CHECKERED WHITE & FALCATE ORANGETIP
I was testing my new camera at Oakes Quarry, and I was practicing on Cabbage White butterflies because not much else was flying. Imagine my surprise when I looked through the viewfinder and saw a Checkered White instead of a Cabbage White! It looked just like the Cabbage Whites from a distance.
This is a female Checkered White butterfly, photographed at Cox Arboretum in 2012. Females are more heavily marked than the males.
Male Checkered White butterfly. This species is rare in our part of Ohio. I had a few sightings in September and October 2012, which was a good year for migratory butterflies. Then after that, I didn't see another Checkered White until I found this lone male on September 25, 2021.
This is a Falcate Orangetip, photographed on April 30, 2022, at Hocking Hills. This species is not known to occur in the Dayton area, but they are found just to our south near Cincinnati and in eastern Ohio.
Only male Falcate Orangetips have orange on their wings (females do not). This species is smaller than the Cabbage White, and they have a weaker flight. The first time I saw a Falcate Orangetip, I thought it was some type of moth because the flight was so weak and fluttery.
