Mexican Silverspot at NBC, 12/21/13

After a lot of cold weather and few butterflies we finally got a couple of warm pre cold front days.  So today I checked out the National Butterfly Center where best bugs were a couple of Mexican Silverspots.  These are the first I have seen in several years.

This is the only underwing shot I could get.

This winter has seen more Mexican Yellows that the past few.

If Monarchs mate with Queens (so thought my wife Honey) then who mates with the Solders?  Well, it's got to be the Painted Ladies!

Otherwise there was nothing too fantastic (at least while I was there).  Here's a tattered Band-celled Sister.

Well, I thought there wasn't anything else.  But about a half hour after I left Shane Patterson from Iowa found found a big tiger striped heliconian type butterfly.  Turns out it was a Tiger Mimic-Queen.  Guess I gotta get back out there tomorrow.  So instead of a Tiger Mimic-Queen photo, here's a very red Southern Broken-dash I found in our yard the other day.