It's still hot and nasty in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas but there's a hint of fall in the air. Maybe it's just the days getting a little shorter. The Mid Valley got rained on hard by a weird little low pressure system that spun up in the Gulf so I ran over to the National Butterfly Center yesterday to see what was going on. They got very little rain but there were still plenty of butterflies. Star of the day was this stonking Brown-banded Skipper. It was so strongly marked it had me scratching my head a bit. It's been a couple of years since I have seen one.
There was a nice White-patched Skipper in the in front of the visitors center.
I like spread winged skippers. But sometimes I get tired of of Sickle-winged Skippers when they are so common. But lately they have been uncommon so this one was appreciated.
All of the tailed skippers were missing tails. I think they have blown up from Mexico rather than hatched locally. Here's Brown Longtail and White-striped Longtail.
This worn Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak looks particularly dull against the scarlet Jatropha.
Goatweed Leafwings are always a treat in the Valley.
Here is the more common Tropical Leafwing.
Elada Checkerspots are regular near the restrooms.
A spur of the moment visit racked up 41 species. Nothing wrong with that.
- Pipevine Swallowtail 1
- Giant Swallowtail 7
- Southern Dogface 1
- Cloudless Sulphur 2
- Large Orange Sulphur 20
- Lyside Sulphur 10
- Little Yellow 6
- Gray Hairstreak 2
- Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 2
- Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
- Cassius Blue 3
- Ceraunus Blue 10
- American Snout 6
- Gulf Fritillary 10
- Mexican Fritillary 1
- Bordered Patch 6
- Elada Checkerspot 5
- Texan Crescent 1
- Phaon Crescent 25
- Mexican Bluewing 8
- Common Mestra 1
- Tropical Leafwing 6
- Goatweed Leafwing 1
- Tawny Emperor 8
- Queen 8
- White-striped Longtail 1
- Brown Longtail 6
- Sickle-winged Skipper 1
- Brown-banded Skipper 1
- White-patched Skipper 1
- White Checkered-Skipper 3
- Tropical Checkered-Skipper 12
- Laviana White-Skipper 6
- Julia's Skipper 1
- Clouded Skipper 6
- Southern Skipperling 2
- Fiery Skipper 5
- Whirlabout 1
- Southern Broken-Dash 5
- Celia's Roadside-Skipper 4
- Eufala Skipper 1
