Pearly-eye on the Web?

Pearly-eye in the morning - REK

On awakening, I saw a small butterfly clinging upside down on the bedroom window pane.  After considering how and why it was there, I got up and could see it was a Northern Pearly-eye, Lethe anthedon.  I photographed it with my cellphone and that got me thinking about technology and the pace of change in knowledge.

Bugguide via Creative Commons

L. anthedon was first named by A. H, Clarke in 1936 and a field guide describes the different names and spellings over time.  These would have been scattered in academic papers, known and argued over by a few experts in universities.  Finding this fact alone would have required searching through field guides 10 years ago.  Now I can find its history, lifecycle and foods on my iPad, computer, or even my cellphone if I have the patience to type on the small screen.

Black club bases - BG

At Explorer.natureserve.org I can see its frequency in individual states as well as if it is threatened and by what factors.  Instead of thumbing through a field guide a page at a time, I can identify a Pearly-eye in seconds by sending a picture to INaturalist.*  However this gives a somewhat ranked likely identification as discussed below.

If I am still unsure, sending it to Bugguide lets experts evaluate the photograph.  This however may take weeks or months, depending on which volunteer expert checks in.  Which Pearly-eye species is it?  "Similar to other pearly-eyes, but more northern in range, bases of antennal clubs black."

In this case INaturalist ranked Pearly-eye as the first choice.  I had sent my original picture in before cropping and color correcting it to the picture above.  Su Lynn Rogers saw the blog and suggested that it might be a Hackberry Emperor.  Looking at the photo closely I discovered she was right.  I submitted the improved photo and the Hackberry Emperor moved to Number one and Pearly-eye dropped to 4th choice.

What it eats  (grass and occasional sedge species) and  how it lives have been studied and documented by academics, grad students and obsessive naturalists.  These details were recorded in scattered papers but are now available instantly on BAMONA.

Duke, the dog -Canus familaris

Need a better photograph?  Searching Bugguide images instantly brings up lots, many tagged for Creative Commons where they can be shared without a copyright.

Most of these advances in technology have occurred in the lifespan of our dog Duke, not that he particularly cares.  But we do.