National Butterfly Center, 9/29/15

Made a run over to the National Butterfly Center today and finished with a respectable 41 species.  Things are looking good after the recent rains and butterflies should start increasing as we approach October. Here's a Zilpa Longtail.

There was good diversity of grass skippers though not large numbers.  Here's a Common Mellana,

Female Whirlabout.

A tiny southern Skipperling.

How about a colorful Gulf Fritillary?

Southern Dogface.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 3
• Giant Swallowtail 3
• Southern Dogface 10
• Cloudless Sulphur 2
• Large Orange Sulphur 15
• Lyside Sulphur 1
• Tailed Orange 1
• Little Yellow 3
• Silver-banded Hairstreak 1
• Gray Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Ceraunus Blue 2
• Fatal Metalmark 1
• American Snout 1
• Gulf Fritillary 1
• Bordered Patch 2
• Phaon Crescent 10
• Red Admiral 1
• White Peacock 1
• Mexican Bluewing 2
• Tropical Leafwing 2
• Tawny Emperor 40
• Monarch 1
• Queen 130
• Soldier 5
• Zilpa Longtail 1
• Brown-banded Skipper 1
• White-patched Skipper 1
• Funereal Duskywing 1
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 8
• Laviana White-Skipper 5
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 1
• Clouded Skipper 1
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Fiery Skipper 5
• Whirlabout 3
• Southern Broken-Dash 2
• Sachem 1
• Common Mellana 2
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 8
• Eufala Skipper 2

Frosted Flasher, Tailed Aguna at Old Hidalgo Pumphouse, 9/4/15

Yesterday Troy and Robin Zurovec made another great find at the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse with a Frosted Flasher.  They were kind enough to call me and luckily the bug stayed for a few photos.  There's not many records for this species north of Mexico.  It was under a leaf so I rotated it for a better view.

This morning I went back hoping for an open winged shot of the Frosted Flasher but no luck.  But in the process a Tailed Aguna, which is not quite as rare but only my second ever, landed right in front of me.

So a couple of really good butterflies after six hot dry bugless weeks.

• Giant Swallowtail 2
• Great Southern White 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 5
• Lyside Sulphur 1
• Gray Hairstreak 1
• Bordered Patch 3
• Carolina Satyr 1
• Tailed Aguna 1
• Long-tailed Skipper 1
• Brown Longtail 10
• Frosted Flasher 1
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 5
• Laviana White-Skipper 4
• Clouded Skipper 2
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Whirlabout 3
• Southern Broken-Dash 3
• Common Mellana 2
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 2
• Eufala Skipper 1