The first butterfly is a great spangled fritillary
and the second butterfly I think is a common blue.
Congrats on your Butterflies!
crazy4bugs

Providing pictures is a very big help (great pictures BTW), but not enough information was given. Both of these families of bugs can be variable, with the differences between species and subspecies often very minor. At the very least, where they were seen is also needed for a better chance at a possitive ID. Several similar species may fly at the same location, but by knowing what that location is still helps to narrow the possible choices if you care to get down to subspecies level especially.

Sorry, of course I should have provided more info! I am in eastern Massachusetts. Is there any other info that would be helpful?

Sitali,

It's possible your first picture is an Atlantis Fritillary or Speyeria atlantis because of your location. It is a smaller BF than the GSF. Your BF looks very much like the picture of the AF in Butterflies through Binoculars.

Markings on the second butterfly ID it as a Summer Azure or Celastrina ladon neglecta.

Sandy

There has been a great number of Great Spangled Fritilaries this year in my area of CT. It's one of the few butterflies that's flying now in any number. They are so beautiful.

I've also seen a fair amount of summer azures too. Yesterday I had one nectaring on my Joe Pye weed. It's very hard to get a view of their topsides though. But when they fly, the blue is visible.

Sitali, have you seen many swallowtails? We've had a shortage of them here...Usually I'm raising Black Swallowtails by now. I released about 50 this spring and not one has returned to lay eggs!

Maryann in CT

Maryann, I'm having a surplus of BSTs right now in OKC. Started out a bit slow, but the last couple of weeks, I've been harvesting cats like crazy in all different sizes, and there are still eggs on my fennel.

It's about the only butterfly I have raised this summer, except for one RA and two Tobacco Sphinx.

I am finally seeing the GFs flying, so hopefully I'll get eggs soon.

Sitali, you must be in one of the northern states (east of the Rockies)? Those fritillaries are gorgeous!

Susan

Susan, I'm in Massachusetts.

Maryann, I have seen tiger swallowtails, but zero BSTs. I was hoping to raise some this year, as I've only raised monarchs in the past (with the exception of one late instar BST cat given to my son, which pupated and we had a big ol' ugly wasp emerge. That was an interesting one to explain to my 3 year old!) I have parsley in the garden but have seen no BSTs and no eggs. My butterfly bush has just started blooming vigorously, and if there are butterflies around, they usually find it, so I'm hoping some BSTs will show up.

Being in MA greatly helps with Speyeria ID's because you have few choices from this family compared to the western mountain states with dozens of species and subspecies. They can be very difficult to ID out here where several species fly together in the same locations. It's not S. a. aphrodite to me, and while it has some of the traits of S. a. atlantis, I believe it is a male Speyeria c. cybele myself.

Confusion with taxonomy of the Celestina complex will also confuse an answer. Authors just can't seem to get together on these, with some lumping and some splitting them. Some authors label them as two different species, C. ladon and C. neglecta, and further confuse the issue with a third species C. neglecta-major. They also used to be lumped under C. argiolus, a Eural-Asiatic species that does not fly in NA.

I think your Lycaenid is a Celestrina "neglecta" as it has the traits of the late summer form. It's not the spring form C. "ladon" IMO. (Note: until the verdict comes in, they are forms of the same bug in my book, not separate species - and hence making common names useless.)

BTW, locations need to include more detail, as in state/county in the US or what portion of a providence in Canada as some species do not fly in an entire state or providence.

HTH,

Larry

Maryann--I've got loads (well, to me) of Great Spangled Frits. The other day I counted and probably had about 10 in my yard, and probably 10 more of some other kind of frit. Didn't get any pics to ID that day.

Totally agree with you, Larry. Although the maps on the Butterflies and Moths website is still not truly accurate, they do help. For instance, Zebra Swallowtails are only found in far eastern Oklahoma. We don't see them in central Oklahoma where I live. Also, the Great Spangled Frits do not make it down this far, but are found in Northeast Oklahoma. So knowing the part of the state and the county is essential in ID'ing the most "likelihood" of species. That said, species have been known to wander off course into other areas not usually frequented, but it would be a rare sighting indeed.

Susan

Thank you so much, everyone! Is it clear yet that I'm new at this! *blush* I've been raising monarchs for a few years, but am really trying to learn about the other species around me. We don't get to see very many butterflies, unfortunately, so I'm trying to attract what I can!

I am in Massachusetts/Essex County.

Sitali,

I would say you are doing a super job attracting BFs. Those are two species not seen everyday in BYs. Keep up the good work. I have yet to see a Summer Azure in my yard, though I see them all the time in nearby wooded areas.

Larry, thanks for clarifying the IDs. I'm still new at figuring out what BFs are. I see the wide cream band on the hind wing that would indicate a Great Spangled.

Sandy

I can sympathize. I have been working very hard on my I.D.'ing skills this summer. Fritillaries have me beat (wait, skippers have me beat, fritillaries have me frustrated :)). The worst is that "fritillary" is attatched to four different genuses. Those little Bolorias, yeesh...

Here in Southwest Ohio the great spangled have been one of the few consistent large butterflies flying all season. We have had some variegated frits too.

We have lot's of little Celastrinas. I am with you Larry. The whole thing is mixed up. So, as of now, I just call them Celastrina or Azure. I had one laying eggs on the flower buds of my swamp milkweed. I couldn't believe it. So, I brought the flowers inside. I am waiting to see if anything develops. I bet the cats will be microscopic at first though, if they survive on milkweed blooms.

- Elisabeth

Just to add to ladobe's point about location and habitat:

In the east, the Great Spangled Fritillary has a cream-colored band in the hindwing postmedian (your picture shows that band just inside the row of silver spots on the edge of the hindwing, aka the "margin"). That sets him apart from the Aphrodite immediately (see picture below). By contrast, in the midwest, the cream-colored band may not be present.

The other distinguishing feature of the GS Frit is that it and the Aphrodite are the only two with green eyes, whereas the Atlantis has steel-gray eyes. I can't quite tell from your picture what the eye color is, but it leans towards green to my eye.

Jeff

Pic of Aphrodite (in front) being chased around by a confused amorous Great-Spangled (behind). He persisted for several minutes before the Aphrodite flew away in disgust. You can see clearly the cream band in the GSF that is absent in the Aphrodite.

{{gwi:505484}}

Susan,

I don't rely on any of the species maps on-line or on the taxonomy used in them for many reasons. I worked closely with Paul Opler and Ray Stanford when they were first being established, including making verification field trips with Paul. Some of the data they contain are taken from my personal field journals (I established many state/county species and other species records over the years). But the maps do have errors both ways IMO, with county records that are erroneous and others that are not recognized and should be. That is in part because of the taxonomy problems of what was considered species, subspecies or form level, and to some extent verification. Instead, I rely on my personal field work and my vast library of published books and papers for species accounts. I don't side completely with any one author, but do have several I follow mostly within their own specialty families of Lepidoptera. Much the same as why some folks follow mine within my specialty families. While I still may error, at least I error to the side of the majority of accepted researchers.

BTW, state/county records only scratch the surface of the records recorded by some researchers. Early/late flight, high/low elevation, carried in flight, oviposit numbers, larval food plant, nectaring food plant, habitat, stage characteristics, intergrades, aberrations, interactions, flight and habit patterns, parasitoids, etc, etc, etc are some of the other datum recorded by researchers with an eye for detail. And that datum sometimes helps in straightening out the taxonomy wars.

Elisabeth -

"Fritillary" is just another example of why common names are worthless and often misleading. Boloria, Euptoieta and Agraulis and not hard to identify between each other, or often between the species within each genus. But Speyeria can be quite variable and difficult for anyone but researchers who specialize in that genus. You learn that real quick when you do field work where several species/subspecies all fly together at the same time in the same location, and there are intergrades between species from within the same complex (there are four complexes of Speyeria in NA). I did extensive work with the Boloria and Euptoieta complexes, and quite a bit with Agraulis, so have little trouble with them. But even after all these years the Speyeria can still throw me for a loop. Luckily my field research partner for many years included Speyeria in his list of specialties, so he taught me a lot and kept me somewhat straight on them. But like anything else, you get out of practice by not doing, and I haven't actively sought Speyeria for many years (except for the S. carolae that is only found in a small area near where I live). So I am rusty on them.

At least most here only try to remember and deal with their local species. Try remembering the world species you've worked with sometime, especially those you did decades ago and haven't...

Good Heavens!
Butterflies are harder than birds & wildflowers put together. I have several field guides but still can't figure out what most of them are. I am just learning to use my digital camera but when I do you all will be the first people I call on for ID's. I too have some fritillary-looking BF but hesitate to guess-I have had Great Spangled before & don't believe these are the same (there are 2 different types besides the tentatively ID'd GSF). However now I'm not sure of my GS Frit ID either! I live in East Tennessee, don't know if that makes it easier or harder. If it's anything like plants, due to the Appalachians we have some very specific species. I love looking at all the pics here & enjoy the stories of raising BF's. I'm not ready for that adventure yet but provide plenty of nectar plants-mostly natives & some host plants.