Whenever I have big questions, I stop by here, so I can end that question.
At least then I know I have my questions right, right?
WAH- April. Existential
Date: 00:46:52JST Aug.4, 2019
Location: Izu City, Shizuoka Pref., Japan
Optics: Vixen VSD100F3.8+V0.79x (300mm f/3.0)
Mount: Hobym Observatory CRUX170HD
Camera: Nikon D810A
ISO speed: 1600
Exposure: 38x180sec.
(Taken by Mr.TMT)
Processing: PixInsight
(Processed by BLUEMOON LIFE)
Last year I followed sculptor and friend Mark Rietmeijer during the process of creating a sculpture. When he started working on a new one he asked me to make pictures again.
This time the material is Norwegian Pink - Rose Norwegian, composite marble, multiple stratification, 50 x 70 x 80 cm., 480 kgms.
Adagium to his new sculpture: I never tackled or solved any problems in my life, but instead I learn to dance with them and by considering them as 'questionmarks with wings' I try to escape their weight and gravity.
Mark Rietmeijers website: www.markrietmeijer.nl/
www.markrietmeijer.nl/index-eng.html
See the slideshow: www.flickr.com/photos/simeon_barkas/sets/7215760382723853...
See also the slideshow of CREATION I: www.flickr.com/photos/simeon_barkas/sets/7215760022455440...