Yesterday someone photographed a beat up Starred Skipper at the National Butterfly Center south of Mission, Texas. This is a Mexican butterfly species I have never seen so I raced over this morning hoping for a lifer. Lots of visiting butterfly watchers are in the Valley now as it is vagrant season and so far it's been pretty good. So old butterfly friends and I spent a lot of time periodically checking the crucita patch in front of the restrooms. It was good to see them though we never refound the Starred Skipper.
But all the eyes were sure able to find other good stuff, like this Blomfild's Beauty. It's been a few years since I have seen this large showy Mexican species. Sometimes they get friendly.
Nearby a Gray Cracker posed on a pale patch of fungus. I'm not sure abouts its camouflage strategy.
The shady patches of white plumbago were popular. This worn Two-bared Flasher spent the morning there. It's going to take me a while to start calling it Qian's Flasher.
Other butterflies enjoying the plumbago included Coyote Cloudywing, Large Orange Sulphur and a White-striped Longtail.
Here's the obligatory Mexican Bluewing.
Up front a Marius Hairstreak was in the crucita. It's been a good fall for them.
I have a lot more photos but you get the idea. I saw 69 species of butterflies today but I felt like I left a few on the table. I later found out Linda Cooper saw 76 species. Things are flying!
- Pipevine Swallowtail 12
- Giant Swallowtail 8
- Checkered White 5
- Orange Sulphur 3
- Southern Dogface 10
- Cloudless Sulphur 5
- Large Orange Sulphur 25
- Lyside Sulphur 5
- Tailed Orange 3
- Little Yellow 5
- Mimosa Yellow 1
- Dainty Sulphur 3
- Marius Hairstreak 1
- Silver-banded Hairstreak 1
- Gray Hairstreak 4
- Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 10
- Dusky-blue Groundstreak 1
- Ceraunus Blue 8
- Fatal Metalmark 1
- Red-bordered Metalmark 1
- Red-bordered Pixie 1
- American Snout 20
- Gulf Fritillary 3
- Zebra Heliconian 6
- Variegated Fritillary 2
- Mexican Fritillary 3
- Bordered Patch 2
- Elada Checkerspot 5
- Texan Crescent 2
- Phaon Crescent 8
- Pearl Crescent 2
- Question Mark 2
- Red Admiral 1
- Common Buckeye 2
- White Peacock 5
- Common Mestra 5
- Gray Cracker 1
- Blomfild's Beauty 1
- Tropical Leafwing 10
- Hackberry Emperor 2
- Empress Leilia 2
- Tawny Emperor 100
- Carolina Satyr 2
- Queen 40
- Soldier 1
- White-striped Longtail 3
- Zilpa Longtail 1
- Long-tailed Skipper 4
- Dorantes Longtail 3
- Brown Longtail 3
- Two-barred Flasher 1
- Coyote Cloudywing 1
- Sickle-winged Skipper 4
- Funereal Duskywing 1
- White Checkered-Skipper 12
- Tropical Checkered-Skipper 3
- Desert Checkered-Skipper 1
- Laviana White-Skipper 8
- Fawn-spotted Skipper 1
- Clouded Skipper 10
- Double-dotted Skipper 15
- Southern Skipperling 1
- Fiery Skipper 50
- Whirlabout 3
- Sachem 20
- Common Mellana 5
- Eufala Skipper 8
- Brazilian Skipper 1
- Purple-washed Skipper 1
