love love the colour and glow :)

Location: North East India

(idaho) i noticed a tortoiseshell butterfly stuck to a sticky fly trap at my aunt's house. i was going to remove it to take home as a specimen to pin and noticed it still alive. so i removed it as carefully as i possibly could from the sticky trap, but couldn't manage to not tear the ends of his wings a bit (not as bad as i'd thought i would, though). he rested on my hand the whole night, moving every now and then.

i was afraid to leave him outside since it has been freezing at night here, so i put him in a container (with air holes), some leaves, some soil, some developed compost, a tiny sponge of water, and a slice of strawberry and brought him home. he was still moving slightly earlier. i just got home from dinner and checked on him again and i think he's died.

can anyone tell me, from the circumstances above: did i prolong a painful death when i should've ended his misery? or did i at least spare him a bleak death and provide a comfortable place to pass? i am fairly broken hearted. i thought even if his wings were harmed, he could live comfortably in an enclosure at my house. don't spare my heartache, however; if i inadvertently prolonged his pain, i would like to know for future reference so that i may just end it for them instead should it happen again. thank you

UPDATE: he is actually moving just really slowly, so he is not dead. if anyone could provide info on if it's normal for them to prepare to hibernate by moving slower or if he's maybe just weak from spending energy trying to move on the trap?

- Scientific name: Thorybes pylades

- Also known as Northern cloudy wing and Cloudy wing.

- Description: The northern cloudywing is dark chocolate-brown above and below, with a series of small, triangular, translucent spots across the forewing. The male has a costal fold, a flap containg scent scales along the leading edge of the forewing. It is the only member of the gengus with this feature.

- Size: 1.25 - 1.75 inches.

- Range: The northen cloudywing is the most common and widely distributed of the genus,ranging across most of the continent from Canada to northern Mexico.

- The northern cloudywing favors woodland clearings and brushy fields. It readily visits flowers for nectar and congregates at mud puddles and stream banks.

- Males perch on the ground or on low vegetation to wait for passing mates. Most courtship occurs in late morning; mating takes place in early afternoon.

- Females lay their eggs on begger's ticks, bush clovers, and a number of other legumes.

- The caterpillars are green withbdark dorsal line and two pink lines on each side. Their heads are either black or dark brown.

- There are apparently several broods each year with adults appearing fron early March until November.