Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • This absolutely stunning hoary comma butterfly was chased down and photographed in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park on a hot summer day. Common throughout most of Canada, this member of the brushfoot family of butterflies can also be found in most of the western United States at high altitudes where it searches for wild currant flowers.
    Hoary Comma
  • A California tortoiseshell butterfly photographed in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park on a hot summer day. This West Coast member of the brushfoot family of butterflies is a real beauty, and can be found mostly anywhere in the United States from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, and sometimes further east in search of its favorite larval food source, buckbrushes.
    California Tortoiseshell
  • The perfectly camouflaged underwings hide the brilliantly orange and black-pattered dorsal side of a California tortoiseshell butterfly, photographed here in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park. This West Coast member of the brushfoot family of butterflies is a real beauty, and can be found mostly anywhere in the United States from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, and sometimes further east in search of its favorite larval food source, buckbrushes.
    California Tortoiseshell (Underwing ..iew)
  • This near-perfect example of a Palamedes swallowtail was photographed deep in the Shark River region of the Florida Everglades. Found from coastal Virginia to Eastern Texas it is found throughout all of Florida.
    Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palam..des)
  • A gulf fritillary butterfly feeds on a buttonbush flower in Southern Georgia.
    Gulf Fritillary
  • Perfectly camouflaged underwings of the absolutely stunningly orange hoary comma butterfly that was chased down and photographed in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park on a hot summer day. Common throughout most of Canada, this member of the brushfoot family of butterflies can also be found in most of the western United States at high altitudes where it searches for wild currant flowers.
    Hoary Comma (Underwing View)
  • This attractive aster-loving skipper butterfly is found in the western half of North America from Northern Mexico to Southern Canada, and can be quite variable in appearance,  and coloration, but the distinct wing markings make it easy to identify. This one was found near Jackson, Wyoming where dozens were seen feeding on summer wildflowers in a field.
    Western Branded Skipper
  • This attractive aster-loving skipper butterfly is found in the western half of North America from Northern Mexico to Southern Canada, and can be quite variable in appearance,  and coloration, but the distinct wing markings make it easy to identify. This one was found near Jackson, Wyoming where dozens were seen feeding on summer wildflowers in a field.
    Western Branded Skipper
  • This attractive aster-loving skipper butterfly is found in the western half of North America from Northern Mexico to Southern Canada, and can be quite variable in appearance,  and coloration, but the distinct wing markings make it easy to identify. This one was found near Jackson, Wyoming where dozens were seen feeding on summer wildflowers in a field.
    Western Branded Skipper
  • A male acmon blue butterfly in Central Washington drinks moisture from the mud after a soaking summer rain in the rural canyons south of Yakima, Washington.
    Acmon Blue Close-up
  • This medium sized skipper was found flying around in the Talquin State Forest near Quincy, Fl.
    Silver-Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus c..rus)
  • Gray hairstreak in the Celery Fields of Sarasota County, Florida. This is an AMAZING place to search for butterflies ... they are everywhere in every shape, size, and color!
    Gray Hairstreak
  • A salt marsh skipper feeding on beggarticks (a type of wild aster)  in the southern part of the Fakahatchee Strand where fresh and saltwater meet.
    Salt Marsh Skipper (Panoquina panoquin)
  • Monarch Butterflies enjoying a last meal before heading across the Gulf of Mexico for Central America. These were seen along the coast in the thousands at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson County.
    Monarch Migration
  • Three male zebra longwings were excitedly waiting for this new female to emerge from her pupa in the Corkscrew Swamp in SW Florida. This is a common mating practice for longwings.
    Zebra Longwing Mating Ritual
  • A pair of Monarch butterflies "getting busy" on some sea oats making the next generation of monarchs that will continue their multi-generational migration to or from Mexico to the Northern United States and Canada. These were found and photographed on Pensacola Beach on the Florida Panhandle, which is very likely their last stop on dry land before they fly southwest over the Gulf of Mexico over hundreds of miles of open water.
    Monarch Butterfly Couple
  • A pair of Monarch butterflies "getting busy" on some sea oats making the next generation of monarchs that will continue their multi-generational migration to or from Mexico to the Northern United States and Canada. These were found and photographed on Pensacola Beach on the Florida Panhandle, which is very likely their last stop on dry land before they fly southwest over the Gulf of Mexico over hundreds of miles of open water.
    Pairing Monarch Butterflies
  • Found primarily around the western half of North America, and more concentrated toward the Pacific Coast, this attractive little looper moth (Protitame subalbaria) with no common name was found next to a creek in a small aspen-filled canyon in the middle of the sagebrush desert near Ellensburg, Washington.
    Protitame subalbaria-1.jpg
  • A subspecies of the common ringlet,  the northwest ringlet is a member of the satyr subfamily of brushfoot butterflies and is a regular sight in the grasslands and plains of the northern western states with a slightly lighter coloration with brighter oranges.  This one was found near a lake in the sagebrush desert or rural Grant County in Central Washington.
    NorthwestRinglet-1.jpg
  • A gorgeous one-eyed sphinx moth rests on a birch tree in Kent, Washington on a breezy early summer morning. Found primarily in the Rocky and Cascade Mountain Ranges as well as along most of the US-Canadian border where there is ample poplar and willow (host species) trees, these large perfectly camouflaged moths will flash their brightly-colored warning signs including "false eyes" if disturbed.
    One-Eyed Sphinx Moth-4.jpg
  • A gorgeous one-eyed sphinx moth rests on a birch tree in Kent, Washington on a breezy early summer morning. Found primarily in the Rocky and Cascade Mountain Ranges as well as along most of the US-Canadian border where there are ample poplar and willow (host species) trees, these large perfectly camouflaged moths will flash their brightly-colored warning signs including "false eyes" if disturbed.
    One-Eyed Sphinx Moth-5.jpg
  • A gorgeous one-eyed sphinx moth rests on a birch tree in Kent, Washington on a breezy early summer morning. Found primarily in the Rocky and Cascade Mountain Ranges as well as along most of the US-Canadian border where there is ample poplar and willow (host species) trees, these large perfectly camouflaged moths will flash their brightly-colored warning signs including "false eyes" if disturbed.
    One-Eyed Sphinx Moth-2.jpg
  • A gorgeous one-eyed sphinx moth rests on a birch tree in Kent, Washington on a breezy early summer morning. Found primarily in the Rocky and Cascade Mountain Ranges as well as along most of the US-Canadian border where there are ample poplar and willow (host species) trees, these large perfectly camouflaged moths will flash their brightly-colored warning signs including "false eyes" if disturbed.
    One-Eyed Sphinx Moth-3.jpg
  • A male stella orangetip butterfly feeds on the nectar of blooming wax currants in Central Oregon near Bend. This is a subspecies of the in the sara orangetip complex, and is mostly found in the Pacific Northwest east of the Cascades where the habitat is much more arid and dry.
    Male Stella Orangetip
  • Close-up view of a Boisduval's blue (Icaricia icarioides), a small member of the gossamer-wing butterfly family collecting moisture from the edge of a creek in Kittitas County, Washington.
    Boisduval's Blue Butterfly
  • A pair of Boisduval's blues, land briefly just after a summer rain in the hot, arid sagebrush country of Kittitas County, Washington. This shot shows both the forewing, and the hindwing.
    Boisduval's Blue Butterflies
  • Typical coloration of the northwestern form of the variable checkerspot butterfly pausing near the side of a creek, photographed here in Kittitas County, Washington.
    Variable Checkerspot
  • Typical coloration of the northwestern form of the variable checkerspot butterfly drinking from the mud at the side of a creek, photographed here in Kittitas County, Washington.
    Variable Checkerspot
  • A beautiful white and orange male ruddy copper butterfly rests on a local aster in the White River National Forest near Aspen, Colorado below the Rocky Mountain's Maroon Bells on a sunny summer morning.
    Ruddy Copper
  • This very common large yellow butterfly is found across a huge range, from Southern Ontario in Canada to as far south as Argentina. This individual is a male (the female has slightly more of a pattern on the underside of the wings, but not much) and was photographed feeding on caesarweed nectar just outside of Naples, Florida on the outskirts of the Corkscrew Swamp.
    Cloudless Sulphur
  • A member of one of the most fascinating moths with the most ornate caterpillars, the spotted tussock moth in its larval stage is quite common throughout most of North America. This one was found in a grove of alders busily feeding on a fallen leaf in the Hoh Rain Forest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
    Spotted Tussock Moth Caterpillar
  • An American snout moth resting on a fern on West Tiger Mountain in Washington. These common moths are found across much of North America, but when they are found in more northern mountainous regions, the bold patterns tend to have less contrast and blend together rather than show distinct bands.
    American Snout
  • A long-tailed skipper in the dog-days of summer in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in North Florida.
    Long-Tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)
  • This tiny butterfly was photographed near the Ochlockonee River in North Florida.
    Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe)
  • Palamedes swallowtail on a thistle in the Okaloacoochee Slough in South-Central Florida, Hendry County.
    Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palam..des)
  • This large four-inch yellow moth was hanging around our front porch for a couple days in Tallahassee, Florida. After several bad attempts at photographing it, I finally got it right with a ring flash at about 2AM on the sidewalk.
    Imperial Moth
  • Cloudless sulphur in early fall at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.
    Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
  • An eastern tiger swallowtail rests on a pond cypress limb in the early morning light, gathering the warmth it will need to power up its flight muscles in the Six-Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Fl.
    Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio g..cus)
  • A great southern white butterfly chased down and photographed among the mangroves on Coquina Beach, in Manatee County, Florida.
    Great Southern White (Ascia monuste)
  • This perfect example of an eastern tiger swallowtail is resting on a wild primrose bush deep in the Corkscrew Swamp of Collier County, Florida.
    Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio g..cus)
  • Male cloudless sulphur seen at Wakulla Springs in northern Florida on an exotic red spider lily.
    Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
  • Close-up of a long-tailed skipper in the Florida Caverns State Park.
    Long-Tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)
  • Whirlabout skipper photographed in the Talquin State Forest just north of Tallahassee, Florida.
    Whirlabout (Polites vibex)
  • Silver spotted skipper deep in a swamp in Collier County, Florida.
    Silver-Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus c..rus)
  • Gray hairstreak butterfly feeding on a blazing star wildflower in the CREW Marsh Hiking Trails in Collier County, Florida.
    Gray Hairstreak
  • A pair of ceraunus blues creating the next generation of butterflies in the Celery Fields of Sarasota County, Florida.
    Mating Ceraunus Blue Butterflies
  • One of Florida's most beautiful hairstreaks - the tiny red-banded hairstreak is found often in rural fields and oak hammocks.
    Red-Banded Hairstreak
  • The large and beautiful mangrove skipper on the shore of an estuary on Sanibel Island.
    Mangrove Skipper (Phocides pigmalion)
  • The uncommon mallow  scrub hairstreak seen here in the CREW Marsh Hiking Trails in Collier County, Florida is often found near palmettos and other pine scrub plants.
    Mallow Scrub Hairstreak
  • The tiny and beautifully detailed cassius blue in close-up. These fast fliers are very difficult to catch standing still.
    Cassius Blue
  • Perhaps the world's most popular and favorite moth, found here among the ravines and nameless creeks near the Aplalachicola River in North Florida.
    Luna Moth
  • The minute and exceedingly frustrating to photograph Cassius blue resting for a moment to feed on the nectar of a common beggar-tick flower.
    Cassius Blue
  • Fulvous hairstreak resting on a palmetto frond in the CREW Marsh Hiking Trails in Collier County, Florida. This is one of the most beautiful of all the hairstreaks!
    Fulvous Hairstreak
  • Of all the tiny butterflies found in Florida, the little metalmark is by far the easiest to photograph. This one posed beautifully for me in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Little Metalmark
  • While uncommon in Florida, this pair of common wood nymph butterflies was obviously preoccupied from their normal habit of flying away and landing on the other side of pine trees to escape being photographed!
    Mating Common Wood Nymphs
  • Male common buckeye on Sanibel Island.
    Common Buckeye
  • Southern pearly eye chased all over the place then photographed in Paynes Prairie State Park, Alachua County, Fl.
    Southern Pearly Eye
  • Julia butterfly flying from flower to flower in the CREW Marsh Hiking Trails in Collier County, Florida. This one is absolutely stunning to see in person!
    Julia
  • Queen butterfly feeding on a wildflower in the Big Cypress National Preserve. This is a butterfly nearly always found in and around wetlands in South Florida with lots of wildflowers.
    Queen
  • White Peacock feeding on common beggar's-ticks in the Fakahatchee Strand in SW Florida. These are extremely common on hot, humid mornings in the southern part of the state.
    White Peacock
  • Hackberry butterfly resting after being chased down for a period of time and finally photographed near the Apalachicola River at Torreya State Park on the Florida Panhandle.
    Hackberry Butterfly
  • Female common buckeye in the Big Cypress National Preserve, off of Loop Road.
    Common Buckeye
  • Red Spotted Purple seen in Madison County, Florida. It was chased up an old Indian Mound (Letchworth Mound) and somehow managed to be photographed by an out-of-breath photographer!
    Red-Spotted Purple
  • The bronzed cutworm moth is an attractive medium-sized moth is common in the Pacific Northwest where it favors cool, wet forests. This one was found at the top of Washington's Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains on a bright, sunny June afternoon.
    Bronzed Cutworm Moth
  • One of the largest giant silk moths we have in North America, the Polyphemus moth is found pretty much everywhere in North America from southern Canada and all of the lower forty-eight states except for Nevada and Arizona. This extraordinary large six-inch specimen was spotted at a rest area in Madison County, Florida struggling with a particularly windy afternoon on a chilly North Florida winter morning.
    Polyphemus Moth
  • As far as moths go, most of the smaller ones are pretty much drab and forgettable. Not the the red-fringed emerald. With a beautiful emerald green coloration with ruby red highlights and details, This one-inch beauty caught my eye as I was it resting on some wood one afternoon in Tallahassee, Florida. This moth can be found across much of the eastern half of North America from Florida to New Brunswick in the Canadian Maritimes west to Ontario to Texas back down in the south.
    Red-fringed Emerald Moth
  • A pair of Monarch butterflies "getting busy" on some sea oats making the next generation of monarchs that will continue their multi-generational migration to or from Mexico to the Northern United States and Canada. These were found and photographed on Pensacola Beach on the Florida Panhandle, which is very likely their last stop on dry land before they fly southwest over the Gulf of Mexico over hundreds of miles of open water.
    Mating Monarch Butterflies
  • A male juba skipper pauses for a moment on a clump of asters on a windy spring day on Whiskey Dick Mountain in Central Washington just west of the Columbia River near Vantage. Similar in appearance to other related skipper species in the sagebrush deserts and plains of the northern western states, this one is dependent on certain native grasses for their young to eat.
    Juba Skipper
  • A gorgeous one-eyed sphinx moth rests on a birch tree in Kent, Washington on a breezy early summer morning. Found primarily in the Rocky and Cascade Mountain Ranges as well as along most of the US-Canadian border where there is ample poplar and willow (host species) trees, these large perfectly camouflaged moths will flash their brightly-colored warning signs including "false eyes" if disturbed.
    One-Eyed Sphinx Moth-1.jpg
  • This attractive little autumnal moth was found on the side of a moss-covered tree stump in Bellevue, Washington on a fall afternoon. Very common, all in North America and Europe, it is highly variable in color and pattern and is associated with birch trees.
    Autumnal Moth (Epirrita autumnata)
  • Side-view of an acmon blue butterfly in Central Washington in bright late-afternoon sunlight. This tiny butterfly has a wingspan of just over an inch.
    Acmon Blue
  • A super-energetic group of Boisduval's blues, drink up water quickly after a summer rain in the hot, arid sagebrush country of Kittitas County, Washington.
    Boisduval's Blue Butterflies
  • A hydaspe fritillary pauses briefly in a drying puddle of mud to drink after a sudden summer storm below Mount Rainier in Kittitas County, Washington.
    Hydaspe Fritillary
  • In an arid environment, after a good rain is a great time for finding butterflies such as this woodland skipper in Central Washington.
    Woodland Skipper
  • Touted as the world's smallest butterfly (at least this is true in North America) this one was one of hundreds I found at late dusk in the Moab Desert all seemingly asleep among a few bushes on the side of the road in Arches National Park in Eastern Utah. The wingspan at best is half an inch.
    Western Pygmy-Blue
  • Touted as the world's smallest butterfly (at least this is true in North America) this one was one of hundreds I found at late dusk in the Moab Desert all seemingly asleep among a few bushes on the side of the road in Arches National Park in Eastern Utah. The wingspan at best is half an inch.
    Western Pygmy-Blue
  • An incredibly tiny western pygmy-blue sits motionless in a shrub on a hot summer evening in the Moab Desert in Eastern Utah.
    Western Pygmy-Blue
  • A rare view of the opened wings of a live western-pygmy-blue in Utah's Moab Desert. Touted as the world's smallest butterfly (at least this is true in North America) this one was one of hundreds I found at late dusk in Arches National Park in Eastern Utah. The wingspan at best is half an inch.
    Western Pygmy-Blue
  • A Mormon metalmark rests midday on a warm late-summer day just east of Provo, Utah in a canyon clearing full of wildflowers and magpies.
    Mormon Metalmark
  • A female Horace's duskywing rests on some sort of aster just outside of Punta Gorda, Florida in a pineland scrub. A somewhat small and plain member of the skipper family of butterflies (and easily confused for a moth) this easily photographed  species has a home range from all over the Eastern United States and all the way west to the Rocky Mountains, which is an effective natural barrier.
    Horace's Duskywing
  • An acmon blue butterfly pauses for a moment on an antelope-brush on a chilly late spring morning in Central Washington, just south of Naches.
    Acmon Blue Butterfly
  • A California hairstreak feeds on a narrowleaf milkweed in the Columbia Gorge, just on the Washington side, north of the Columbia River. Although it is most common in the state of California, it can be found throughout most of the central western states from the Pacific Coast westward to the Rocky Mountains.
    California Hairstreak
  • The desert-marigold moth is a member of the owlet moth family and is found throughout much of the western United States. It is associated with the desert-marigold, which is a native aster found in much of the more arid regions of the country. This one was photographed on its host in Northwestern Arizona.
    Desert-Marigold Moth
  • Giant swallowtail pauses on a smilax vine on a hot summer day in the Corkscrew Swamp of Collier County, Florida. This big beauty had a 5-inch wingspan!
    Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
  • Huge streaked sphinx moth found on a stucco wall at night in Fort Myers, Fl.
    Streaked Sphinx
  • Palamedes swallowtail fully spread to show its beautifully patterned wings deep in Central Florida's remote Okaloacoochee Slough, which is sort of a no-man's land between Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Everglades.
    Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palam..des)
  • The large Palamedes swallowtail is perhaps the most common of the swallowtails found in SW Florida.
    Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palam..des)
  • The beautiful and tiny red-waisted moth feeding on wildflower nectar in the Fakahatchee Strand. This daytime moth is very common in the middle of summer in South Florida.
    Red-Waisted Moth
  • A rather ragged late-summer Palamedes swallowtail feed on on pickerelweed nectar in a pond at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on the Florida's northern Gulf Coast.
    Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palam..des)
  • Palamedes swallowtail on a hot summer day in the Corkscrew Swamp of Collier County, Florida.
    Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palam..des)
  • This promethea moth caterpillar was found in a very old hardwood forest near the Lake Jackson Indian Mounds in Tallahassee, Florida. It was one of the biggest caterpillars we've ever seen!
    Promethea Moth Caterpillar
  • Palamedes swallowtail on a thistle in the Okaloacoochee Slough in South-Central Florida, Hendry County.
    Palamedes Swallowtail
  • Male checkered white butterfly photographed in Bokeelia on Pine Island near the Calusa Indian Mounds in Lee County, Florida.
    Checkered White (Pontia protodice)
  • Giant swallowtail butterfly feeding on nectar from red penta flowers in Southern Georgia.
    Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
  • Long-tailed skipper feeding on lantana flowers  in Mariana, Fl.
    Long-Tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)
  • Twin-spot skipper butterfly feeding on an unusually pale purple thistle in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Twin-Spot Skipper (Oligoria maculata)
  • Silver-spotted skipper resting for a moment on a leaf near an alligator pond in the Corkscrew Swamp in Collier County, Florida.
    Silver-Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus c..rus)
  • Female tropical checkered skipper followed, chased and finally photographed in the Corkscrew Swamp in SW Florida. These are fast!
    Tropical Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus o..eus)
  • Horace's duskywing on a summer afternoon in the Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area in Charlotte County, Florida.
    Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius)
  • A southern broken-dash skipper feeding on a thistle flower in the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve in Okeechobee County, Florida.
    Southern Broken-Dash (Wallengrenia otho)
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