Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2019 February 1

= February 1 =

Butterfly size
What is the size range of Limenitis arthemis? The article doesn't say -- and although I've seen quite a few of them when I visited Nashville, I cannot rely on my own size estimates because they tend to be exaggerated (especially if the species in question trigger a phobic reaction -- which these ones didn't -- but even without one, I tend to overestimate the size of larger butterfly species). 2601:646:8A00:A0B3:855:E0A8:6DB:BEBB (talk) 06:41, 1 February 2019 (UTC)


 * You have phobias about butterflies? I shudder to think what your reaction to spiders would be. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 08:59, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Only about 11 of the larger species from the genus Papilio (none whatsoever about any of the Nymphalidae), and none at all about spiders -- and if you can't be helpful and answer the question, will you please keep your yap shut?! 2601:646:8A00:A0B3:70AE:764:63A1:67AC (talk) 10:20, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Your sock brought it up, for no apparent good reason. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:42, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
 * I am NOT a fucking sock, I have a dynamic IP -- so lay off your false accusations already! And in any case, the Ref Desk rules are clear -- if you can't say anything helpful in response to a legitimate question (dynamic IP or not), then keep your fucking yap shut! 2601:646:8A00:A0B3:70AE:764:63A1:67AC (talk) 02:34, 2 February 2019 (UTC)
 * There are also civility rules. So why did you bring up this alleged fear of butterflies if you didn't want to talk about it? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:26, 2 February 2019 (UTC)
 * You're the one who first broke these by mocking me without even pretending to answer the question! 2601:646:8A00:A0B3:70AE:764:63A1:67AC (talk) 03:41, 3 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Again, why did you bring up your supposed butterfly phobia? What does it have to do with the question? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:55, 3 February 2019 (UTC)


 * According to this, they range from 2.25 in to 4 in in wingspan. I hope that helps!  -- Jayron 32 11:56, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
 * This gives a length dimension of 2.93 in to 3.90 in. -- Jayron 32 11:58, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
 * This says it has an adult wing spread of 3.0 in to 3.5 in. -- Jayron 32 12:00, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks! So it is pretty big -- and I didn't overestimate its size by much, if at all (I estimated that the ones I saw in Nashville were up to 4 inches in size).  And this is actually a good thing for me -- it confirms that black butterflies up to 4 inches in size don't scare me (which means that most black swallowtails (like Papilio polyxena or P. troilus) don't scare me either, unless they're exceptionally huge like P. cresphontes -- only tiger-striped ones do, and that only if they're bigger than about 3 1/4 inches (which means that, for example, P. canadensis won't scare me, and P. machaon is unlikely to do so)).  In fact, if you want to know, I asked this question so that I would have more info regarding how to deal with my phobia -- and to that extent your answers have been helpful! 2601:646:8A00:A0B3:70AE:764:63A1:67AC (talk) 02:34, 2 February 2019 (UTC)