Tuesday, September 29, 2015

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

Friday, September 4, 2015

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