National Butterfly Center, 5/27/15

Honey and I put in four hours at the NBC yesterday and didn't see much interesting.  But I know it can change from day to day so I gave it another shot this morning and saw a lot more stuff.  Best was my first of the year Silver Emperor.  It had been reported a few days ago.  The blue iridescence depends on the angle of the light.

This weakened Ruby-spotted Swallowtail seemed partial to salts in the wet gravel in front of the vistors center.  I later saw a much better looking one but could not get a photo.

Mike Rickard dropped by during the afternoon and this Ornythion Swallowtail flew into an Ebony while we were talking.

After a long absence it was nice to see a Mexican Bluewing at the NBC and this one was ovipositing on its host plant, Vasey's Adelia.  An egg is visible by the tip of the abdomen.

A poor shot of a passing Giant White.

It's been awhile since I've seen Turk's-cap White-Skipper at the NBC.

Female Common Mellana.

Here's an interesting female Large Orange Sulphur.

Yesterday I found this Bordered Patch imitating a Crimson Patch.

Here's today's list of 51 species..

• Giant Swallowtail 2
• Ornythion Swallowtail 1
• Ruby-spotted Swallowtail 2
• Checkered White 2
• Great Southern White 10
• Giant White 1
• Southern Dogface 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 5
• Lyside Sulphur 12
• Little Yellow 5
• Gray Hairstreak 4
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 5
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 1
• Reakirt's Blue 3
• American Snout 3
• Gulf Fritillary 4
• Zebra Heliconian 2
• Bordered Patch 20
• Crimson Patch 1
• Elada Crescent 10
• Texan Crescent 6
• Pale-banded Crescent 1
• Phaon Crescent 25
• Pearl Crescent 8
• American Lady 1
• White Peacock 3
• Banded Peacock 1
• Common Mestra 1
• Tropical Leafwing 1
• Tawny Emperor 450
• Silver Emperor 1
• Carolina Satyr 1
• Queen 50
• Guava Skipper 1
• White-striped Longtail 1
• Brown Longtail 3
• Sickle-winged Skipper 3
• White Checkered-Skipper 8
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper10
• Laviana White-Skipper 15
• Turk's-cap White-Skipper 1
• Common Sootywing 3
• Julia's Skipper 3
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 3
• Clouded Skipper 15
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Fiery Skipper 2
• Whirlabout 3
• Common Mellana 4
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 3
• Eufala Skipper 2

Clouded Skippers from May 2015

There was a post on TX-Butterflies today about Clouded versus Liris Skippers.  I've never seen a Liris skipper but I've seen hundred of Cloudeds.  Here's a few recent photos.  The costal striping above the white spots near the tip if the fore wing seems pretty consistent.  These are from Santa Ana NWR this May.

Here's one from the National Butterfly Center 5/26/15.

But here's one from last June at the NBC.

And one from last October at the NBC.

And one from 11/21/13 at NBC.

Looking at the Liris Skippers photos on BOA I don't see the costal striping on any of the images.  I might have more trouble separating Liris from Julia's Skipper.  Guess I'll keep looking.

National Butterfly Center, 5/23/15

Another fine day at the National Butterfly Center netted fifty species and there would have been more had the rain not come.  My first Ornythion Swallowtail for the year was on the new zinnia patch.  They are starting to attract a lot of butterflies.

Mike Rickard found this Glazed Pellicia which is normally a fall butterfly.

Another first for the year for me was this Pale-banded Crescent.

And there was my first Soldier for the year.

Black Swallowtail 3

• Giant Swallowtail 2
• Ornythion Swallowtail 1
• Checkered White 1
• Great Southern White 8
• Southern Dogface 1
• Cloudless Sulphur 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 5
• Lyside Sulphur 5
• Boisduval's Yellow 1
• Little Yellow 3
• Gray Hairstreak 3
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 5
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 5
• Reakirt's Blue 3
• Red-bordered Metalmark 1
• American Snout 1
• Gulf Fritillary 2
• Julia Heliconian 2
• Zebra Heliconian 1
• Bordered Patch 6
• Crimson Patch 2
• Elada Crescent 10
• Texan Crescent 5
• Pale-banded Crescent 1
• Phaon Crescent 25
• Pearl Crescent 5
• White Peacock 1
• Banded Peacock 1
• Tropical Leafwing 2
• Tawny Emperor 20
• Queen 25
• Soldier 2
• White-striped Longtail 1
• Brown Longtail 4
• Glazed Pellicia 1
• Sickle-winged Skipper 6
• White-patched Skipper 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 10
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 5
• Laviana White-Skipper 10
• Common Sootywing 5
• Julia's Skipper 2
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 5
• Clouded Skipper 12
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Fiery Skipper 3
• Whirlabout 1
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 6
• Eufala Skipper 3

Santa Ana NWR, 5/22/15

With frog fruit, crucita, thistle and soapberry in bloom, butterflies were aplenty at Santa Ana NWR this morning.  Recently Mike Rickard has reported several Violet-banded Skippers, normally a fall species, from the refuge.  I managed to get my first of the year today on a thistle.

I managed to run into Mike and Ginny near the tree tower and Ginny promptly proceeded to find a Ruddy Daggerwing in a soapberry.  Another first for the year for all of us.

Near the junction of the tour road and the first Pintail Lakes trail I found two fresh Two-barred Flasers, which seem to be everywhere this year.

Here's another Banded Peacock.  This one is even worse off that the one at the National Butterfly center.

Several Common Mellanas were nice for a change.

Blooming thistles were appreciated by a White-striped Longtail.

Seven Zebra Heliconias were a high count for the year.

Here's my list of 46 species for the morning.

• Black Swallowtail 4
• Giant Swallowtail 15
• Checkered White 3
• Great Southern White 20
• Cloudless Sulphur 3
• Large Orange Sulphur 5
• Lyside Sulphur 10
• Little Yellow 2
• Mimosa Yellow 2
• Dainty Sulphur 1
• Gray Hairstreak 12
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 8
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 20
• Reakirt's Blue 3
• Red-bordered Metalmark 6
• American Snout 100
• Gulf Fritillary 4
• Zebra Heliconian 7
• Crimson Patch 2
• Texan Crescent 8
• Phaon Crescent 10
• Pearl Crescent 25
• Red Admiral 4
• White Peacock 1
• Banded Peacock 1
• Common Mestra 1
• Ruddy Daggerwing 1
• Tawny Emperor 3
• Carolina Satyr 4
• Queen 3
• White-striped Longtail 2
• Brown Longtail 2
• Two-barred Flasher 2
• Mimosa Skipper 3
• Sickle-winged Skipper 25
• Brown-banded Skipper 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 8
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper20
• Laviana White-Skipper 100
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 15
• Clouded Skipper 40
• Whirlabout 2
• Common Mellana 3
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 20
• Eufala Skipper 5
• Violet-banded Skipper 1

Red-sided Swallowtail at National Butterfly Center, 5/19/15

Dang! What a day!  I got to the National Butterfly Center at 10:15 AM only to find cloudy dripping skies. But I stuck it out and things warmed up and it got windy and I finished up with 53 species including the second US record for Red-sided Swallowtail Mimoides phaon.  Martin Reid found the first in Oct. 2008.

Earlier in the morning I found my second Ruby-spotted Swallowtail for the year.  Normally that would have been bug of the day.

Immediately after seeing the swallowtail I saw my first Banded Peacock of the year.  It's missing a big chunk of wing.  

Lots of Great Southern Whites were passing through along with a couple of Giant Whites.

And then a perfect Guava Skipper popped in.

With all the good butterflies in the air, I walked back up to check out the north gardens by the visitor's center and was rewarded with my first Hidalgo County Boisduval's Yellow.  They are easy to find in Cameron County at Resaca de la Palma and Sabal Palm.

I almost forgot the ovipositing Julia Heliconian.

And to finish things up, Mike Rickard found this beat up Two-barred Flasher.

This may be my all time best butterfly day but I'm not sure it beats the amazing Christmas day of 2012 that got me started on this blog.

• Black Swallowtail 4
• Giant Swallowtail 3
• Red-sided Swallowtail  1
• Ruby-spotted Swallowtail 1
• Checkered White 4
• Great Southern White 12
• Giant White 2
• Cloudless Sulphur 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 3
• Lyside Sulphur 5
• Boisduval's Yellow 1
• Little Yellow 5
• Dainty Sulphur 4
• Gray Hairstreak 4
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 6
• Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 6
• Reakirt's Blue 4
• American Snout 6
• Gulf Fritillary 2
• Julia Heliconian 1
• Zebra Heliconian 1
• Variegated Fritillary 1
• Bordered Patch 6
• Crimson Patch 1
• Texan Crescent 10
• Vesta Crescent 1
• Phaon Crescent 40
• Pearl Crescent 3
• American Lady 1
• Red Admiral 2
• Banded Peacock 1
• Tropical Leafwing 2
• Tawny Emperor 30
• Queen 10
• Guava Skipper  1
• Brown Longtail 1
• Two-barred Flasher 1
• Texas Powdered-Skipper 1
• Sickle-winged Skipper 3
• White Checkered-Skipper 6
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper25
• Laviana White-Skipper 15
• Julia's Skipper 3
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 3
• Clouded Skipper 15
• Southern Skipperling 3
• Fiery Skipper 5
• Whirlabout 1
• Southern Broken-Dash 1
• Sachem 1
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 4
• Eufala Skipper 6