Lord God Prepona! 1/7/26

(This title is derived from a 60 Minutes episode about the search for the near mythical, probably extict Ivory-billed Woodpecker.)

Back in November 2007, Terry Fuller found the first US record of One-spotted Prepona Archaeoprepona demophon at the then young National Butterfly Center.  A couple of weeks later Rick Snider found a second at nearby Bentson Rio Grande State Park.  In fact cell phone conversations proved the two were present at the same time.  I recently went back in time and read the posts on the old TX-Butterfly listserv.  It was pretty facinating to go though the daily discussions of this major lepidopteran find.  The dumbass professional lepidopterists were irate that these butterflies weren't collected.  One stated that from the photos, the second record looked like it had tong marks, implying that it had been captured and released.  No wonder the butterfly watching hobby is so far behind the birding world.  We are just now reaching the Ludlow Griscom and Roger Tory Peterson phase.

In the intervening eighteen years One-spotted Prepona is often brought up when local butterfly watchers chat about their most wanted butterflies.  (Along with the Common Morpho of course!)  We dream but it never happened.  Well not untill last Saturday when Mark and Joanie Hubinger found a huge blackish butterfly with a brilliant blue stripe across the wings while leading a bird walk at Santa Ana NWR.  The Hubingers often winter in the RGV, usually volunteering their birding expertise at the famous refuge.  They know their birds and a few local butterflies but this giant lepidopteran was strange to them so they sent me a text with a photo.  Damn it was a Prepona.  One-spotted Prepona was my guess but there are several similar species to the south in Mexico.  I put the word out on Discord and the Hubingers announced the find on WhatsApp.  A few hopeful butterfliers made the 25 mile drive over to the refuge but the butterfly was not refound.  The single open wing shot Joanie got documented the third record of One-spotted Prepona for the USA.

In the three days since then, the fall/winter butterfly extravaganza of 25/26 continued.  Billy Webber flew over from back east, Dennis Vollmar came up from Florida and Peter DeGennaro winged over from Tucson.  Plenty of other visitors and locals were present also.  We had good eyes finding good stuff.  Then on 1/7 Billy posted on Discord "Possible Orion Cecropian on baitlog on upper Hackberry Trail."  Damn!  That's a mega!  I've only seen one of these massive nymphalids.  I started off running from near the bird feeding station.

When I arrived, Billy and Peter were at the baitlog which held a massive brownish gray butterfly.  My first view was at an angle and it looked like an Orion.  I fired a shot.

I moved closer for a better angle.  This butterfly was too broad winged for an Orion.  And it was too gray.  But it looked familiar.  Prepona!  I got a few photos and the massive butterfly shot off.  My only prior experience with Preponas were of a couple I found in a researcher's trap while I was walking the Pipeline Road in Panama.

I ran to the Lower Hackberry Trail to check the bait logs and soon heard the cry.  Peter had found the Prepona in the "ditch".  A small group was taking photos.  It posed nicely and even opened a little.

Then it took of again but landed nearby.  I got a little better open wing shot.

I think this fourth US record of One-spotted Prepona was a lifer for all of the twenty of so people who go to see it.  It was my 234th butterfly species for the RGV with 230 of them coming in Hidalgo County.  I'm writing this on 1/10 after working the National Butterfly Center for nine of the last ten days.  A cold front is blasting though so it will be nice to have a few days off.  But it's only cooling to the 50s and we'll be warm again next week.  It will be fun to see who survives the cool weather.