Ruddy Daggerwing at Progreso Lakes, 7/28/20

As I spent the morning cleaning up after Hurrican Hanna, I kept noticing a large orange butterfly flapping and gliding overhead.  Finally I saw it dart into our big rubber tree where I was able to get a few shots.  It was only the second Ruddy Daggerwing we've ever had in the yard.  My brush hollies are sure to bloom after the eight inches of rain we received so I'm expecting them to attract more daggerwings.

A worn but still colorful Guava Skipper graced the other side of the yard.

Yesterday I released my fourth Polydamas Swallowtail of the summer.  Two were ovipositing on the big Dutchman's Pipe.

And speaking of ovipositing, this Sickle-winged Skipper left a few eggs on one of the colimas.

Still plenty of Queens and Soldiers around.

The rain from Hurricane Hanna is only going to bring us more butterflies this summer.  I have some ideas about what may be next but if I say it, it won't come true.

Polydamas Madness at Progreso Lakes, 7/16/20

Last year I had lots of Polydamas Swallowtail caterpillars on the Giant Dutchman's Pipevine in our yard at Progreso Lakes but I saw few fresh adults.  So this year I've been collecting a few fat cats to raise safely away from predators.  This morning one that was running a little late finally emerged.

This is the second one that's eclosed in captivity but they seem to be doing pretty good on their own this year.  I saw five at once today with several ovipositing.

The same female Ornythion Swallowtail from two days ago was back.

Big lazy Western Giant Swallowtail.

Still two Yellow Angled-Sulphurs.  That makes 14 straight days.

Butterfly numbers are way down which seems to correlate well with mosquitos.  I didn't get a single bite.  Nice to see a Mimosa Skipper.

I've left a lot of the Wireweeds to grow this year.  They really attract a lot of butterflies in the Fall with their purple aster like flowers.  I think they are also a host for Pearl Crescent which I saw in the yard today.

Chance of rain the next few days.  We could sure use some.

Ornythion Swallowtail at Progreso Lakes, 7/14/20

I was digging grass around the edges of my brush patch at Progreso Lakes this morning when I spied a large black swallowtail.  During the summer about anything is possible so I put down the shovel and grabbed the camera.  It was worn but I soon rule out Pipevine and Black Swallowtails.  I got a few shots and ran in the house to check the photos.  I was thinking it could be another female Broad--banded but the chevrons on the underside of the hind wings were too broad.  Also the tails on the wings are too long for Broad-banded.  It was a female Ornythion Swallowtail.  We got our first for the yard just twelve days ago.

Polydamas Swallowtails continue to emerge.

And there were the usual Western Giant Swallowtails.

Yellow-angled Sulphurs were present for the twelfth day in a row.  I read in Glassberg that they use sennas as a host plant so maybe they are breading.

We had two Tropical Leafwings yesterday.

After being absent for a while, a Boisduval's Yellow was a welcome sight

Numbers were much lower today.  Probably a result of temperatures over 100.  Wish we could get some rain.

Progreso Lakes yard, 7/9/20

Hot, dry and windy at Progreso Lakes and it's going to get hotter and dryer.  Butterfly numbers seem to be on the decline but there were still three Yellow Angled-Sulphurs in the yard.

I put out some melon rinds which attracted a Questionmark.

And a couple of Tawny Emperors.

First thing this morning I went out of the back porch and found one of my Polydamas Swallowtails had eclosed.  I turned it loose and it spent the afternoon bopping about the yard.

Our first Common Sootywing of the year.

I had to work to get a poor shot of this Common Mestra.

Hot wind will dry stuff out but can also bring in butterflies from the south.  Stay tuned.

Ornythion Swallowtail at Progreso Lakes, 7/3/20

I was busy this morning and didn't get out of the house to check out the yard till after lunch.  First thing I saw was this Yellow Angled-Sulphur flying into the giant Dutchman's pipevine.

A Double-dotted Skipper under the purple Duranta was the first I've seen in a couple of weeks.

Over on the other side of the house I found two more Yellow Angled-Sulphurs.  Javi Gonzalez has been seeing them at the birding center on South Padre Island lately so I wasn't too surprised to see one in the yard.  But three of them is something else.

Then a ratty Giant Swallowtail flew past me but the color was a bit pale and it didn't give me the right vibe.  Luckily it landed in a tenaza and proved to be an Ornythion Swallowtail as I had hoped.  Long overdue in our yard, this was butterfly #123.  With all the rain in Mexico I bet we get more this summer.

Here's the similar Western Giant Swallowtail

Mexican Fritillary is pretty uncommon in our yard.

Meanwhile a female Gulf Fritillary was leaving an egg on our corky-stemmed passionvine.

There's been good numbers of Queens and Soldiers around lately.

Mosquitoes were pretty bad today and that usually correlates well with butterfly abundance in my experience.  Hoping this hot Fourth of July weekend turns up more surprises.