A large butterfly - 5 or 6 inch wingspan
These were all over this section of the cemetery, but not a single one was open. It was cold and windy on this first day of spring.
I took a specimen home and examined it under my dissecting microscope. The scape below the involucre is glabrous, and most of the basal leaves have a similar shape to the involucre, which is on the lower part of the scape. A third characteristic are the long hairs on the underside of the sepals.
4 characteristics that I now look for in this species: the scape below the involucre is glabrous, the involucre is located on the lower part of the scape, the basal leaves are similar in shape to the involucre, and there are long hairs on the underside of the sepals.
New one for me?